Factual Info on Mafia - Interesting sociology reading. I think it applies to the Church of $cientology.

http://www.policestudies.eku.edu/POTTER/crj401_1.htm The Alien Conspiracy Theory One of the most common theories related to organized crime is the alien conspiracy theory. According to the Alien Conspiracy theory, organized crime (the Mafia) gained prominence during the 1860s in Sicily and is currently made up of 25 or so Italian-dominated crime families, calling themselves the La Cosa Nostra. These families are comprised of members known as "wise guys"

or "made men" and are collectively about 1,700 members strong. Families are thought to control well-defined geographic areas and specific criminal enterprises. Five families are thought to dominate New York City, each family named after its founder. These are the Colombo, Lucchese, Bonanno, Genovese, and Gambino families. Also representing a large geographical area is the alleged Mafia family in Chicago which is known as "The Outfit." Influence from the Chicago outfit reaches to other cities such as Phoenix, Milwaukee, Kansas City and Los Angeles. In addition to the individual families there also exists a national commission whose function it is to arbitrate disputes between families and assigns territory. The alien conspiracy theory seeks to blame outsiders and outside influences for the prevalence of organized crime in American society. Ethnicity, specifically the ethnicity of immigrants, is key to this understanding of the organized crime phenomenon.

But, empirical research indicates that the role of ethnicity in determining the structure of organized crime is misinterpreted and overstated by the alien conspiracy theory. Many, if not most, organized crime groups consist of individuals of varied ethnic backgrounds who cooperate on a regular basis.

(Block, 1979b; Pennsylvania Crime Commission, 1986; Abadinsky, 1985; Potter and Jenkins, 1985). As Haller's study of Lansky's and Capone's enterprises makes clear, organized criminals who wish to survive and prosper quickly learn the limits of kinship, ethnicity, and violence and proceed to form lucrative partnerships on the basis of rational business decisions and common needs (Haller, 1987).

The alien conspiracy theory is further contradicted by the simple fact that virtually every American city had well developed organized crime syndicates long before the large-scale Italian immigration of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Federal law enforcement organizations also have good bureaucratic reasons to promulgate this theory: it explains their failure to eliminate organized crime; it disguises the role of political and business corruption in organized crime; and it provides fertile ground for new resources, powers, and bureaucratic expansion.

Cressey's Cosa Nostra Model Donald Cressey (1967) describes a model of organized crime in which a rigid "bureaucratic" structure exists. The primary unit of the Cosa Nostra is the family, which embodies male members of Italian ancestry. The family is protected by a code of conduct for members which prohibits them from revealing organizational secrets and from which violations of the rule can result in violence against the offender. Cressey has suggested that a hierarchy exists within the Mafia. Included in the hierarchy are the following persons: the boss, the consigliere, the underboss, the caporegime, and the Soldiers The Boss oversees all organizational endeavors and has the final word on decisions involving virtually all aspects of family business. Bosses are typically older members of the family who have proven their allegiance over a number of years during their affiliation with the family.

The Consigliere is a close associate of the boss who enjoys a considerable amount of influence and status in the family, serving the boss as a trusted advisor.

The Underboss works at the pleasure of the boss and acts in his behalf when the boss is incapacitated (e.g., sentenced to prison, becomes ill, etc.).

Underbosses are also trusted, older members of the family whose primary role is to relay instructions to those occupying lower positions in the family.

The Capos are a sort of mid-level manager. One of the primary roles of the capo is to serve as a buffer between the lowest level members and the upper level members of the family. In doing so, the capo is the trusted go-between through which all communications flow from the boss to the lowest-level members.

Soldiers are lowest level members of the family, also known as "wise guys,"

"made guys" or "button men," who report directly to the capo and will often operate at least one specific criminal enterprise.

The Commission links the most powerful Mafia bosses to one central authoritative body. Commission members are bosses from families in New York, Buffalo, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The purpose of the commission is to arbitrate disputes between families, approve new members for initiation, authorize the execution of family members, facilitate joint ventures between families, and manage relations between American and Sicilian Mafia factions.

Also operating in behalf of the family are specialists: enforcers; informants who warn about criminal investigations, impending raids; and, corrupters, who pay control agents (corruptees) and help ensure immunity for the organization and its members (Cressey, 1969, Hess, 1973).

