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"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the organized crime groups from Italy. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of disputes between criminals as well as the organization and enforcement of illicit agreements between criminals through the use of threat or violence. Mafias often engage in secondary activities such as gambling, loan sharking, drug-trafficking, prostitution, and fraud.
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References
- Citations
- ↑ miklem (2018-11-04). "Gabillott". Il-Miklem. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
Fi żminijietna, Il-kelma gabillott, tirriferi għal dak il-bidwi li jaħdem l-għelieqi. F'Malta u fi Sqallija tal-Medjuevu l-gabillott kien dak li jieħu ħsieb jiġbor il-qbiela mingħand il-bdiewa għan-nom tas-sid tal-art.
[In these contemporary times, the word 'gabillott' refers to the farmer that works fields. In Medieval Malta and Sicily, the 'gabillott' was the person that collected the rent from the farmers in the name of the landowner.] - ↑ Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia, pp. 83-84
- ↑ Dickie, Cosa Nostra, pp. 132-33
- ↑ Albini & McIllwain, Deconstructing Organized Crime, pp. 31-35
- ↑ Lupo, History of the Mafia, pp. 36-37
Sources
- Albini, Joseph L.; McIllwain, Jeffrey Scott (2012). Deconstructing Organized Crime: An Historical and Theoretical Study , Jefferson NC: McFarland, ISBN 978-0-7864-9299-2
- Dickie, John (2004). Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia, London: Coronet, ISBN 0-340-82435-2
- Gambetta, Diego (1993). The Sicilian Mafia: The Business of Private Protection, London: Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-80742-1
- Lupo, Salvatore (2009). History of the Mafia , New York: Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0-231-13134-6