The Economic Structure of Historys Most Notorious Gang Introduction The Mafia is viewed by many people as a bunch of gangsters like those that they might see on movies such as Goodfellas The Godfather or Donnie ID: 336185
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Slide1
The Mafia
The Economic Structure of History’s Most Notorious GangSlide2
Introduction
The Mafia is viewed by many people as a bunch of gangsters like those that they might see on movies such as
Goodfellas
, The Godfather, or Donnie
Brasco
.
In
all actuality the Mafia represents much more than that, it is an entity within itself.
The
original Sicilian Mafia was just a group of families controlling certain territories in which they each laid claim to.
These
families were headed by a dominant male and were usually in competition with other families.
The
members of these families would engage into various "illegal and legal businesses with each other and
outsiders”.Slide3
Elimination attempts
Many
have tried to eliminate the Mafia from
its
"control" of the underworld and
its stranglehold
on politicians and government.
Under
the fascist movement in the late
of
Cesare
Mori, Mori tried to eliminate the Mafia in any way in which he could.
This
attempt at elimination was quite unsuccessful since the
Mafia’s
base was so far ranging.
Arlachhi
concluded
in 1983 "there does not exist a centralized criminal organized called the
Mafia, The
cosca
mafiosa
is a simple organism but a solid one, without formalism or bureaucracy.
Within
it are neither statutory ordinances, initiation rites nor courts of
judgment.
This
is in contrast as to what others recognize as organized crime. Slide4
Differentiations of the organization
The United States Mafia definitely was different than the Sicilian Mafia when trying to generalize them.
The
American Mafia consisted of only around 24 families whereas the Sicilian Mafia consisted of hundreds of families.
These
families were much larger than their Sicilian counterparts and that the families were most definitely organized and formal.
The
European Mafia was founded on a sense of loyalty and respect for culture, family and the Sicilian heritage.
The
Mafia was in existence in order to protect
its
member interests and grant them freedom in business in exchange for absolute loyalty and submission to the family as a whole
.
The
Sicilian Mafia based their existence upon their strong beliefs that justice and honor are for oneself to take care of not for the government to control. Slide5
Status and Competition
When beginning to analyze the Mafia from and economic standpoint one can see that the Mafia came into existent as almost a capitalistic counterpart to what the government and society were providing.
The
Mafia members see themselves as alternative providers of public services.
The Mafia’s
determination to establish itself as a state within the state is what makes it
unique says
Roberto
Scapinato
, one of 13 prosecutors committed full-time to Mafia enquiries.
And
the would be state not only imposes its own laws-at gunpoint-but levies its own
taxes.
The Mafia’s
competition with the state keeps prices good, because as long as the
states
resources are a viable commodity for a
consumer,
The Mafia’s competition
with the state increases the provision of public services that are available and increases the income of whoever the consumer chooses to be his "representative
producer”.Slide6
The hierarchy
Some scholars of The Mafia consider it to not only be an underworld government so-to-say, but a business enterprise.
Ralph
Salermo
, a former police officer ho published a study of organized crime in the late
stated
that the Mafia was "highly organized" and he also went on to say that the Mafia modeled a "criminal confederation whose structure parallels that of a major corporation"
The boss presides
over and organization characterized by staff and line positions devoted to a rational search for profit.
The
Boss, then, was roughly like the CEO of a business
corporation. This
is what makes up modern corporations.
The
decisions that are made by certain companies come from the hierarchy of the company.
Decision
making
in
the
Mafia
is concentrated at the top of the
hierarchy;
a low-status member is expected to surrender his own will and authority to the authority of his superiors
and
place
himself
almost completely at the disposal of the rulers to be used as the latter see
fit