Cressey suggests that rules of conduct are indeed an important component to the existence of the crime organization, and over time an elaborate set of rules has evolved for members to follow. Cressey's (1969) rules of conduct are as follows:

Be loyal to members of the organization. Don't interfere with each other's interests and don't be an informer.

Be a man of honor and always do right. Respect womanhood and your elders. Do not rock the boat.

Be rational. Be a member of the team. Do not engage in battle if you can't win.

Be a stand up guy. Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut. Don't sell out.

Have class. Be independent. Know your way around the world.

These rules might be more of a value system than a formally organized set of operating instructions for guiding the bureaucratic organization (Abadinsky, 1990).

Organized Crime and the Concept of the "Mafia"

For better or worse, the term most commonly associated with organized crime is Mafia. The media, in particular has rendered this term almost synonymous with organized crime. The question of whether such a linkage is appropriate is vital to an understanding of organized crime.

The word Mafia doesn't appear until the mid-1860s and is considered a Sicilian idiomatic expression referring to beauty, perfection, grace, and excellence, but when applied to a individual it "connotes pride, self confidence, and vainglorious behavior" (Hess, 1973). By the mid-nineteenth century, the term mafioso became synonymous not with any criminal organization, but as a designation of a certain type of criminal behavior and attitude. When putting the word to use, Sicilians refer to "men of honor" or "men of respect" who embody a wide variety of social characteristics, including village-based power and the ability of mediate conflicts (Hess, 1973). Rather than using the term Mafia, Sicilians speak of the amici degli amici or "friends of friends."

The actual origins of the word are highly speculative. Some historians trace its origin to the Sicilian struggle in the 13th century against French rule.

"Morte alla Francia, Italia anela!" was their cry (death to France, Italy groans), forming the acronym MAFIA. Others suggest that the term originated as far back as 1282 as a battle cry of rebels who slaughtered thousands of Frenchmen after a French soldier raped a Palermo maiden on her wedding day.

The official view of the "Mafia" begins with an assumption that violent crime, organized and ruthless, was transplanted to the United States from Sicily. There is considerable dispute about the basic structure of organized crime from a historical perspective in Sicilian society. The official version of organized crime rests on an argument that the Mafia in Sicily was and is a more or less unified group of families operating within a highly organized structure, which has dominated the political and social life of Sicily for at least the last century. The contrary view is that the Mafia as a criminal society never really existed at all, but rather was and is an apparition created to explain the pervasive corruption and inequity in Sicilian political and social life (Blok, 1974).

One of the most comprehensive examinations of the Sicilian Mafia comes from Anton Blok, an anthropologist who studied the Mafia of a Sicilian village for the period 1860 to 1960. Blok suggests that what we often call the Mafia is in reality an entity that developed from an association between Sicilian bandits and violent peasant entrepreneurs who had responsibility for the maintenance of order and security on the large estates of absentee landlords.

These peasant entrepreneurs, the gabelloti, became the estate managers for the absent landlords. Hiring other local men they formed something akin to the vigilante groups of the American west. The gabelloti performed several vital roles in the feudal society of Sicily. First, they were the most effective mediums of communication between the peasants, the government, and the landlords. Second, they were able to provide land and jobs to the peasants, thus making them vital to economic survival. Third, they managed the estates, thereby providing income for the landlords. Fourth, they were in reality the only source of social control on the island, acting as unofficial agents of the state to maintain order. In the absence of an effective police force and military they were the only real organ of official power in Sicily (Blok, 1974; Hobsbawm, 1959: 30-56; Lewin, 1979: 116-146). The gabelloti, operating in concert with bandits became what we call Mafia: In its genesis the Mafia is less of a criminal organization and more of a business and police organization, providing jobs, social control and dispute settlements on an island with a poorly organized and ineffective government. Blok also notes a most important historical and social trend in his study. He suggests, using the Mafia was his prime example, that organized criminals are more often allies of the aristocracy to whom they pose no real threat and as a result are inherently conservative and often a reactionary force in society (Ibid.: 102). Blok's suggestion is supported by the long history of violent conflict between the Mafia and left-of-center political parties in Southern Italy.

