The movie portrays the spirit of the Mafia subculture and demonstrates their distinctive values, customs, norms, and deviant lifestyle.

The Mafia is a subculture of localized groups of criminals that developed for the purpose of protecting those who can not go to the police for protection. Its roots can be traced back to Sicily, where the Mafia was based on the premise that any member suffering an alleged injustice was obliged to take personal vengeance while avoiding all contact with legal authorities. Even in the modern day American Mafia, each family ruled it's own territory and when others from outside the territory interfered they were dealt with through violent methods.

The wiseguys (or local gangsters) paid for their protection by paying the head of their local family. This payoff was also known as paying tribute to the boss.

Many of the Mafia's folkways and mores' were identified throughout the movie. Some of the info

The Lufthansa heist clearly illustrates this folkway. Every one involved had their own job to do, but that is all they knew, their own job. If they knew what other people's jobs were to be it was considered too much information. If they got caught they only knew what they had to do and couldn't "rat" on anyone else. Only the boss knew what everyone's job was. The theory was the less you know the safer you were.

This value was symbolized by the celebrity status that the neighborhood and local businessmen gave them. Other symbols were the flashy jewelry worn the expensive clothes and big cars.

The Mafia placed great emphasis on family. They demanded that their members respect their wives and provide for their children as well as honor the Mafia family. This was best shown when Henry Hill moved in with his girlfriend and Pauly and Jimmy met with him to tell him he must go back and make peace with his wife. Divorce in the family was portrayed as a social taboo.

Some of the important values depicted in this movie had to do with family and family position.

The socialization process started very early. Usually a member took a liking to a neighborhood kid and offered him a job. As the kid built trust the boss would slowly work the kid into more criminal type jobs, like running numbers money or selling stolen goods.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Pauly Jimmy, Henry Hill, American Mafia, York Mafia, Sicily Mafia, , mafia family, social value, respect family, henry hill, mafia subculture, business transactions, mafia based, own job,
Approximate Word count = 892
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)