The Mafia started early in the 9th century. This was the period in which the Arab forces occupied Sicily. Sicilians needed a place to escape to. The word Mafia means refuge in Arab language. The Normans invaded a Sicily in the 11th century. Once again they were forced to work for these invad...

The Rise and Fall of the Italian Mafia in the U.S. The Italian mafia was originally formed in the year 1282 as a terrorist and freedom fighter group. It was a secret society to unite the native Sicilian people so that they could evade the attacks of the French and the Arabs. In fact, one of seve...

The Origin and Expansion of the Italian Mafia Mafia. The word that continues to make many quake in fear at the mere mention of it. The Mafia is the longest lasting structured crime organization, it's origins dating back to the 1200's. In those early years the Mafia had...

David Visconti Organized Crime Over the past month, as I have been going to work with Sgt. Blake Gilmore, there has been much talk about organized crime ever since the second in charge, the underboss, Al Bruno was shot. It was a big story and every time I go into his office, something n...

What is the Mafia? Many people ponder the true definition of "Mafia". The literal translation of the word "Mafia" means "my daughter." According to Rick Porello of American Mafia.com, the Mafia, more specifically the Italian-American Mafia, is a group of criminals organized into "families," and ope...

Organized Crime When most people think of the Mafia they think, murderers and gamblers. But in fact the Mafia is more than just a bunch of "wise guys" sitting around gambling. For years organized crime families have provided for many and brought wealth to their communities. In the ea...

"American Me" is a movie, made in 1992, directed by and starring Edward James Olmos. This movie based on a true story, about a Mexican-American male spinning over half his life in prison. He grew up in the street of East Los Angeles, were he joined the local neighborhood gang. He and his f...

Martin Scorcese's GoodFellas, a 1990 film based on Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguys, follows Henry Hill through his life in organised crime. The movie begins when he first enters the neighbourhood organised crime branch in Brooklyn, New York, and finishes when he leaves it to go into the...

Martin Scorcese's GoodFellas, a 1990 film based on Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguys, follows Henry Hill through his life in organised crime. The movie begins when he first enters the neighbourhood organised crime branch in Brooklyn, New York, and finishes when he leaves it to go into the FBI&a...

Organized crime has always been occupied with a negative label. Perhaps this is due to the constantly changing environment in America as well as the social state of its homeland, Europe. Our society is convinced that the so-called Mafia is a family of pure criminals, pimps, and murderers. Whateve...

In Claire Sterling's Thieves' World, new light is shed on the current status of organized crime in the world today. The days of crime families battling it out in the streets is a thing of the past. The fall of communism in Soviet Russia and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in Germany opened the...

In the original film, Louka is 55 year old play boy who has nothing going for him. He used to work as a cellist for the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra until he got kicked out. These days, he plays funerals at the city crematorium. Strapped for cash and lacking many material comforts, Louka frequently ...

Are they the same? Organized crime is bad. That statement is just about all I knew about organized crime before this assignment. I never saw any of the 'classic' movies about the Mafia, or even bothered to read anything about them. The only kind of crime that I knew about was the kind...

Organized Crime Organized crime has plagued America for a full century and has had a serious affect on Society. Organized crime is any group having some manner of formalized structure whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activities. Through violent tactics, organized cri...

INTRODUCTION The mafia is a secret society that consists of an assortment of criminal groups who are divided into sub-divisions called families. It is considered to be a family operated business; in which each family had it's own little private city, that was located within a larger ci...

Discuss the concept of organised crime using the Italian Mafia and the Chinese Triads as case studies. Compare and contrast these organisations and outline the culture and characteristics off these criminal fraternities, and how these characteristics have helped them thrive in the international crim...

The Mob Father I just finished reading the novel The Mob Father. This novel was written by a very talented author George Anastasia. George Anastasia really went into detail about the Philadelphia Crime Family. The book talked about very specific things that happened in the fifties with the Phila...

John Gotti John Gotti lived in one of those crowded dirty apartment. A young John Gotti seeked an impoverished existence with his parents and eleven sisters and brothers. His father brarely ever worked and when he did only at menial jobs. Also had a problem risking the money that the family ...