Mafia
The
Mafia
(also known as "Cosa Nostra") is a Sicilian criminal society which is believed to haveemerged in late 19th century Sicily, and the first such society to be referred to as a mafia (although itis not the first organized criminal society to appear in Italy). It is a loose association of criminal groupsthat share a common organizational structure and code of conduct. Each group, known as a "family","clan" or "cosca", claims sovereignty over a territory in which it operates its rackets ± usually a townor village or a part of a larger city.Offshoots of the Mafia emerged in the United States during the late 19th century following waves of Italian emigration (see the Italian-American Mafia) but also in Canada and Australia.
[1]
However,outside Italy the term "Mafia" is also employed to name any organization operating under a similar structure, whether Sicilian or not; such as the Camorra, the 'Ndrangheta or the Sacra Corona Unita, aswell as foreign organized groups such as the Russian Mafia.
Etymology
There are several theories about the origin of the term "Mafia" (sometimes spelled "Maffia" in earlytexts). The Sicilian adjective mafiusu may derive from the slang Arabic mahyas (), meaning"aggressive boasting, bragging", or marfud meaning "rejected". Roughly translated, it means"swagger", but can also be translated as "boldness, bravado". In reference to a man, mafiusu in 19thcentury Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising, and proud,according to scholar Diego Gambetta.
[2]
In reference to a woman, however, the adjective "mafiusa"means beautiful and attractive.The public's association of the word with the criminal secret society was perhaps inspired by the 1863 play "I mafiusi di la Vicaria" ("The Mafiosi of the Vicaria") by Giuseppe Rizzotto and GaetanoMosca. The words Mafia and mafiusi are never mentioned in the play; they were probably put in thetitle to add a local flair. The play is about a Palermo prison gang with traits similar to the Mafia: a boss, an initiation ritual, and talk of "umirtà" (omertà or code of silence) and "pizzu" (a codeword for extortion money).
[3]
The play had great success throughout Italy. Soon after, the use of the term"mafia" began appearing in the Italian state's early reports on the phenomenon. The word made its firstofficial appearance in 1865 in a report by the prefect of Palermo, Filippo Antonio Gualterio.
[4]
Leopoldo Franchetti, an Italian deputy who travelled to Sicily and who wrote one of the firstauthoritative reports on the mafia in 1876, saw the Mafia as an "industry of violence" and describedthe designation of the term "mafia":"the term mafia found a class of violent criminals ready and waiting for a name to define them,and, given their special character and importance in Sicilian society, they had the right to adifferent name from that defining vulgar criminals in other countries."
[5]
Franchetti saw the Mafia as deeply rooted in Sicilian society and impossible to quench unless the verystructure of the island's social institutions were to undergo a fundamental change.
[6]
Some observers have seen "mafia" as a set of attributes deeply rooted in popular culture, as a "way of being", as illustrated in the definition by the Sicilian ethnographer, Giuseppe Pitrè, at the end of the19th century:"Mafia is the consciousness of one's own worth, the exaggerated concept of individual force asthe sole arbiter of every conflict, of every clash of interests or ideas."
[7]
Accord
it
o urban
l
nd,
t
word
M
af
i
a was f
i
rs
t
used
i
n
t
e S
i
c
ili
an revo
lt
±
t
e S
i
c
ili
an Vespers ± aga
i
ns
t
ru
l
e of
t
e
C
ape
ti
an House of An
j
ou on 30
M
arch 1282. In
t
h
i
s
l
egend,
M
af
i
a
i
s
t
he acronymfor
"
Morte a
ll
a Franc
i
a, Ita
li
a ane
l
a
"
(I
t
a
li
an for
"
ea
t
h
t
o France, I
t
a
l
y cr
i
es!
"
.
[8]
However,
t
h
i
svers
i
on
i
s now d
i
scarded by mos
t
ser
i
ous h
i
s
t
or
i
ans.
