Ok, again this is for my story...

When a son of the Don gets married, how exactly is his new wife...uhh..."handled"? Is she sworn in, or is she just part of the family? Do they even swear in women?

BTW, what is the "official" term for a son who is being trained to take over the family some day? (i.e. brother B is the underboss, so brother A is third in line) And has anyone ever heard of a 16-17 year old Capo? Loanshark? Thanks in advance.


-Ethereal

No women are inducted into the Mafia. Women are of no consequence in the Mob. Wives of made men aren't even acknowledged. A made man is expected to "keep his family in line," meaning that he's responsible for making sure his wife doesn't rat him or any other Mob guys out. Presumably he could be ordered to whack her if she "stepped out of line." The only "rules" that apply to wives are that a made guy cannot fool around with another made guy's wife; and that a made man is supposed to be "loyal" to his wife--which means that he can have girlfriends and mistresses galore, as long as he doesn't divorce his wife or "disrespect" her by cavorting "openly" with a mistress or girlfriend. "Openly" is open to interpretation (usually in favor of the man).
Very few Mob bosses have trained their sons to take over, mostly because they'd prefer their children to be successful in the legit world (or as close to legit as they can get). And in those few cases where Mob bosses have expected their sons to take over, they've caused heaps of trouble with others in the family who had their own expectations--attest Alphonse (Allie Boy) Persico, Salvatore (Bill) Bonanno and John (Junior) Gotti. An out-and-out war is the likely outcome, so the Don tends to keep his intentions quiet. You must be thinking of Charlie Chan designated a pecking order for his boys: "Number One Son, Number Two Son," etc.

The youngest Capo i've ever heard of was around 26-29. And I think that was the zip Cesare Bonventre. He was in on the hit of his boss Carmine Galante who had just a few months earlier been released from prison.

Hey Turnbull!!

I know the mob is nowhere near as widespread as it use to be in the US. However, since it does still exist (and more so in Sicily), can you see it ever changing with the times, to the point where women would be involved either in the US or Sicily? Or do you see it as gradually disappearing forever?


TIS

TIS, as long as there's greed, there's going to be organized crime. But thanks to RICO, it's getting to be far too hazardous for anyone to be a "made" member of the Mafia. I think the Mafia as we know it will fade into obscurity, and other gangs will take over, concentrating on specific rackets (like drugs). It's already happened in a big way in most cities. And yes, women are already involved. But if there continue to be Mafia initiations, I doubt that women will be included.

The Italian Stallionette ....

I think in Italian Mafia culture {most women are treated as role players} it's not going to change as long as the 'good old boy's network is in charge. I'm sure in other ethnic mafia's it's possible to have a female Don, though I'm sure their's another name for it. The Italian Mafia is just more well known worldwide. On the otherhand, an italian women could still become a mob boss if she had an 'independent operation'. The problem arises with Italian men, can they take orders from a woman who's not their mom...?

Turnbull,

Thanks for the info...everyone else too. But I still have a problem. Here's the scenario:

Michael Vetitoe is 16. What kind of position could he hold in the family? He's one of those slick, could be a straight A student, but dosen't give a big enough crap. Type of kid that can talk his way into then back out of anything. Any ideas? (Again, this concerns my story)

I have really no other sources, so you guys are my only hope. Any type of books (Idiot's guide and WiseGuy = got it) that would be of help to me? Thanks again.


-Ethereal

Turnbull. How are you?

Is there a chance a Russian Mob, Southeastern Asian triad or Japanese Yakuza might start working considerably in America and become what the Italian mafia once was?

Any chance that with the eye of the FBI, away from it, that it could come back, to at least a fraction of it's power and learn from its mistakes? Italian mobsters have proved to have resourcefulness in the past.

I once watched this documentary on the history of LCN in America and at the end the man said " it's back to the streets to where it's started, with a couple of Italian kids on the street..".. What do you think?