WP2

Part 1

1. Bagley, Ross, et al. "Racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations." American Criminal Law Review, vol. 44, no. 2, spring 2007, pp. 901+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A165938482/OVIC?u=usocal_main&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=ce0dda3c. 

2. Coppola, Francis Ford. “The Godfather”. Paramount Pictures, 1972. 

“The Godfather” is still thought of as one of the greatest movies ever made. Within “The Godfather”, family, respect, honor, and earning your position are valued over everything. Vito Corleone, the head of the Corleone family, has influence all across the US and Italy. This family is Italian-American, and holds onto its Italian traditions and roots. Much of the movie follows the struggle over power between mob families and how this influences Vito. 

3. “Gang Culture Influence in Popular Media.” Annapolis, MD, www.annapolis.gov/656/Gang-Culture-Influence-in-Popular-Media. 

This is a government webpage that provides information for parents so they can shield their children from media that glamorizes gang culture. There are lists of both movies and musical artists that should be avoided. There are quotes pulled from rap songs showing the glamorization of violence and gangs. It warns that many sports idols are involved with gangs. This text is cripplingly ignorant but it provides insight into the fear surrounding gangs. 

4. Harwell, Drew. “The Staggering Numbers That Prove Hollywood Has a Serious Race Problem.” The Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/02/23/its-too-loud-and-other-reasons-oscar-voters-ignore-black-movies/. 

This source describes the difficulties of Black success in Hollywood. The majority of those in power are white males who are interested in movies they can relate to. “Straight Outta Compton” was too foreign, many of them didn’t even watch it. The article presents demographics data on the Academy to prove their point. The article is intended to highlight the racial issues in Hollywood. The ending is hopeful when the author shows the gross income for Black movies and describes how Hollywood responds well to money. 

5. Hennigan, K.M. and Sloane, D. (2013), Improving Civil Gang Injunctions. Criminology & Public Policy, 12: 7-41. https://doi-org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1111/1745-9133.12000

6. Konnikova, Maria. “Why Do We Admire Mobsters?” The New Yorker. September 25, 2015. https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/why-do-we-admire-mobsters.

This source examines society’s obsession with mobsters and how we can distance ourselves from the violence. The author talks about psychological theories to explain this phenomenon. The purpose is to comment/explain the obsession with mobsters. People feel that mobsters are an out-group but not a dangerous one. Unlike other organized crime groups, mobs are admired. The source is weak in that it does not use empirical evidence or many sources. 

7. Landau, Neil. “WHY EVERY SHOW NEEDS TO BE MORE LIKE THE WIRE (‘NOT JUST the FACTS, MA’AM’).” Series (Bologna), vol. 5, no. 1, 2019, pp. 75–86, https://series.unibo.it/article/view/8703/9564.

The author explains the genius of the show and provides dialogue to prove their points. The purpose of the text is to highlight the brilliance of the show while shedding light on aspects that are not generally mentioned. The text highlights the accuracy, character relations, and dialogue as especially strong parts of the show. The show helps to fight stereotypes of gangs and violence, which this article addresses. The author also mentions contextual facts that help to understand the landscape of Baltimore at the time of “The Wire”. This source is written insightfully and clearly and gives the reader a deeper look into the show. 

8. Leiva, Adrian, and David A. Bright. “‘The Usual Suspects’: Media Representation of Ethnicity in Organised Crime.” Trends in Organized Crime, vol. 18, no. 4, 2015, pp. 311–25, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-015-9251-2.

This article focuses on media representation of organized crime groups. The authors discuss factors including ethnicity and emotional reactions in the media. The public likes hearing about mafia-related crimes. There is data taken from Australian articles and information gathered from international media regarding mafia in media. The purpose of this text was to add information to the somewhat unresearched field of mafia representation in Australia. The text is strong in its evidence and organization and there are no apparent weaknesses. 

9. Mastrobuoni, Giovanni. “The Value of Connections: Evidence from the Italian-American Mafia.” The Economic Journal (London), vol. 125, no. 586, 2015, pp. F256–F288, https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12234.