"Cosa Nostra" and other names
The S
i
c
ili
an
M
af
i
a has no forma
l
name, as members see no need for one. None
t
he
l
ess,
i
n many I
t
a
li
an pub
li
ca
ti
ons
t
he
t
erm
"C
osa Nos
t
ra
"
i
s used
t
o d
i
s
ti
ngu
i
sh
t
he S
i
c
ili
an
M
af
i
a from o
t
her cr
i
m
i
na
l
ne
t
works
t
ha
t
are a
l
so some
ti
mes referred
t
o as
"
maf
i
as
"
(such as
t
he
C
amorra,
t
he
"
Neapo
lit
an
M
af
i
a
"
.When
t
he Amer
i
can maf
i
oso Joseph Va
l
ach
i
t
es
ti
f
i
ed before
t
he Permanen
t
Subcomm
itt
ee onInves
ti
ga
ti
ons of
t
he U.S. Sena
t
e
C
omm
itt
ee on Governmen
t
Opera
ti
ons
i
n 1962, he revea
l
ed
t
ha
t
Amer
i
can maf
i
os
i
referred
t
o
t
he
i
r organ
i
a
ti
on by
t
he
t
erm cosa nos
t
ra (
"
our
t
h
i
ng
"
or
"t
h
i
s
t
h
i
ng of ours
"
.
[9][10][11]
A
t
t
he
ti
me,
it
was unders
t
ood as a proper name, fos
t
ered by
t
he FBI and d
i
ssem
i
na
t
ed by
t
he med
i
a. The des
i
gna
ti
on ga
i
ned w
i
de popu
l
ar
it
y and a
l
mos
t
rep
l
aced
t
he
t
erm
M
af
i
a. The FBIeven added
t
he ar
ti
c
l
e
t
o
t
he
t
erm, ca
lli
ng
it
La
C
osa Nos
t
ra (
i
n I
t
a
l
y
t
h
i
s ar
ti
c
l
e
i
s no
t
used whenreferr
i
ng
t
o
t
he S
i
c
ili
an
M
af
i
a).I
t
a
li
an
i
nves
ti
ga
t
ors d
i
d no
t
t
ake
t
he
t
erm ser
i
ous
l
y, be
li
ev
i
ng
it
was on
l
y used by
t
he Amer
i
can
M
af
i
a.In 1984,
t
he
M
af
i
a
t
urncoa
t
Tommaso Busce
tt
a revea
l
ed
t
o
t
he an
ti
maf
i
a mag
i
s
t
ra
t
e G
i
ovann
i
Fa
l
cone
t
ha
t
t
he
t
erm was used by
t
he S
i
c
ili
an
M
af
i
a as we
ll
.
[12]
Busce
tt
a d
i
sm
i
ssed
t
he word
"
maf
i
a
"
as a mere
lit
erary crea
ti
on. O
t
her defec
t
ors, such as An
t
on
i
o
C
a
l
derone and Sa
l
va
t
ore
C
on
t
orno, conf
i
rmed
t
heuse of
C
osa Nos
t
ra
t
o descr
i
be
t
he
M
af
i
a.
[13]
M
af
i
os
i
i
n
t
roduce known members
t
o each o
t
her as be
l
ong
i
ng
t
o cosa nos
t
ra (
"
our
t
h
i
ng
"
) or
l
a s
t
essa cosa (
"t
he same
t
h
i
ng
"
), e.g.
"
he
i
s
t
he same
t
h
i
ng, amaf
i
oso, as you
"
.The S
i
c
ili
an
M
af
i
a has used o
t
her names
t
o descr
i
be
it
se
l
f
t
hroughou
t
it
s h
i
s
t
ory, such as
"
TheHonoured Soc
i
e
t
y
"
.
M
af
i
os
i
are known among
t
hemse
l
ves as
"
men of honour
"
or
"
men of respec
t"
.
