Annotated Bibliography 1

Siegal, Dina, and Hans Nelen. Organized Crime: Culture, Markets and Policies. 7. New York: Springer Science, 2008. 15-28. eBook.

I am using only chapter two of this book as it focuses solely on the Italian mafia. This chapter was written by Letizia Paoli and is titled, “The Decline of the Italian Mafia.” The chapter focuses on the Sicilian Cosa Nostra (which is the focus of my paper) and the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta families. The chapter begins with Paoli’s thesis: “Contrary to popular perceptions, my analysis shows that direct antimafia policies, which are anchored in criminal and criminal procedural law and primarily implemented by the criminal justice system, have continued to be quite effective at the beginning of the twenty-first century” (15-16). She then details which types of sources her analysis is based upon, which is helpful because she makes a case for her sources as legitimate. Then Paoli compares these two mafia families to other types of organized crime, specifically petty criminals, international narcotics smugglers, and the Chinese Triads and Japanese Yakuza. She then outlines the organizational structure and goal of the two Italian mafia families: power. The mafia’s thirst for power and their multi-functional purpose are next analyzed. Next Paoli talks about the repression of the mafia by law-enforcement and the mafia member’s reactions. She concludes her chapter with a ‘’where are they now’ type of summary. She then wraps up and proves her thesis.