Leaving the godfather to follow God the father: successor generation conversion in a mob family

Abstract

How does conversion happen when one is part of a family involved in organized crime? We consider this question through in-depth study of the Christian conversion of the “Yuppie Don”, Michael Franzese. The paper begins with a review of religion, spirituality, and conversion literatures and the emerging area of family business research. Drawing on the posthumous published testament of a former member of the Bonanno crime Family, a brief overview of the history of “La Cosa Nostra” is then presented. Next, we review the life history of former Colombo Family “made man” Michael Franzese with special focus on his conversion experience. Using Lewin’s three-stage process model of change, we reflect on Franzese’s conversion experience. The paper concludes with discussion of the limitations of this effort and also identifies avenues for further research on spiritual individuation in family enterprises.

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