This book aims to describe and demystify what makes criminal gangs so culturally powerful. It examines their codes of conduct, initiation rites, secret communication methods, origin myths, symbols, and the like that imbue the gangsters with the pride and nonchalance that go hand in hand with their criminal activities. Mobsters are everywhere in the movies, on television, and on websites. Contemporary societies are clearly fascinated by them. Why is this so? What features and constituents of organized criminal gangs make them so emotionally powerful – to themselves and others? These are the questions that have guided the writing of this textbook, which is intended as an introduction