The ; ) is a Sicilian and Maltese

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

-type

criminal organization In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

and

criminal society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

centered in the central-southern part of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and island of Malta. Members are known as ''stiddari'' or ''stiddaroli''. It is most active in the rural parts of southern Sicily and is a rival to the

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

, originating as a dissident offshoot group of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. Some members have a star

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

ed on their bodies.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 365.

History

Little is known of the origins of the organization, though it is believed to have come about in a similar fashion to the Mafia, in the same rural environment of Sicily. Unlike the Mafia, however, the Stidda was mostly rural and low-profile until the 1980s, when it became somewhat more expansionist and started moving into the cities, bringing the two Sicilian groups into competition with one another. It differs from the Mafia by the fact that it is not based on an

honor Honour ( Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as val ...

system but is interested only in criminal activities and the resulting profits. The Stidda came into public view when Cosa Nostra

pentito ''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...

Francesco Marino Mannoia spoke about it in 1989. Later another Mafia member Leonardo MessinaTestimony of Leonardo Messina
before the Antimafia Commission. told his own view. According to their testimonies, Stidda is an organisation that was founded by former members of the Cosa Nostra during the Second Mafia War of the early 1980s. They had been expelled due to disobedience or, in a couple of cases, even marrying a relative of a police officer. Many of the original stiddari were followers of the murdered Mafia-boss Giuseppe Di Cristina. The Stidda was particularly strong in southern Sicily around the towns of

Agrigento Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading cities during the golden ...

Caltanissetta Caltanissetta (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Cartanissètta)'' is an Italian comune with a population of 58,012 inhabitants, serving as the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta, free municipal consortium of Caltanissetta in Sicily. The earl ...

Gela Gela (Sicilian and ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the regional autonomy, Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province o ...

, Vittoria, Niscemi and other smaller municipalities. The original leaders of the Stidda were Giuseppe Croce Benvenuto and Salvatore Calafato. A

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

bomb later killed Stidda boss Calogero Lauria. They were involved a more direct war with the Mafia in the early 1990s. The vicious war led to over 300 deaths.Dickie, ''Cosa Nostra'', p. One of these was the judge Rosario Livatino. Stidda is not a tight organization and many gangs ("clans") operate relatively independently. They ally with each other or even the local chapter of Cosa Nostra. They have similar rituals and rules. There is also a membership tattoo. Older members use a needle and black and blue ink to carve a five-pointed star on the initiate's right hand between the thumb and index finger. This tattoo is known as ''stiddari''.

References

*Dickie, John (2004). ''Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia'', London: Coronet, * Stille, Alexander (1995). ''Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic'', New York: Vintage
Stidda - The fifth Mafia
{{Organized crime groups in Europe History of the Sicilian Mafia Organised crime groups in Italy Secret societies related to organized crime Organized crime groups in Malta Sicilian Mafia clans

History

See also

References