Sham aims of one providing hoods (7)
I believe the answer is:
mafiosi
'hoods' is the definition.
(hood can mean a mafia member or mafioso)
'sham aims of one' is the wordplay.
'sham' indicates anagramming the letters (sham means fake or pretend).
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'aims'+'of'='aimsof'
'aimsof' anagrammed gives 'mafios'.
'mafios'+'i'='MAFIOSI'
'providing' is the link.
(Other definitions for mafiosi that I've seen before include "family men" , "Organized criminals" , "Sicilian criminals" , "Sicilian gangsters" , "People in Italian criminal organisation" .)