pp. 188-214; de Castro, 1981, pp. 215-227, Leonard, 1982, passim).
As one of the most visible organizations in organized crime, at least in part due to the numerous fictional books and media representations, the Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra, did not begin as a criminal agency. As an organization, it rose to prominence in the thirteenth century as a response to foreign oppression in Sicily. The organizational methods, secrecy, and utter loyalty upon pain of death were further developed through the centuries as Sicily was invaded again and again (Balsamo & Carpozi, 1988, pp. xiv-xv).
It was not until the 1920s, and the rise of Prohibition, that the Mafia as chronicled today, became evident. Briefly, as more and more Italian immigrants came to the United States, they brought much of their culture with them. Many of the
mafiosi were neighborhood or community "leaders," who dealt in extortion and blackmail to new immigrants. During Prohibition, however, they realized that there were enormous profits to be made in bootlegging and gambling. As the de
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