How did the first Mafia start? The 'mafia' is generally thought of as an Italian secret crime society, but the origins of the Mafia start way before the onset of automatic guns and cocaine. The Mafia began as a way of life: a way to protect one's family and loved ones from the injustice of the government.
The Mafia owed its origins and drew its members from the many small private armies, or mafie, that were hired by absentee landlords to protect their landed estates from bandits in the lawless conditions that prevailed over much of Sicily through the centuries.
“a way to protect one’s family and loved ones from the injustice of the government.”
or interlopers.
I tend to see the bar scene from A Bronx Tale as summing it up nicely. A group of bikers enter the neighborhood, they refuse to abide by local standards or manners, so the neighborhood dishes out their own justice.