Transnational Crime – PowerPoint Presentation

THE MAFIA

An Italian organized crime group that is mainly based in Italy and the united statesThe “mafia” evolved from Sicily, Italy.The group was as a result of revolt against the foreign rule that had colonized Sicily.The mafia formed as a way to take over ruling and have their own form of justiceInitially, the mafia was not tied to any criminal activities

(Esteves,2015)

Origins of the criminal mafia

By the 19th century the mafia formed groups The groups were used to extort money from locals.Initially, the extortion was non violentEventually, the Sicilian mafia started becoming aggressive and violent while extorting money from land owners.

(World News,2016)

Spread of the mafia

Through their code of “loyalty “ other similar criminal groups started emerging in America by the 1920’showever, the mafia was threatened by the existing Italian governmentIn 1950, the mafia reemerged with new approach to criminal activitiesThrough the years since the world war II the mafia had built ties with other criminal groups in the international trade of narcotics.

(Scherer,2016)

Criminal activities of the mafia

The American mafia , though a different entity from the Sicilian mafia, was organized in selling prohibited liquor in the united statesThe American mafia the evolved to participating in other “organized criminal activities”The organized criminal activities included prostitution, loan sharking and briberyJust like the Sicilian mafia , they conducted their business with the help of people in “high” public offices

(Buccellato & Burnstein,2011)

Criminal activities cont’d

Both the American and Sicilian mafia were involved in numerous murder cases They killed people who did not cooperate or who were “disloyal” to themThey worked with other gangs in human and narcotics traffickingAdditionally, they intimidated public officials to ensure their criminal activities were smoothly running b with minimal interference from the authorities

(Crime Scene Response Unit,2017)

Impact on justice

The Italian mafia had a huge impact on justice The mafia used bribery to subvert the lawThey used intimidation to ensure that the people were afraid of testifying or providing evidence in any case in the court systemThey infiltrated public offices to ensure that they had loyal people who could not prosecute themIn some cases they killed witnesses to protect themselves from being arraigned in court

(FBI,2017)

Role in transnational crime

The mafia since its inception has been directly and indirectly involved in transnational criminal activitiesThe mafia directly engages in human , narcotics and weapon trafficking activities around the worldThe mafia indirectly engages in other criminal activities with the partnership with other criminal groups such as the Mexican cartelsThey control and are directly involved in money laundering They also engage in influencing international political outcomes through rigging of elections

(UNODC,2016)

Role of socialization and religion

The mafia worked through a code of conduct which was mainly religion basedThe code of conduct was influenced by the trait of “loyalty”Loyalty is a trait which is largely discussed in the Christian religion the Christian religion played a major role in ensuring that the mafia were able to exist in societyThey used Christianity as cover of the underlying criminal activities

(The Holy Rosary ,2017)

Role of socialization and religion cont’d

The mafia was mainly made of people of Italian descentThe mafia socialized with other ethnic groups to0 ensure the “safety” of their criminal activitiesThey believed in “loyalty” which is a culturally Italian trait that is highly regardedThus the members of the mafia were expected to be loyal to the mafiaThe Italian culture also created a serene environment for the running of the mafiaReligion and culture ensured the mafia was an organization that was believed to be doing “good”

conclusion

The mafia originated from ItalyThe mafia was initially a non criminal groupThe mafia became criminal when it begun extorting farmers The mafia spread its organization to America and other parts of the globeThe mafia has became an internationally recognized syndicate of human, drugs and weapon traffickingThey use Christianity as a “mask” for their criminal activities

References

Buccellato, J., & Burnstein, S. (2011). Organized Crime In Detroit: Forgotten But Not Gone. Detroit.cbslocal.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017, from http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/06/24/organized-crime-in-detroit-forgotten-but-not-gone/Crime Scene Response Unit. (2017). Public Safety and Security. Retrieved 8 October 2017, from http://www.mass.gov/eopss/law-enforce-and-cj/criminal-investig/crime-lab/sections-and-units/crime-scene-response-unit.htmlESTEVEZ, J. (2015). Where Are New York’s 5 Mob Families?. New Theory Magazine. Retrieved 7 October 2017, from http://newtheory.com/where-are-new-yorks-5-families/FBI. (2017). Welcome to FBI.gov. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 8 October 2017, from https://www.fbi.govHart, J., Dekker, P., & Halman, L. (2013). Religion and civil society in Europe. Dordrecht: Springer.Lupo, S., & Shugaar, A. (2011). History of the Mafia. New York: Columbia University Press.Natarajan, M. (2010). International Crime and Justice. Cambridge University Press.Outlaw Empires : Story Of Italian Mafia. (2016). World News. Retrieved 7 October 2017, from https://wn.com/the_italian_mafiaScherer, S. (2016). The mafia and a very special flower arrangement. Reuters. Retrieved 7 October 2017, from http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/italy-mafia-flowers/Sergi, A. (2017). From Mafia to Organised Crime. Cham: Springer International Publishing.The Holy Rosary | ANF Articles | Table. (2017). Americaneedsfatima.org. Retrieved 8 October 2017, from https://www.americaneedsfatima.org/Table/ANF-Articles/The-Holy-Rosary/UNODC. (2016). Transnational organized crime threat assessments. Unodc.org. Retrieved 8 October 2017, from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/data-and-analysis/TOC-threat-assessments.html