Structure and compos
i
t
i
on
C
osa Nos
t
ra
i
s no
t
a mono
lit
h
i
c organ
i
a
ti
on, bu
t
ra
t
her a
l
oose assoc
i
a
ti
on of groups knowna
lt
erna
t
e
l
y as
"
fam
ili
es
"
,
"
coscas
"
,
"
borga
t
as
"
or
"
c
l
ans
"
. Today,
C
osa Nos
t
ra
i
s es
ti
ma
t
ed
t
o haveabou
t
100 c
l
ans, w
it
h a
t
o
t
a
l
of a
t
l
eas
t
3,500
t
o 4,000 fu
ll
members.
[14]
M
os
t
are based
i
n wes
t
ernS
i
c
il
y, a
l
mos
t
ha
l
f of
t
hem
i
n
t
he prov
i
nce of Pa
l
ermo,
C
l
an h
i
erarchy
H
i
erarchy of a
C
osa Nos
t
ra c
l
an.
In 1984, the mafioso informant Tommaso
B
uscetta explained to prosecutors the pyramidal commandstructure of a typical clan.
[12]
A clan is led by a "boss" (capofamiglia), who is aided by a second-in-command (a sotto capo or "underboss") and one or more advisers (consigliere). Under his commandare crews of about 10 "soldiers", each led by a capodecina (or sometimes caporegime).Other than its members, Cosa Nostra makes extensive use of "associates". These are people who work for or aid a clan (or even multiple clans) but are not treated as true members. These include corruptofficials and prospective mafiosi. An associate is considered nothing more than a tool; "nothing mixedwith nil."The most powerful boss is often referred to in the media as the capo di tutti capi ("boss of all bosses"),who allegedly commands all the clans of Cosa Nostra. Calogero Vizzini, Salvatore Riina, and
B
ernardo Provenzano were especially influential bosses who have each been described by the mediaand law enforcement as being the "boss of bosses" of their times. However, such a position does notformally exist, according to Mafia turncoats such as
B
uscetta.
[15][16]
Membership
Traditionally, only Sicilian men can become mafiosi, though in recent times there have been reports of women assuming the responsibilities of imprisoned mafioso relatives.
[17][18][19]
Membership and rank in the Mafia are not hereditary. Most new bosses are not related to their predecessor. The Commission forbids relatives from holding positions in inter-clan bodies at the sametime.
[20]
A mafioso's legitimate occupation, if he has any, generally does not affect his prestige within Cosa Nostra.
[21]
Historically, most mafiosi were employed in menial jobs, and many bosses did not work atall,
[21]
but in recent times professionals such as doctors and lawyers have been found among them.
[22]
A prospective mafioso is carefully tested for obedience, discretion and ruthlessness. He is almostalways required to commit murder as his ultimate trial.
[12]
Commission
For many years, the power apparatuses of the individual clans were the sole ruling bodies within theassociation, and they have remained the real centers of power even after superordinate bodies werecreated in Cosa Nostra beginning in the late 1950s (the Sicilian Mafia Commission also known asCommissione or Cupola).
[23]
The Commission is a body of leading Cosa Nostra members who decide on important questionsconcerning the actions of, and settling disputes within the organization. It is composed of representatives of a mandamento (a "district" of three geographically contiguous Mafia families) thatare called capo mandamento or rappresentante. The Commission is not a central government of theMafia, but a representative mechanism for consultation of independent families who decide byconsensus. "Contrary to the wide-spread image presented by the media, these superordinate bodies of coordination cannot be compared with the executive boards of major legal firms. Their power isintentionally limited. And it would be entirely wrong to see in the Cosa Nostra a centrally managed,internationally active Mafia holding company," according to criminologist Letizia Paoli.
[24]
The jurisdiction extends over a province; each province of Sicily has some kind of a Commission,except Messina, Siracusa and Ragusa.
B
eyond the provincial level, details are vague. According to
B
uscetta, a commissione interprovinciale ± interprovincial commission ± was set up in the 1970s,
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