The word Mafia holds many different meanings for every person. In the United States many people tend to think of certain people such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and the dominance that they once held. People were afraid of mafia members because they would not hesitate to take someone s life if they were crossed. The United States point of view on the mafia is pretty distinct then that of other countries. The Russian view on the term mafia is a prime example of this.
Russian law defines organized crime differently than most other countries in the world.
In the United States most people see organized crime as a structural organization. An example of this would be an Italian family with a godfather and a list of ranks below him. This is not the case in Russia because most of organized crime comes from corruption of government officials. The beginning of the Russian Mafia goes back a long time. There is really no way to pin point a certain date.