This article looks at how positioning within the mafia can affect economic success. Networks within mafias are intricate, for example, you can’t directly introduce yourself to someone, you must be introduced. This article uses empirical evidence gathered from declassified documents along with housing costs to decipher economic success. Those with Sicilian origin tend to keep a lower profile and live more modest lives. The argument in the text is to prove that this correlation exists and to show that one’s position in the mafia network determines one’s activities. The strength of this paper includes attention to detail and numerical evidence but it lacks real world examples such as names or families. 

10. Neilson, Susie. “Bob Lee killing shows why perception of crime matters — and often contrasts with data.” The San Francisco Chronicle. April 8, 2023. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/san-francisco-crime-homicide-17882927.php

11. Riess, Steven A. “When Chicago Went to the Dogs: Al Capone and Greyhound Racing in the Windy City, 1927–1933.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1998), vol. 112, no. 3, 2019, pp. 265–92, https://doi.org/10.5406/jillistathistsoc.112.3.0265.

12. Schneider, Jane. “Fifty Years of Mafia Corruption and Anti-Mafia Reform.” Current Anthropology, vol. 59, no. S18, 2018, pp. S16–S27, https://doi.org/10.1086/695801.

This text focuses on the rise of mafias in Italy, their power in politics, mafia reform, and more. The author discusses laws that have unsuccessfully attempted to weaken mafias. For example, the Rognoni-La Torre Law criminalized direct members of mafias but did not address everyone else involved in the crimes. This is because of the mafia's ties with the government, making them a somewhat protected group. The purpose of this article is to bring attention to historical patterns of the mafia and to call to action policymakers. The text is strong in terms of details but lacks a lot of information on the mafia in the US. 

13. Scorsese, Martin, et al. The Departed. Two-disc special ed., Distributed by Warner Home Video, 2007.

This film focuses on the Irish Mafia in Boston, Massachusetts. It won Academy Awards and other awards. The representation of the Mafia in this film is satirical, creating a distorted image of organized crime. Francis Costello, an untouchable figure. Later we learn that this is because the police are protecting him. These precarious power positions of Frances and the police are pushed off kilter when high ups in both areas die at the end of the movie. 

14. Sragow, Michael. “Cops, Crooks Connected: Director Martin Scorsese Expertly Traces a Perilous Web Between the Irish Mob and the Police in ‘The Departed.’” McClatchy - Tribune Business News, Tribune Content Agency LLC, 2006, p. 1–.

This film review of “The Departed” examines the plot and stylistic choices made by the director, Martin Scorsese. They do not use evidence other than the movie itself, however, they add specific scenes and quotes. This source dives into the connection between the mob and the police. They discuss how the head of the mob, Costello, wants his environment to be a product of himself, not the other way around. This source analyzes the plot of the movie and the stylistic choices well. One general weakness is that it is short and does not hold much information. 

15. Stille, Alexander. “The Pope Excommunicates the Mafia, Finally.” The New Yorker. June 24, 2014. 

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-pope-excommunicates-the-mafia-finally.

16. Teive, Hélio A. G., and Luciano de Paola. “Neurobehavioral Disorders Locked in Alcatraz: Case Reports on Three Famous Inmates.” Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, vol. 73, no. 8, 2015, pp. 722–24, https://doi.org/10.1590/0004-282X20150075.

A few famous mob bosses had stints at Alcatraz, including Alphonse Gabriel Capone. He was born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York to a recently immigrated Italian family. He started his illegal path young and only stopped when he was given 10 years in federal prison for income tax evasion. He developed many mental issues in prison, and his overall health declined rapidly which led to his death in 1947 due to pneumonia and a stroke. The purpose of this text was to inform the reader of various mental disorders among mob bosses at Alcatraz. This information is helpful as it examines the psychology of mob bosses.

17. "The Target." The Wire, written by David Simon, directed by Clark Johnson and Tim Van Patten, HBO, 2002.

