The Mafia

Research Paper # 2575

Criminology > Organized Crime Studies
History > European

The Mafia

The author defines what the Mafia is, where it was first formed and its purpose.

3,120 words () | 3 sources | 1994

Paper Summary:

A review of the mafia, its creation and development. The author defines what the Mafia is, where it was first formed and its purpose. Using this as a springboard, he then looks at the different ways in which the Mafia has changed over the years.

From the Paper:

"The Mafia is a secret criminal organization that wields great economic and political control over large segments of Sicilian society and operates both criminal and legitimate enterprises in the united states. It has been defined as ?a secret union of people of every type and status who give reciprocal help without regard to laws or morals but maybe the best definition was given by Mario Puzo (of The Godfather fame) who described it as "a business like any other with the difference that every so often they shoot each other". The Mafia first developed in Sicily in feudal times to protect the estates of absentee landlords. By the 19th century, it had become a network of criminal bands that dominated the Sicilian countryside."