A new analysis of inter-family marriages within the ’Ndrangheta mafia organisation suggests that marriage ties between less influential families may play a previously underestimated role in maintaining the strength of the entire ’Ndrangheta network. This is one of the findings of the study Marrying for Power: Gendered Alliances in Mafias, conducted by Professors Maurizio Catino and Alberto Aziani, and Dr Sara Rocchi, from the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Milano-Bicocca. The study has just been published in the international open-access journal PLOS One.
Law enforcement agencies describe the ’Ndrangheta as one of the most dangerous criminal organisations in the world. Originating in Calabria around the mid-nineteenth century, the ’Ndrangheta now has members across the globe. The organisation is patriarchal and hierarchical, and recruits primarily through family ties, making marriage a strategic tool through which women may be “given in marriage” to consolidate inter-family alliances within the ’Ndrangheta network.
Until now, however, research into the links between inter-family marriages and the ’Ndrangheta’s overall power structure has been limited. To shed new light on the issue, Catino and colleagues applied network analysis tools to data on 770 inter-family alliances formed through 906 marriages between 623 families, or ’ndrine, the basic units of the ’Ndrangheta.
The analysis showed that the most powerful ’ndrine occupy central positions in the ’Ndrangheta’s marriage network, enjoying advantages such as multiple direct ties with other clans, greater brokerage capacity and rapid access to all other ’ndrine. However, contrary to simplified “bride-receiving” narratives, the study does not find clear evidence that powerful clans systematically receive more brides. Instead, the highest centrality is observed among clans with moderately high bride-receiving shares, while extreme senders or receivers tend to occupy more peripheral positions.
The researchers also conducted simulations to test what would happen to the cohesion of the entire ’Ndrangheta marriage network if different marriage ties were severed. They found that the most powerful clans tended to have redundant and overlapping marriage alliances, meaning that the disruption of marriage ties between powerful clans did not destabilise the entire network. By contrast, marriages between less influential families were significantly more “load-bearing”: their disruption undermined the cohesion and integrity of the entire ’Ndrangheta network more rapidly.
The findings deepen our understanding of organised crime groups and may help to better identify the points of cohesion and vulnerability within organisations such as the ’Ndrangheta. The findings suggest that targeting alliances between less powerful clans could fragment the network more quickly than targeting central clans.
The authors add: «Our research shows that marriages within the ’Ndrangheta represent a sophisticated ‘organisational technology’. While elite families occupy central positions, the network of alliances between smaller and more peripheral ’ndrine provides crucial ‘load-bearing’ ties that help the entire criminal network remain cohesive».
«The ’Ndrangheta’s reliance on blood ties makes it incredibly resilient,» says Maurizio Catino.«It has the lowest number of collaborators with the justice system among the Italian mafias because cooperating with law enforcement means severing ties not only with a criminal group, but also with one’s parents, siblings and children».
«The instrumental role of women reflects an organisation shaped by powerful patriarchal traditions, in which marriages function as tools to seal alliances and expand control,” adds Alberto Aziani. «These ties preserve the organisation’s values across generations, transmitting cultural norms such as loyalty, silence (omertà) and honour».
«The ’Ndrangheta’s use of kinship is an extreme case of a broader sociological phenomenon” concludes Sara Rocchi. «Even within modern business elites and ‘closed’ social communities, marriage remains a strategically valuable resource, used to reduce transaction costs and accumulate social capital within a ‘community of interests».