Traditional Organized Crime Groups

Traditional Organized Crime Groups

Criminal Justice

The task at hand is to report upon the organized criminal activities of the Italian mafia that is partially transplanted from Italy and its islands, as well as the mafia culture that is indigenous to the United States. The mafia is somewhat of an open secret. People know and believe that it exists, yet it is not a topic that people often discuss publically, and for good reason. Secrecy and discretion is key to the existence of the traditional organized crime group of the Italian O.C., also known as La Costra Nostra. The mafia, like the media, the government, the prison system, and education, is an industry. As the world changes, the mafia diversifies its activities to keep up with the times, creating as many streams of revenue from as many directions as possible. The Italian mafia has long since been a group that has been both glorified and vilified in American culture. It is not what many parents would wish for their children, yet one aspect of the modern Italian-American mafia that surprised me is how much it is thriving in the 21st century. There must be a lot of soldiers in the O.C. In order for so much profit to be made from so many avenues at once. The mafia must be effective in its criminal activities if task forces from numerous government agencies continue to run investigations on alleged members and alleged activities. The Italian-American O.C. is doing very well -- what does this mean for our society?

I was surprised to learn the age of this type of group and culture. According to the FBI, La Costra Nostra has roots that go as far back in history has 3,000 years ago, with the modern form of what we know as the mafia having formed in the early 1800's, several decades before the Industrial Revolution and the mass exodus of immigrants to the United States via Ellis Island, where many Italian immigrants gained access to America. (2013) I found it very interesting that the modern mafia formed so closely to the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was key to the transplantation of mafia culture and practice to America. Because so many of the early immigrants went through Ellis Island in New York City, it is no surprise that today, the majority of mafia activity in the country occurs in New York City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. (FBI, 2013). I was additionally surprised to learn, as part of the LCN history, that the first formal "mafia incident" occurred in New Orleans in 1890. (FBI, 2013) That is not a city bereft of mafia activities, but neither is it a New York City, for example. Members of the LCN number in the hundreds of thousands. (ABC, 2013; FBI, 2013) This makes sense, as the abundance of criminal activity committed in the United States could not be perpetrated without a network of dedicated criminals tied together through a shared history and culture. The shared history, blood lines, culture, etc. is part of what keeps the members of LCN so tightly knit, making them all the more of a severe threat. (FBI, 2013)