ABSTRACT
Small-time gangsters dealing in petty crime. Astute criminals dominating the drugs scene. The intricate alliances between the Russian and Sicilian Mafias, between the Albanian Mafia and the Neapolitan Camorra, or again between Colombian drug cartels and the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta. Everyone agrees that organized crime is highly complex and that it 'has long been a source of controversy and contention'. The Neapolitan Camorra, like other organized crime groups, has given rise to many interpretations: journalists, historians, politicians, economists, sociologists, and judges have all attempted to explain it adopting the traditional frameworks. This chapter explains organized crime, murders, illegal business deals, and political corruption in terms of rational human behaviour: individuals are perceived as rational, always seeking to maximize their self-interest above and beyond collective action to be cost-effective, calculating the potential rewards from their actions and acting accordingly.
