The Italian Anti-Mafia System between Practice and Symbolism: Evaluating Contemporary Views on the Italian Structure Model against Organized Crime

© The Author 2015. This article describes and analyses conceptualizations of mafias and anti-mafia in Italy across institutions in Italy. It first interprets criminal law provisions and the value of legal norms and establishes the links between the social dimension of mafias and the symbolism of certain anti-mafia responses. Secondly, the article seeks to link the law with institutional perceptions of the threat of organized crime through in-depth interviews with experts within the anti-mafia system. The purposes of this article are to construct and de-construct the Italian conceptualization of organized crime and mafia, to understand how strong is the link between the conceptualization of mafias and the main elements of the anti-mafia policing model (the Structure Model), and to start a discussion on whether, and to what extent, the anti-mafia system can be exported outside Italy to fight organized crime.

[1]  F. Alagna,et al.  Non-conviction Based Confiscation: Why the EU Directive is a Missed Opportunity , 2015 .

[2]  A. Sergi.  Organised crime in English criminal law: Lessons from the United States on conspiracy and criminal enterprise , 2015 .

[3]  A. Sergi.  Divergent mind-sets, convergent policies: Policing models against organized crime in Italy and in England within international frameworks , 2015 .

[4]  A. Sergi.  Mafia and politics as concurrent governance actors. Revisiting political power and crime in Southern Italy , 2015 .

[5]  A. Colletti,et al.  Italian Mafias in Europe: An Information Gap? , 2015 .

[6]  Antonio La Spina,et al.  The Fight Against the Italian Mafia , 2014 .

[7]  Letizia Paoli,et al.  The Oxford handbook of organized crime , 2014 .

[8]  L. Paoli.  The Italian Mafia , 2014 .

[9]  A. Sergi.  Organised Crime in Criminal Law: Conspiracy and Membership Offences in Italian, English and International Frameworks , 2014 .

[10]  Helena Carrapico.  Analysing the European Union's responses to organized crime through different securitization lenses , 2014 .

[11]  A. Sergi,et al.  Different manifestations of organised crime and corruption in Italy: a socio-legal analysis , 2014 .

[12]  A. Sergi.  Structure versus Activity. Policing Organized Crime in Italy and in the UK, Distance and Convergence , 2014 .

[13]  A. Sergi,et al.  Types of organised crime in Italy. The multifaceted spectrum of Italian criminal associations and their different attitudes in the financial crisis and in the use of Internet technologies , 2014 .

[14]  L. Paoli,et al.  Organized crime: a contested concept , 2014 .

[15]  A. Spina.  Fondazione RES, Alleanze nell'ombra. Mafie ed economie locali in Sicilia e nel Mezzogiorno, a cura di Sciarrone, Donzelli 2011; Mafie del Nord. Strategie criminali e contesti locali, a cura di Sciarrone, Donzelli, 2014 , 2014 .

[16]  Paolo Campana,et al.  Understanding Then Responding to Italian Organized Crime Operations across Territories , 2013 .

[17]  Felia Allum.  Italian Organized Crime in the UK , 2012 .

[18]  N. Boister.  An Introduction to Transnational Criminal Law , 2012 .

[19]  R. Sciarrone.  Mafie, relazioni e affari nell'area grigia , 2011 .

[20]  F. Chiesa.  La convergenza : mafia e politica nella Seconda Repubblica , 2010 .

[21]  Tom Obokata.  Transnational Organised Crime in International Law , 2010 .

[22]  Salvatore Lupo,et al.  History of the Mafia , 2009 .

[23]  R. Sciarrone.  Mafie vecchie, mafie nuove. Radicamento ed espansione , 2009 .

[24]  Antonio La Spina,et al.  Recent Anti-Mafia Strategies: The Italian Experience , 2008 .

[25]  Dina Siegel,et al.  Organized crime: Culture, Markets and Policies , 2008 .

[26]  L. Paoli.  The Decline of the Italian Mafia , 2008 .

[27]  Letizia Paoli,et al.  Mafia and organised crime in Italy: The unacknowledged successes of law enforcement , 2007 .

[28]  L. Paoli,et al.  Organised crime and its control policies , 2006 .

[29]  Piero Luigi Vigna.  Fighting Organized Crime, with Particular Reference to Mafia Crimes in Italy , 2006 .

[30]  James O. Finckenauer,et al.  Problems of definition: What is organized crime? , 2005 .

[31]  Gianluca Fulvetti.  The Mafia and the ‘Problem of the Mafia’: Organised Crime in Italy, 1820-1970 , 2004 .

[32]  Benjamin Scotti.  Rico vs. 416-bis: A Comparison of U.S. and Italian Anti-Organized Crime Legislation , 2002 .

[33]  Gaetano Nanula.  La lotta alla Mafia : strumenti giuridici, strutture di coordinamento, legislazione vigente , 1999 .

[34]  L. Paoli.  Criminal Fraternities or Criminal Enterprises , 1998 .

[35]  Diego Gambetta,et al.  The Sicilian mafia: the business of private protection , 1994 .

[36]  P. Pezzino.  Mafia, Stato e società nella Sicilia contemporanea: secoli XIX e XX , 1994 .

[37]  G. Lynch.  RICO: The Crime of Being a Criminal Parts III and IV , 1987 .

[38]  Alan A. Block.  East Side-West Side: Organizing Crime in New York, 1930-50 , 1983 .