The 'ndrina (, plural: ; , plural: ) is the basic unit of the

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

, made up of blood relatives, and is the equivalent of the

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...

’s "family" or ''

cosca A ''cosca'' (; pl. ''cosche'' in Italian and ''coschi'' in Sicilian), in Sicily, is a clan or Sicilian Mafia crime family led by a '' capo''. The equivalent in the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria is the 'ndrina. Etymology A ''cosca'' is the crown of ...

''.Varese,
How Mafias Migrate
'Gratteri & Nicaso ''Fratelli di sangue''
p. 27
/ref>Nicaso & Danesi, ''Made Men''
p. 23
/ref> The word derives from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, meaning "a man who does not bend". Each '' 'ndrina'' is "autonomous on its territory and no formal authority stands above the '' 'ndrina'' boss." The '' 'ndrina'' is usually in control of a small town or a neighbourhood in larger cities, even outside Calabria, in cities and towns in the industrial North of Italy, in and around

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. If more than one '' 'ndrina'' operates in the same town, they form a '' locale'', the main local organizational unit of the 'Ndrangheta with

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

over an entire town or an area in a large urban center.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods''
pp. 29-30
/ref> In some cases, sub-'' 'ndrine'' have been established. The '' 'ndrine'' enjoy a high degree of autonomy – they have a leader, the

capobastone The Capobastone is a high-ranking 'Ndrangheta who is in charge of a 'ndrina. It is the Calabrian equivalent for the Sicilian ''Capomandamento''. Rule In a 'ndrina, the Capobastone make the most important decisions, and report only at the "Capo cr ...

, and independent staff. In some contexts the '' 'ndrine'' have become more powerful than the ''locale'' on which they formally depend. Blood family and membership of the crime family overlap to a great extent within the 'Ndrangheta. By and large, the '' 'ndrine'' consist of men belonging to the same family lineage, under the command of the capobastone. Salvatore Boemi, Anti-mafia prosecutor in Reggio Calabria, told the Italian

Antimafia Commission The Antimafia Commission () is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The first commission, formed in 1963, was established as a body of inquiry tasked wi ...

that "one becomes a member for the simple fact of being born in a mafia family," although other reasons might attract a young man to seek membership, and non-kin have also been admitted. Marriages help cement relations within each '' 'ndrina'' and to expand membership. As a result, a few blood families constitute each group, hence "a high number of people with the same last name often end up being prosecuted for membership of a given '' 'ndrina''." Since there is no limit to the membership of a single unit, bosses try to maximize descendants.

References

External links

* Gratteri, Nicola & Antonio Nicaso (2006).
Fratelli di sangue
', Cosenza: Pellegrini Editore, * Nicaso, Antonio & Marcel Danesi (2013).
Made Men: Mafia Culture and the Power of Symbols, Rituals, and Myth
', Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, * Paoli, Letizia (2003).
Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style
', New York: Oxford University Press

by Klaus Von Lampe)

by Alexandra V. Orlova) * Varese, Federico.
How Mafias Migrate: The Case of the 'Ndrangheta in Northern Italy
', Discussion Papers in Economic and Social History, Number 59, University of Oxford, July 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ndrina History of the 'Ndrangheta Organized crime terminology Italian words and phrases