# A GOOD Mafia Family? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271 "2014-04-29T13:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/1 "2014-04-29T13:36:59Z")
Has there ever been an organization with all the trappings of a Mafia Family…Don, capos, lieutenants, getting “made” etc…but did not engage in organized crime? A Legitimate Mafia Family? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/2 "2014-04-29T13:49:50Z")
If it were true I think it would be a contradiction in terms… According to [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia)"Mafia is a type of organized crime syndicate that primarily practices protection racketeering — the use of violent intimidation to manipulate local economic activity, especially illicit trade; secondary activities may be practiced such as drug-trafficking, loan sharking and fraud." I can’t imagine a ‘good’ or ‘legitimate’ version of that. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/3 "2014-04-29T13:53:14Z")
[The Kennedy Family?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_P._Kennedy,_Sr.) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/4 "2014-04-29T16:20:15Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > [The Kennedy Family?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_P._Kennedy,_Sr.) OP said “legitimate”. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/5 "2014-04-29T16:39:50Z")
No, there are no “good” organized crime families. While there are some (the Buffalino crime family is Pennsylvania comes to mind) which engage in little overt violent activity, all criminal organization either use or threaten violence to undertake their illegal activities. This is because almost all criminals will only respond to violence or the implication of it when you are dealing with them. Only a very few engage in negotiations to achieve their ends. As for dealing with the general public: There are some people who cannot be coerced using veiled threats or property. Some people are are so stubborn or brave or stupid as to not consider that they have been warned by a group of criminals and that they should either go to the authorities immediately or comply with their demands. These people unfortunately are beaten or otherwise harmed by the criminal organization in question. There are no “good” crime families as there are no _ **good** _ criminals. Even nominally non-violent criminals can become violent if their freedom, their wealth or their interests are threatened. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/6 "2014-04-29T17:07:52Z")
Doesn’t “getting made” imply that this group has crossed the line between playing at organized crime and actually engaging in organized crime? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/7 "2014-04-29T17:13:11Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > Has there ever been an organization with all the trappings of a Mafia Family…Don, capos, lieutenants, getting “made” etc…but did not engage in organized crime? There’s no requirement to be a blood relative, but otherwise, maybe you mean something like the Boy Scouts? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/8 "2014-04-29T22:59:29Z")
They were all ‘good’ for the people within the family! They started out as people working together to protect their own family & extended family from outsiders, especially rapacious landlords, corrupt officials, etc. Interviews seem to show that many current Mafia members still have much the same feeling – that they are working to support & protect ‘their own’ from outside enemies. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/9 "2014-04-30T01:17:39Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > Has there ever been an organization with all the trappings of a Mafia Family…Don, capos, lieutenants, getting “made” etc…but did not engage in organized crime? > > A Legitimate Mafia Family? Take a long hard look at any corporation with multiple business units and you pretty much have what you are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/10 "2014-04-30T02:01:19Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > There are no “good” crime families as there are no _ **good** _ criminals. Even nominally non-violent criminals can become violent if their freedom, their wealth or their interests are threatened. Aren’t white-hat hackers pretty much good criminals? What they do could be considered a felony but they usually only do it to experiment/ find and report weaknesses instead of cause harm. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/11 "2014-04-30T02:46:58Z")
You’re describing any family-owned business enterprise or corporation. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/12 "2014-04-30T02:59:26Z")
There’s a theory about the origins of the Mafia back in Sicily that it formed from the decay of the feudal system. That medieval nobles had their own armies, retainers, to maintain order. But when the nobles lost power with the fall of feudalism, their retainers became like _rōnin_, trying to eke out a living as tough guys on their own. That they justified their continued existence by claiming they fought against injustice on their own, as Sicily has a long history of absentee landlords notorious for mismanagement and injustice. This might account for the pseudo-chivalrous practices of the Mafia with an emphasis on “honor,” as a corrupted remnant of feudalism. (A very Old World tradition, of course, generally forgotten in America.) But eventually the Mafiosi degenerated into common criminals, preying upon the people they claimed to be protecting, and, because of the history of absentee landlordism, fostering a culture of extreme distrust of and noncooperation with any outside authority, namely the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 on, which is the period when the Mafia as such first attained notoriety. I don’t know how accurate or well-founded this theory is, but that may be a sort of answer to the OP’s question. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/13 "2014-04-30T04:02:12Z")
You mean something like [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7fsxnzZF9w)? ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-mafia-family/687271/14 "2014-04-30T06:33:05Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > [The Kennedy Family?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_P._Kennedy,_Sr.) [Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. John F. Kennedy](http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/johnfkenn103659.html)