American Mafia

The American Mafia is a network of Italian-American organized-crime groups in the United States, organized into families and commonly called the Mafia or Cosa Nostra.

Mafia family: A hierarchical organized-crime group traditionally led by a boss and divided into ranks and crews. Families are the American Mafia’s basic units, with separate leadership and territory.
Sicilian Mafia: A set of criminal organizations originating in Sicily, with traditions and structures that influenced some Italian-American groups. Sicilian networks and customs shaped the Mafia’s early American development.
Al Capone: A Chicago crime boss who became nationally notorious during Prohibition. Capone illustrates the prominence and public visibility of Mafia-linked crime in the Prohibition era.
Italian-American Camorra: A criminal organization rooted in the Neapolitan Camorra tradition, distinct from the Sicilian Mafia and its American families. The Camorra is often confused with the Mafia but has a different organizational lineage.
Commission (American Mafia): A leadership council formed by major American Mafia families to settle disputes and coordinate shared interests. The Commission provided a forum for cooperation beyond any single family.
Black Hand (extortion): An extortion practice associated with Italian immigrant communities in the United States, especially in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Black Hand crimes preceded the consolidated Mafia families and influenced public perceptions.
Carlo Gambino: A Sicilian-born American Mafia boss who led the Gambino crime family for decades. His long leadership exemplifies the influence wielded by a major family boss.
Yakuza: Japanese organized-crime groups historically associated with distinctive membership practices and public presence. The Yakuza provides a comparison between different national traditions of organized crime.
Omertà: A code of silence that discourages cooperation with law enforcement and disclosure of criminal activity. Silence and intimidation helped shield members and operations from prosecution.
Prohibition in the United States: The nationwide constitutional ban on producing, importing, transporting, and selling alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933. Prohibition created a lucrative illegal liquor market that strengthened organized-crime groups.

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