Unit of an organized crime syndicate
A
crime family
is a unit of an
organized crime
syndicate, particularly in
Italian organized crime
and especially in the
Sicilian Mafia
and
Italian-American Mafia
, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activities. In its strictest sense, a
family
(or
clan
) is a criminal
gang
, operating either on a unitary basis or as an organized collection of smaller gangs (e.g.,
cells
,
factions
,
crews
, etc.). In turn, a family can be a sole "enterprise" or part of a larger
syndicate
or
cartel
. Despite the name, most crime families are generally not based on or formed around actual familial connections, although they do tend to be ethnically based, and many members may in fact be related to one another.
Origins
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]
The origins of the term come from the
Sicilian Mafia
. In the
Sicilian language
, the word
cosca
, which is the crown of spiny, closely folded leaves on plants such as the
artichoke
or the
thistle
, symbolizes the tightness of relationships between members. The word
cosca
is also used for
clan
. In the early days of
the Mafia
, loose groups of bandits organized themselves into associations that over time became more organized, and they adopted the term based on both of its meanings.
As the Mafia was imported into the
United States
in the late 19th century, the
English
translation of the word
cosca
was more at
clan
or
family
.
The term can be a point of confusion, especially in
popular culture
and
Hollywood
, because in the truest sense, crime families are not necessarily blood
families
who happen to be involved in criminal activity, and they are not necessarily based on blood relationships. In Sicily and America, most Mafia bosses are not related to their predecessors.
[1]
[2]
Films like
The Godfather
and a spate of late-1980s "Mafia princess" television movies underscore this confusion.
It can further be speculated that the Mafia was simply emulating, to a certain degree, a more medieval order in which a
noble family
would more or less serve as the power in a local village, in a sort of inverted
hacienda
culture.
The
Calabrian
'Ndrangheta
is, however, purported to be organized along familial lines as
'ndrine
.
Nevertheless, the term stuck, both in the minds of popular culture as well as the national law enforcement community, and eventually began to be used to describe individual units of not only Sicilian gangsters, but those whose origins lie in other parts of Italy (e.g., the aforementioned '
Ndrangheta
, the Neapolitan
Camorra
, the Apulian
Sacra Corona Unita
, etc.). Indeed, the "family" mystique persists to such a great degree that in the late 1990s, after many
Camorra
leaders were imprisoned during a large-scale crackdown in
Naples
, many of their wives, girlfriends, daughters, and even mothers took temporary control of their gangs, in a widespread phenomenon of Camorra "godmothers".
Sometimes the term is used to describe distinct units of crime syndicates of other ethnic and national origin, such as the
Irish Mob
, Japanese
Yakuza
, Chinese
Tongs
and
Triads
,
Indian mafia
, Colombian and Mexican
drug cartels
,
Albanian mafia
,
Russian mafia
. Although not necessarily the norm, some of these entities, like the 'Ndrangheta, may also be organized along blood-family lines.
Crime families
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]
See also
[
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]
- ^
Diego Gambetta. The Sicilian Mafia: The Business of Private Protection. 1993
- ^
The Everything Mafia Book: True-life Accounts of Legendary Figures, Infamous Crime Families, and Nefarious Deeds. Scott M. Dietche. Everything Books, 2009. Page 80
Bibliography
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Families
| Five Families
of
New York City
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East Coast
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Midwestern/Western
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Mostly defunct
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Structure
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Events
| Meetings
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Hearings
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Wars
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Trials
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Closely related
and affiliated
organizations
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Other topics
| Government
operations
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Crimes
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Related articles
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