Samenvatting

The writings of Cesare Lombroso reflect to a high degree the crime problems being discussed in his time. This is certainly true for the phenomenon of the Italian mafia. Inspired by others writers, press reports and his own observations he came to the conclusion that criminal associations belonging to the Sicilian mafia and the ‘Ndrangheta, in particular consisted of professional criminals and were quite often headed by an intelligent born criminal. In a quite detailed manner he described the ways in which these organizations were structured and the initiation rites that were applied to youngsters who wanted to join them. Lombroso made no secret of the political role the mafia groupings played in Italy, but he warned at the same time that one should take into account that these groupings also disguised themselves as political organizations in order to cover up their true nature: nothing else than criminal organisations. This warning gives room for the idea that - like in the United States - the Italian mafia could also take root in other European countries than Italy itself and not only use them as places to hide from the Italian police and judicial authorities or as market places to trade in illegal goods and services.