Italian Organised Crime: Mafia Associations and Criminal Enterprises

The article reviews the different forms of organised crime in Italy. To begin with, it focuses on the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, Italy's two largest and most powerful mafia associations. With their centuries-old histories, articulated structures, sophisticated ritual and symbolic apparatuses and claim to exercise a political dominion, these associations have few parallels in the world of organised crime. In its second section, the article considers other groups and networks that are--with varying degrees of justification--also routinely described as organised crime: these range from the Neapolitan camorra to Apulian organised crime and the so-called new 'foreign mafie' and other criminal entrepreneurs. Whereas the new Italian and foreign players are likely to expand their activities on Italy's illegal markets, the future of Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta is more uncertain and largely depends on the decisions made by the public administrations.     

意大利黑手党(Mafia)的形成与演变

一、意大利黑手党的产生与黑手党王国的确立意大利是黑手党最早的发源地和根据地。现在意大利有三个主要的黑手党组织 ,即西西里 (ｃｉｃｉｌｙ)的科萨·诺斯特拉 (Ｃｏｓａｎｏｓｔｒａ) ,那不勒斯 (Ｎｅａｐｏｌｉｔａｎ)的克莫拉 (Ｃａｍｍｏｒａ)和卡拉布里亚 (Ｃａｌａｂｒｉａｎ)的恩特兰盖塔 (Ｎｄｒａｎｇｈｅｔａ)。此外 ,还有一些较小的黑手党组织。这些黑手党组织虽然都有各自的特点和传统 ,但是它们更有许多共同之处 ,因此 ,一般统称为黑手党。在这些组织中 ,西西里的科萨·诺斯特拉由于其历史悠久 ,组织严密 ,规模庞大 ,犯罪势…     

A brief history of forensic entomology.

Apart from an early case report from China (13th century) and later artistic contributions, the first observations on insects and other arthropods as forensic indicators were documented in Germany and France during mass exhumations in the late 1880s by Reinhard and Hofmann, whom we propose recognizing as co-founders of the discipline. After the French publication of Mégnin's popular book on the applied aspects of forensic entomology, the concept quickly spread to Canada and the US. At the time, researchers recognized that the lack of systematic observations of forensically important insects stood in the way of their use as indicators of postmortem interval. General advances in insect taxonomy, and ecology helped close this gap over the following decades.Many early case reports dealt with alleged child homicides, including the suspected use of sulphuric acid. In this context, it was shown that ants, cockroaches, and freshwater arthropods could produce postmortem artifacts suggestive of child abuse.After the World Wars, few forensic entomology cases entered the scientific literature. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Leclecq and Nuorteva were primarily responsible for maintaining the method in Central Europe, with a focus on case work. Since then, basic research in the US, Russia and Canada has opened the way to the routine use of entomology in forensic investigations. The following article gives a brief overview of historic developments in the field. A major focus is on the work done between 1850 and 1950. Since sources from that time remain difficult to track down, the article also includes a historic bibliographical overview on forensic entomology of that era.     

Institutions and Mafia in Italy: The case of Messina

Professor Marcello Saija is the director of the Department of European and International Studies at the University of Messina; Dr Daniela Irrera is a researcher at the Department of European and International Studies of the University of Messina.     

Mafia markers: assessing organized crime and its impact upon societies

This study develops a causal model of the independent effect of organized crime, rule of law, and corruption on national wealth. To measure the level of organized crime a Composite Organized Crime Index (COCI) is constructed combining data on the perceived prevalence of organized crime, unsolved homicides, grand corruption, money-laundering and the extent of the black economy, drawing on the World Economic Forum’s annual surveys among CEOs of larger companies, the Merchant International Group’s assessments of investment risks in 150 countries, studies by the World Bank Institute, and official crime statistics. The findings of the explorative analysis show that a political strategy of tolerating activities of local criminal groups in the hope of beneficial effects on the wealth of a nation is unlikely to bring the expected results. Although some types of organized crime may bring in significant revenues, tolerating Mafia-type activities implies letting the Trojan horse of racketeering and grand corruption into the walls of government.

