Deck 6: The Mafia: Facts and Myths

Question 1

What is the mafia?

Answer 1

The term "mafia" is synonymous with LCN La Cosa Nostra, referring primarily to groups of organized crime "families" in the United States and Italy The members of these groups are of Italian descent and often are unrelated to each other; hence, the term "family" is not descriptive

Question 2

How can interest in the mafia be traced to the shooting of David Hennessey in 1890?

Answer 2

He was Superintendent of Police in New Orleans and was shot on his doorstep He allegedly said "Sicilians have done for me" or "Dagoes," a statement used to established an Italian connection with his death

Question 3

What happened to the 17 Italian immigrants arrested in this case?

Answer 3

Seven went to trial, four were acquitted, and a mistrial was declared for the other three Citizens stormed the jail, shot nine of the original 17 arrestees, and publicly hanged two others

Question 4

Why did many people in North America generally assume that some sort of mafia existed in Italy or Sicily at the turn of the century?

Question 5

What is the evidence regarding the number of criminals among Italian immigrants around the turn of the century?

Question 6

What study of the mafia was undertaken by Albini, and what were his methods and findings?

Question 7

How did Henner Hess conduct his study, and what did he find?

Question 8

How did Anton Blok conduct his study, and what did he find?

Question 9

How did Gaia Servadio conduct her investigation, and what did she find?

Question 10

What investigation was conducted by Pino Arlacchi, and what did he find?

Question 11

What investigation did James Walston conduct, and what did he find?

Question 12

Who was Tommaso Buscetta, and what did he say about the structure of organized crime?

Question 13

Why has the organization of the mafia in Sicily taken on newfound important in recent years?

Question 14

How is most Italian organized crime best characterized?

Question 15

Why were the gangsters of the 1920s not connected with the idea of mafia?

Question 16

What event helped to solidify and organized organize crime groups in the United States?

Question 17

How did organized crime groups become more sophisticated during the Prohibition era?

Question 18

Why did the violence among and reign of these gangs decline in the 1930s?

Question 19

Who was Estes Kefauver and what did he do?

Question 20

What was the conclusion of his hearings?

Question 21

What did historian William Moore conclude in his evaluation of the Kefauver Committee?

Question 22

Why is a view of organized crime as an alien conspiracy much easier for the public and government officials to accept?

Question 23

Who was Daniel Bell, and what did he do?

Question 24

What was the Apalachin Incident?

Question 25

What was Joseph Bonanno's account of this event in 1983?

Question 26

What was the ultimate result of the New York State investigation into the Apalachin incident?

Question 27

Who was Joseph Valachi, and why did he testify before Congress?

Question 28

What were the two subjects that Valachi testified to?

Question 29

Why is Valachi's veracity disputed?

Question 30

What was Gordon Hawkins's analogy?

Question 31

Who was Jimmy Fratianno, and why did he testify?

Question 32

What was the significance of the Frank Tieri case?

Question 33

What discrepancies arise when comparing the testimony regarding the Cosa Nostra among Valachi in 1963, Fratianno in 1980, and the FBI in 1980?

Question 34

What is the "commission," and why is there confusion about it?

Question 35

What was the ultimate outcome of the Tieri case?

Question 36

What was the reason for the mob trials of the 1980s and 1990s?

Question 37

What are the common aspects of the mob cases summarized in Table 6.2 in the text?

Question 38

What is the impact of the convictions in the mob trials?

Question 39

Has the target of organized crime prosecutions changed in recent years?