In relation to the existence of a hierarchical structure in the Sicilian Mafia, Blok points out that each village had its own cosca (a clique consisting of the gabelloti, their employees and allies). One becomes a member of a cosca through a long process of socialization within the village structure and within the traditions of feudal Sicilian society. These local organizations, when viewed collectively, are referred to as the Mafia, disputing the notion that one centrally organized, united group known as the Mafia existed. While gabelloti and other members of the village cosca may occasionally communicate with those from other villages, Blok argues that no single hierarchical organization of mafiosi existed (Blok, 1974: 145). A similar study by Henner Hess describes the Sicilian Mafia as a network of partito, a series of one-on-one relationships through Sicilian society. In this system of partito, "clients, individual seeking jobs, land, or justice were organized through their connections to a patron in the village (Hess, 1973: 82). Hess adds an important dimension to the study by Blok. Some recent reports on the Sicilian Mafia suggest the development of a structure similar to that presented in the official version of organized crime. Hess points out that the urban Mafia in Sicily and Italy, who have been the subjects of these reports, have a great deal in common with American urban gangsters precisely because the new urban Mafia in Sicily has copied the model of American criminals presented in the media (Ibid.: 162-163).
Unit # 1: Organized Crime and the "Mafia"

Organized Crime in Social Context There are two dominating views of organized crime in the U.S. The media and some law enforcement officials assert that organized crime is dominated by (but is not exclusively controlled ) a single, monolithic, criminal organization made up of criminals of Italian descent - the Mafia. Academics, scholars, and other law enforcement officials disagree, arguing that there is no single dominant crime organization (Italian or otherwise) and that organized crime is comprised of numerous groups, operating together or apart, in conjunction with legitimate business and political entities.

Cressey's (1969) "Mafia" model reflects the work of presidential commissions and official investigations. Cressey's work was largely based on official data collected by federal agencies. Simply put Cressey's argument was "if one understands the Cosa Nostra, he understands organized crime in the United States." Cressey was criticized for his over-reliance on official data which tended to misrepresent the nature, structure, and function of criminal groups. Cressey, himself raised questions, much to his credit, about his own work, pointing out that in exchange for the data he was allowed to use, he had to compromise his role as a scientific investigator and become something of a publicist for the federal law enforcement agenices with whom he was working.

Dwight Smith (1990) criticizes Cressey's view of organized crime by suggesting that in understanding only Italian-American crime families, one understands only part of the problem - and not necessarily the most important part. Smith calls this the "Mafia mystique," which was primarily created by the media and law enforcement agencies. Regarding the arrests and prosecutions of Italian organized criminal, Smith argues:

... we could almost sleep well, except for the two concurrent crime stories that command our attention: 1) our national failure to control a drug trade in which the major traffickers are not Italian; and 2) the rise in exorbitant white-collar crimes, either proven or still under investigation on Wall Street and the Defense industry. Put them next to the Mafia and ask yourself:

What is organized crime - really? (Smith, 1990).

Smith's view of organized crime is that it is merely a series of "enterprises" occurring along a spectrum of legitimacy. "Illicit enterprise", or illegal businesses should be the focus of organized crime studies and research.

The debate over the social context of organized crime is compounded by research difficulties in studying this phenomenon (Morris and Hawkins, 1970).

Investigators and scholars often have little or no direct experience with organized crime, and they focus on events visible to outsiders, such as murders of reputed mob leaders, or on material made available by law enforcement agencies, such as transcripts of wiretapped conversations between organized criminals (Best and Luckenbill, 1994). Such evidence is subject to widely varying interpretations. Media accounts are suspect because of the tendency of journalists to oversimplify the issues and to emphasize the sensational. Journalists frequently simply summarize assertions in official law enforcement reports, rather than testing those assertions independently.

Mob Autobiographies reveal numerous contradictions, a tendency for authors to vindicate themselves, and a inclination for self-glorification (Potter, 1994). Government reports, court files, and data collected by regulatory bodies also have severe problems. There is no guarantee that such reports are bias free. Access to such information is not always possible and law enforcement agents are not always cooperative with researchers seeking information. The primary goal of law enforcement agents is to prosecute offenders, therefore such reports are highly biased. Finally, it is highly unlikely that an official law enforcement agency would turn over information contradicting its "official" position on organized crime to researchers.
end Feisty

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