The search for the Russian Mafia

After the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, newspapers, films, academic researchers and intelligence agencies warned against a new phenomenon in organized crime: the “Russian mafiya.” In fact, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Western European countries have noted an increase in the number of criminals from Central and Eastern Europe. In the mid-1990s, the Dutch judicial authorities made the issue a priority and established a special team to investigate crime with links to Eastern Europe. From 1999 to 2005, the KT NON crime team published several studies and reports on serious crime of this nature. In this paper, the authors, who were assigned to the KT NON crime team, discuss the findings of the two most recent publications on the “causes, nature, scale and threat of Central and Eastern European crime” and “mobile banditry,” respectively. They come to the conclusion that among other forms of crime, the phenomenon of mobile banditry seems to be the most serious manifestation of crime from post-communist countries. The Russian mafia was not found.

论黑社会性质组织的经济特征

根据我国刑法规定,黑社会性质组织具有四个特征,其中经济特征是一个十分重要的特征,对于黑社会性质组织的认定具有重要意义。黑社会性质组织的经济特征表现为一定的经济实力,这里的经济实力可以从获取经济利益的手段、规模和目的这三个方面进行考察。在认定黑社会性质组织经济特征的时候,应当将黑社会性质组织与恶势力集团等犯罪类型加以区分,同时对于套路贷等案件中的经济特征的认定应当更加关注其所获取的经济利益是否用于支持黑社会性质组织的违法犯罪活动。只有这样,才能将黑社会性质组织与采用暴力手段的经营活动和采用暴力手段的牟利活动加以科学区分。     

Italian civil society against the Mafia: From perceptions to expectations

This study presents the results of a survey of 72 civil society organisations in Italy that work against the Mafia. The study investigated their perceptions of the anti-Mafia movement in four main areas: (1) government performance, (2) civil society performance, (3) the government-civil society relationship, and (4) the Mafia phenomenon and anti-Mafia policies. The study first revealed that civil society is not satisfied with the government's performance on anti-Mafia policies. Second, civil society finds its own performance relatively better than the government's, although it needs improvement. Third, civil society perceives a conflict between the government and civil society concerning anti-Mafia policies. Fourth, the Mafia-politician network is seen by civil society as the most important factor in the Mafia's power. Finally, creating a culture of lawfulness is perceived as the most influential anti-Mafia measure attainable.     

涉黑犯罪与权力腐败关系之探源

只要对目前中国涉黑组织犯罪的现状稍做分析就不难发现,权力的失职、滥用等腐败行为为涉黑组织产生和迅速膨胀、蔓延提供了有利条件。与此同时,涉黑组织的发展又加剧了权力的腐败。因此,探讨涉黑组织犯罪与权力腐败之间的关系,无论对于防范和打击涉黑组织犯罪还是对于预防和遏制权力腐败都具有积极的意义。     

Art crime: a brief introduction

Art crime refers to criminally punishable acts involving works of art and includes a spectrum of phenomena as diverse as art thefts and confiscations, faked and forged art, vandalism, and illicit excavation and export of antiquities and other archaeological materials. This paper provides a cursory introduction to a variety of art crimes, and discusses the consequences of such crimes.     

The Black Mafia: African-American organized crime in Chicago 1890–1960

The historical role of African-Americans in organized crime in the UnitedStates has been greatly ignored by the academic community. What researchthat does exist argues that black Americans played a minor role in theethnic gambling and vice industries that existed in many American citiesat the beginning of the Twentieth Century. This view is supported by the alien conspiracy theory, which argues that the participation of African-Americansand other minorities in syndicated vice and crime followed the decline oftraditional Italian American organized crime groups. This research arguesthat sophisticated African-American organized crime groups in Chicago existedindependently of Italian American organized crime and that African-Americans eventually played an important role in the activities of the Chicago Outfit,the traditional Italian American organized group in Chicago.     

Manners of Killing and Rituals in Apulian Mafia Murders*

Abstract: The Apulian (South of Italy) territory saw the birth of a criminal organization called Sacra Corona Unita (SCU, United Holy Crown) which transformed the rules of traditional mafia organizations. This work examined 83 victims of the SCU between 1980 and 2000. The bodies were mainly of SCU members and in some cases, of police and law enforcement officers and other citizens caught in the crossfire. Some of these were discovered; thanks to the collaboration of “repented” SCU members who became police informers. The condition of the bodies varied in relation to the date and manner of killing. In some cases anthropometric research methods were necessary. In 73% of the cases, lesions of the head were the only marks left on the body. In conclusion, the existence of some social aspects connected with the symbolisms and membership rites that characterized the origin, evolution, and decline of the SCU is stressed.