Letizia Paoli
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195157246
- eISBN:
- 9780199943982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157246.003.0030
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This book has shown that Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta are secret and multifunctional brotherhoods each composed of about a hundred units. Though these are usually called families by their members, ...
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This book has shown that Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta are secret and multifunctional brotherhoods each composed of about a hundred units. Though these are usually called families by their members, they are clearly distinct from the latter's blood families. They rely instead on bonds of artificial kinship created through the ceremony of initiation of new members. Exploiting secrecy and violence, the families of Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta have traditionally employed the strength of mafia bonds to pursue a plurality of goals and to carry out numerous different functions, so much so that it is impossible to identify any one who is exclusive. The cosche are neither economic enterprises aiming at the maximization of profits nor an industry for private protection. Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta cannot be considered a universally valid ideal type of organized crime if it is understood as the provision of illegal goods and services.Less
This book has shown that Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta are secret and multifunctional brotherhoods each composed of about a hundred units. Though these are usually called families by their members, they are clearly distinct from the latter's blood families. They rely instead on bonds of artificial kinship created through the ceremony of initiation of new members. Exploiting secrecy and violence, the families of Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta have traditionally employed the strength of mafia bonds to pursue a plurality of goals and to carry out numerous different functions, so much so that it is impossible to identify any one who is exclusive. The cosche are neither economic enterprises aiming at the maximization of profits nor an industry for private protection. Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta cannot be considered a universally valid ideal type of organized crime if it is understood as the provision of illegal goods and services.
Lynn Abrams
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780853236764
- eISBN:
- 9781846312816
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780853236764.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter uses in-depth interviews and a ‘child-centred perspective’ to investigate the psychological legacy of forced separation from blood family. Boarding out in Scotland was presented as a ...
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This chapter uses in-depth interviews and a ‘child-centred perspective’ to investigate the psychological legacy of forced separation from blood family. Boarding out in Scotland was presented as a natural solution to the problem of homeless children. The personal family stories of three former ‘boarded-outs’, which are organised around feelings of uncertainty, insecurity, and a search for identity, show how the fostered child is one who knows that he or she holds that rather ambiguous status within the family and the wider community. The experience of being a boarded-out child could be fraught with tensions and anxieties that were the result of being denied information about biological parenthood and social origins.Less
This chapter uses in-depth interviews and a ‘child-centred perspective’ to investigate the psychological legacy of forced separation from blood family. Boarding out in Scotland was presented as a natural solution to the problem of homeless children. The personal family stories of three former ‘boarded-outs’, which are organised around feelings of uncertainty, insecurity, and a search for identity, show how the fostered child is one who knows that he or she holds that rather ambiguous status within the family and the wider community. The experience of being a boarded-out child could be fraught with tensions and anxieties that were the result of being denied information about biological parenthood and social origins.
