Textbooks versus movies as educational mediums

¶ … social control theory in the context of organized crime affiliation. Organized crime families use social control as a means to control their destiny and their family's behaviors. It may not be a legitimate explanation for the criminal behavior of the Mafia and others, but by creating important and demanding social controls, criminal leaders maintain control and dominance over their crime family and other families that might hope to take control away from them.

Social control is a sociological term referring to social systems that control behavior, both individual and group, that result in reward or greater social standing. Nowhere is this more applicable than in the world of organized crime. The legendary Mafia film, "The Godfather," is an excellent illustration of the use of social control by the Mafia to control its members and its activities. As Don of the Corleone crime family, the Godfather rules with an iron hand. His social control is almost absolute, but there are some cracks in his facade. He retaliates with violence when his family is threatened, and murder is common throughout the film. He controls his family as the patriarch, but there are also many social controls on his crime "family" throughout the film, and this shows how the Mafia creates its own sociology and its own very strict modes of behavior.

Corleone's methods relied on fear and violence to keep his crime family in control. He issues orders and special favors during his daughter's wedding, and yet seems like a paternal grandfatherly type as he strokes a pet cat in his lap. The film's opening clearly shows the control the Don has over his real family and his crime family, and clearly spells out the correct behaviors in both. One study on social control and organized crime notes, "The kin-centered system of social control had its roots in the Italian Mezzogiorno (south of Italy), where the family was the 'first source of power'" (Chin, Kelly, and Schatzberg, 1994, p. 128). True to this definition, in his crime family, the Don rules supreme, and uses extreme methods of social control to ensure his family survives and remains strong in the Mafia world. He "takes care" of his family by using threats of violence, revenge, and even murder to keep the family in line. The ultimate form of control that brings the biggest reward is to do something the Don needs. To grant him a "favor." Then, he is in debt, and, by his standards, he must repay that debt. The Don is a master of favors, and so, usually, he is the one granting the favor and expecting repayment. This form of social control ensures he will remain strong and so will his family and that if anything happens to the family, there will be many debtors ready and willing to help the Don in his hour of need. He uses social control brilliantly to ensure his own superiority and rule over his "kingdom."