The pilot to the show, this episode lays the groundwork for the show which encompasses gang activity, violence, law enforcement, racism, and human connection. The show focuses on the Barksdale family which is involved in the illegal drug business and who mostly work with poor people of color. Opposingly the Baltimore PD is highlighted in their fight to end street violence. In the first episode the viewer understands the landscape of Baltimore’s rougher neighborhoods and the means of survival. The first scene shows the body of an individual who was killed in relation to drug violence. The episode goes on to demonstrate how law enforcement and the public interact through court hearings and various conversations while illuminating social commentary relating to racism. 

18. Thompson, Carol Y., et al. “REPRESENTING GANGS IN THE NEWS: MEDIA CONSTRUCTIONS OF CRIMINAL GANGS.” Sociological Spectrum, vol. 20, no. 4, 2000, pp. 409–32, https://doi.org/10.1080/02732170050122620.

19. Tovares, Raúl Damacio. Manufacturing the Gang: Mexican American Youth Gangs on Local Television News. Praeger, 2002.

20. Varese, Federico. “Mafia Movements: a Framework for Understanding the Mobility of Mafia Groups.” Global Crime, vol. 12, no. 3, 2011, pp. 218–31, https://doi.org/10.1080/17440572.2011.589597.

Part 2

For this writing assignment, I thought it would be interesting to compare the mafia with gangs. Before beginning this paper, I was interested in the connection between the mafia, made up of mostly white European-Americans, and predominantly black or Latino gangs. I have taken various social work classes where I learned about gangs: their structure, their history, how they are perceived. I think of gangs as a place where at risk kids turn to for love, protection, and belonging. Most people who I talk to, however, do not share this view. The general consensus is that gangs hold zero positive aspects. I do not believe that gangs are a good thing, but I am aware that the topic is not black and white and that instead of criminalizing gang members we need to look at the ways in which these people have been neglected. Through my research I have come to know that Mafias differ slightly from gangs for a few reasons. One, Mafias tend to be a nuclear family which employs people very close to them to assist with the business. Moreover, Mafias often control large businesses, industries, or parts of the government, meaning that they have more structural powers than gangs. A lot of literature says that Mafias have more international power and just power overall which leads me to my first prominent question that I could tackle for WP3. Do Mafias actually have more power than gangs or is this a distorted perspective? Are they thought to have more power because Mafias are usually made up of white individuals? 

Before beginning WP2, the Mafia was a topic I knew very little about. “The Departed” and “The Godfather” were the only sources of information I had about this subgroup. I knew that the members were mostly European-American, they had a lot of power in the government, and they were violent. Along with this, I knew that some of the greatest American movies were mafioso in nature. Before starting my research, I thought that the way that gangs were shown in the media were completely negative, as opposed to the glamorization that occurs with the Mafia. My research did bring me to many negative representations of gangs, however, this was not all that I discovered. After watching “The Wire” and reading up on it, I learned that this show portrays gangs in a relatively positive and accurate light. I realized how positive an impact media can have on things that are generally taken negatively, such as gangs. “The Wire” is a transformative show because it presents gangs to the public in a way that demonstrates human connection and hardship in a beautiful way instead of simply showing the violence and the crime. 

Another thing that interested me during my research was the fact that people love violence. They love watching news about violence, crime, the mafia, and gangs. However, they like these things at a distance, when they know they cannot be touched by them. Another question I could dive into could be: what is the psychological explanation behind the desire to watch and be exposed to violence and how do we shape things into something they might not be to fulfill this desire? 

While doing WP2, I have been very stressed about the openness of the assignment and the fact that I could go in many directions with WP3. Towards the end of my research, however, I found an article that made me discover where I want to go on this topic. “Why Do We Admire Mobsters” discusses the psychological aspects of our obsession with mob culture that does not extend to other groups of organized crime. For WP3 I would like to write an op-ed in which I further this conversation to include a comparison with gangs and discuss the broader implications of this difference. I will be answering the following question: why do we admire the mob and not gangs and how does this reflect our society? I believe that an op-ed will be most suitable because I want to write an opinionated piece where I can use evidence and form a clear and concise piece.