The Beginning

The mafia has its roots in Sicily. It was not a hierarchy, but a group of men together called themselves, “the mafia” and kept control over the land defending it from the foreigners. This was the scenario in the middle ages when Sicily was being dominated under the foreign rule. The mafia followed the strict law of silence or also known as Omerta that quickly assisted in their increase of power and soon the mafia operated outside of the law.

Spread of Mafia

At the beginning of the twentieth century, member of the mafia migrated to USA and hence organised criminal activities took root in the country and then on the organisation’s reach has encompassed all over the world.  In the beginning when the Italian immigrants were trying to carve a niche for themselves in America in a time of lack and scarcity, the expansion of the criminal activities was inevitable. The year 1920 marked the beginning of the Mafia dominance in America.

Truce among families

The Mafia in US is the most organised form of crime that works in secrecy. In the past the families and power hungry bosses engaged in bloody gang wars that lead to loss of life and property. It also directed the government’s attention towards them, thus making their sole intention of making profit, very difficult. Later on the Commission was developed that was agreed upon the families would find cooperation among themselves; it was more likely that the families agreed to stay out of each other’s way.

Some Terms Related to the Mafia

The most famous being the term Mafia itself, which means “honoured men”. Other terms were Omerta, this is the mafia law of silence. “Complete man” is the person who has been inducted into the family. The lieutenant is known as the “Capo”, previously in Sicily the Capo was actually the head of the family. “La Cosa Nostra” is a term that describes the structure of American Mafia or its hierarchy.

Mafia Belief

Those of Italian parentage could only be inducted into the family. But mafia was not political nor a religious motivated organisation. Since the mafia had an Italian heritage and most of the Mafioso was Catholic, the mobster or the potential made man had to take oath of loyalty before being inducted into the family. Once the man was part of the family, his sole priority was the family that gained precedence even before his birth family, God or anything else.