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Term Paper on Mafia
The Mafia is a name given to a group
of people who were indulged in organized crimes in the Southern
Italian island of Sicily. Sicily is the largest island in the
Mediterranean Sea and a major port of Italy. The word Mafia is from
Arabic language meaning ‘refuge’. The Sicilians adopted the term
back in the 9th century when the island was occupied by the Arabs.
The natives were oppressed the foreigner rulers and were forced to
do labor on their estates. The same scene prevailed in the case of
other invaders that followed Arabs. A number of local inhabitants
thus sought refuge in the nearby hills. There they formed a society
of their own aimed to unite the local inhabitants against their
foreigner rulers.
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The proper form of Mafia however,
emerged in Sicily in the 15th century. It was group of armed persons
that were patronized and supported by the local land owners to
protect their interests in the area. The group however, expanded
with the passage of time and many local groups were organized at
local levels. These groups mainly operated in the rural areas and
were indulged in all kinds of anti government activities including
gambling, prostitution, liquor trade, kidnapping for ransom, murders
etc. Some believe that Mafia was formed with a concept to help out
the poor and needy. The group operated mostly in the rural areas
where there was less access of the state authorities. Members of a
certain Mafia regarded as family to each other. They used illegal
methods and physical force to achieve their goals. The members were
bound by Omerta, a rigid code of conduct that required avoiding all
contact and cooperation with the authorities. The members are
commonly known as “Mafioso”.
The Mafia is a secret organization and all members are required to
keep the secrets. The initial administrative structure of Mafia
included the Dons or Chiefs as top level management. Theses chiefs
headed local level Mafia in every village or town. These Chiefs were
accountable to the Don of the Dons who resided in the capital,
Palermo. The members of Mafia are required to take oath before a
membership could be granted. The oath Omerta is a code of silence
that requires a member not to reveal the secrets of the organization
or its members even in case of extreme threat of torture or death.
Moreover, it requires a total obedience to the boss, avoid any
contacts with the government authorities and help and defend the
member of Mafia. A member is bound throughout his life to obey the
oath and in case of violation of rules a member is subject to
penalties or death.
Initially Mafia was a small organization operating at local level.
By the 19th century it expanded enormously to become a large scale
global association. Currently, Mafia is a “a loose alliance of many
small local groups, each bound by kinship (or a kinship relationship
that is assumed when a man becomes a member) and by the Mafia code
of omerta, which requires absolute silence about Mafia activities
and absolute obedience to the hierarchical Mafia authority.”
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The main target of Mafia is the government and officials of
different countries where it operates. The Mafia often acts like a
parallel government and works under its own set of laws and
regulations. The members of Mafia often terrorize the local wealthy
elite to gain money and other benefits. The practice that started in
the 1700s is characterized by handing over of Black Hand notes that
are given to the rich citizens as a refined and respectful way to
get money in return for their safety. In case the gesture is
refused, it is followed by severe threats and acts of harassment,
kidnapping, bombing and even murder.
The members of Mafia sometimes occupy government offices also
usually by terrorizing and forcing the citizens to vote for them.
The members of Mafia are well connected and are able to reshuffle
the political set up of an area. This practice was started by Mafia
Don Raffaele Palizzolo in 1876 when he decided to run for political
office. “He succeeded by having voters vote under gunpoint and, once
in office, arranged for his colleague, Don Crispi, to be elected as
Prime Minister of Sicily.” At that time Emanuel Notarbartolo,
director of the Bank of Sicily, vowed to oust the Mafia from the
country. “. . . he was assassinated in 1893, his position was taken
over by Don Palizzolo himself. When Notarbartolo's son vowed to
bring his father's killers to justice he managed to get Palizzolo
indicted, but the latter's control of the government stretched so
far that he was released. Witnesses had been unwilling to cooperate
and even police documents had not been available to the court for
review.”
In the 18th century the Mafia reached the United States and started
its activities on the American soils. Many local Mafias were
established in various states. in the early 20th century, each
American city had its own Mafia chapter. In “the late 19th century,
the Mafia began to operate in several large U.S. cities. Two of the
strongest mafia gangs in New York where controlled by Joe “The Boss”
Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano. They were known as the “Mustache
Petes”.
The present day Mafia is not confined to Italy alone but is an
international organization of criminals that operates in a large
number of countries around the world including the United States,
Russia and Japan. By oath however, all these local Mafias are
united.
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