ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an introduction, useful in understanding the main features and dynamics of mafia violence in Italy and focused on the main criminal organisations historically rooted in the southern part of the country, such as Cosa Nostra in Sicily, the ’Ndrangheta in Calabria and the Camorra in Campania. The author primarily concentrates on the qualitative aspects of mafia violence, trying to go beyond a strictly quantitative analysis which would risk providing only partial information as to the phenomenon. In particular, the focus is on the distinctive traits of and the meanings taken on by mafia violence in the recent history of these organisations, adopting a perspective that considers it not only as an important strategic resource but also, and above all, a social resource. A resource that is able to generate and/or nourish factors bearing on the identities, both personal and collective, found within these groups, which have important repercussions on the broader social and economic context in which they operate.
