Paper Summary:

This paper provides an historical account of Chicago's association with gang culture and how the city is confronted with increasing criminality rates. The writer describes how the two chief mafia groups, the Italian and the Irish, evolved and interacted, as well as several other street gangs. The paper also discusses trends in organized crime today, and the corruption at political levels that exists in the city although this has significantly decreased and that the aim of the modern police force is to eradicate organized crime.

Outline:
Introduction
Genesis of Crime Organizations in Chicago
Organized Crime in Prohibition Chicago
After the Prohibition
1950s and Beyond
African-American Gangs
The Result of the Evolution - Organized Crime in Today's Chicago

From the Paper:

''Crimes in Chicago have existed ever since the establishment of the city, but they were basically characterized by sporadic events and divided gangs. These gangs were specialized in a particular type of crime and would not cross the established boundaries. One gang was for instance active in gambling, another in labor unions and a third in prostitution. The end of the nineteenth century did however bring about the organized crime movement, set by the emergence of mafia clans. Five Italian-American families joint their forces under the name "The Chicago Outfit" or simply "The Outfit" and they fought to control the streets and the power. The history of the Outfit commences with the immigration of Giacomo "James", "Big Jim" Colosimo from Italy to the United States in 1895. Colosimo initially under "Bathhouse" Coughlin and "Hinky Dink" Kenna, to eventually become their bagman (a person that collects the money a crime organization demands from other less powerful groups in exchange for protection; if the targeted groups do not pay the requested money, they are subjected to violent attacks, often originated from the powerful group collecting racket protection). Throughout this period, Big Jim set the basis for strong relations with the police and the political forces, and these relations would, in the future, help him become one of the most notorious mobsters in history.''

Sample of Sources Used:

• Binder, John J., Chicago, American Mafia, 2001, On the Internet at http://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/chicago.html last accessed on April 8, 2009
• Guglielmo, Thomas, A., White on Arrival: Italians, Race, Color and Power in Chicago, 1890-1945, Oxford University Press US, 2004
• Hagedorn, John, M., Race Not Space: A Revisionist History of Gangs in Chicago, The Journal of African American History, Vol. 91, 2006
• Kelly, Robert, J., Chin, Ko-Iin, and Schatzberg, Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994
• Landis, John (Director), Oscar, 1991

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