Mafia Organizations – The Visible Hand of Criminal Enterprises

How do mafias operate? How do they recruit, control, conduct legal and illegal activities, and use violence? Why do they establish such a complex mix of rituals, rules, and codes of conduct? And how do they differ? Why do some mafias commit far more murders than others? This book provides insight into mafias as organizations, through a collaborative analysis of historical accounts, official data, research sources, and interviews. Catino presents a comparative study of seven mafias from around the world, from three Italian mafias to the American Cosa Nostra, Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, and Russian Mafia. He identifies the organizational architecture that characterizes these criminal groups and relates different organizational models to the use of violence. Furthermore, he presents a theory on the specific functionality of mafia rules and discusses the main organizational dilemmas that mafias face. This book shows that understanding the organizational logic of mafias is an indispensable step in confronting it.