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Mafia Perception in Relation to Sicilian Teenagers' Moral Disengagement and Value Orientation the Role of Educational and Family Contexts
Abstract
This article aims at providing a critical review of the main studies about Mafia in a theoretical psychological and socio-anthropological framework, and investigating the perception of the phenomenon in relation to moral disengagement and values orientation in two groups of Sicilian teenagers, living in contexts with different Mafia density. Today Mafia is represented as a socio-psychological phenomenon, which has managed to make culture, community, family, and individuals coincide; it is founded on an individualistic social conception according to which violence is the strongest form of self-achievement.
... Over the past few years, much has been written about the mafia's (sub) cultural contexts (Dickie, 2005;Ferraro et al., 2015;Licari, 2008), its world (Dean et al., 2010), its internal rules (Lupo, 2004), the perception of mafia in the social context of origin (Iacolino et al., 2017), the traditional role of women within mafia families (Siebert, 1994) and its transformation (Dino, 2012). Authors also discussed the personality structure of mafia members (Capraro et al., 2018;Capraro et al., 2017;Giordano & Lo Verso, 2015), the psychopathic dimension of its members (Caretti et al., 2012;Schimmenti et al., 2014), and the psychological mechanisms involved in the development and growth of members of traditional mafia families (Giordano & Lo Verso, 2014). ...
... A world that does not only express "a criminal organization… capable of controlling the territory… but also… an anthropology, a fundamentalism, a family and personal identity" (Lo Verso, 2002, p. 20). Thus, a culture that is shared by its members; reference values and identities to follow strong, defined, close, and indissoluble emotional bonds (Banfield, 2010;Iacolino et al., 2017). All these factors have contributed to the growth and the rooting of these criminal entities (Dickie, 2015;Dino, & Pepino, 2008). ...
The Italian mafia organizations represent a subculture with values, beliefs, and goals that are antithetical to and undermining of the predominant society. The conduct of individual members includes such extreme violence for material gain, it may at least superficially suggest a severe personality disorder. Since the first edition of the DSM and into the 21st century, various terms have been used, sometimes interchangeably, but over time inconsistently, to designate the mentality and practices of mafia members. Only recently has the psychology of mafia members become a focus of serious scientific study. For the first time, investigators for the present study applied instruments, including the PCL‐R, to examine for character psychopathology and specifically degrees of psychopathy in male and female mafia members, 20 female and 21 male members. Results showed some gender difference with the women having a higher score on Factor 1, in contrast to men who showed a lower score. Psychopathy and personality disorder were not found to be associated with membership in the mafia for either gender. Some psychopathic traits and gender differences warrant further research. Meanwhile these findings are consistent with a mentality characterized by beliefs and practices determined by a deviant culture rather than psychopathology.
... Over the past few years, much has been written about the mafia's (sub) cultural contexts (Dickie, 2005;Ferraro et al., 2015;Licari, 2008), its world (Dean et al., 2010), its internal rules (Lupo, 2004), the perception of mafia in the social context of origin (Iacolino et al., 2017), the traditional role of women within mafia families (Siebert, 1994) and its transformation (Dino, 2012). Authors also discussed the personality structure of mafia members (Capraro et al., 2018;Capraro et al., 2017;Giordano & Lo Verso, 2015), the psychopathic dimension of its members (Caretti et al., 2012;Schimmenti et al., 2014), and the psychological mechanisms involved in the development and growth of members of traditional mafia families (Giordano & Lo Verso, 2014). ...
... A world that does not only express "a criminal organization… capable of controlling the territory… but also… an anthropology, a fundamentalism, a family and personal identity" (Lo Verso, 2002, p. 20). Thus, a culture that is shared by its members; reference values and identities to follow strong, defined, close, and indissoluble emotional bonds (Banfield, 2010;Iacolino et al., 2017). All these factors have contributed to the growth and the rooting of these criminal entities (Dickie, 2015;Dino, & Pepino, 2008). ...
... It is also worth noting that, until now researchers have shown limited interest in investigating to what extent the general population knows the mafia phenomenon. To our knowledge, only two studies examined how people perceive and represent MCOs (Iacolino et al., 2017;Travaglino et al., 2023a). Nevertheless, acquiring data about individuals' knowledge can be useful when studying anti-mafia motives, as it reflects their interest in the topic and could indicate the level to which they are indifferent (or non-indifferent) to mafia-type crime. ...
Understanding the psychological, cultural, and social factors that shape attitudes toward mafia-type organized crime (MCOs) and influence collective anti-mafia action is crucial, yet research on this topic remains limited. Existing studies have largely focused on cognitive and affective variables, such as beliefs about social change, romanticization of MCOs, and vicarious shame, while the effects of demographic, personality and contextual factors have been overlooked. Additionally, the interplay between implicit and explicit processes in shaping behavior toward MCOs, and the role of individual differences in determining knowledge about the mafia phenomenon remain unclear.To address these gaps, we conducted two online studies with Italian participants. In Study 1 (N = 220), participants recalled names of well-known figures associated with either mafia-type crime or the anti-mafia movement. Their intentions to engage in collective anti-mafia action were measured via self-report. In Study 2 (N = 150), participants completed a face recognition task involving mafia and anti-mafia figures, alongside an innovative mouse-tracking assessment to capture implicit anti-mafia collective action intentions.Our findings suggest that demographic factors (i.e., news reading frequency, media exposure, education, birth and residence region), personality traits (i.e., extroversion, openness, conscientiousness), social orientations (i.e., attitudes toward MCOs, civic engagement, system justification) and contextual factors (i.e., perceived risk and efficacy) influence implicit and/or explicit anti-mafia intentions. Notably, participants’ age, attitudes toward mafia-type crime, news reading frequency, and occupation predicted the recognition frequency of mafia and/or anti-mafia figures. Finally, recall and recognition were higher for anti-mafia personalities than for mafia members.These results contribute to an underexplored research area and have practical implications for designing evidence-based interventions to counter mafia culture and promote civic engagement against organized crime.
... All these cultural influences have contributed to the development of myths that project positive evaluations of criminal conduct (see Beck 2000). Within cultural frameworks that see organized crime as a positive example of self-achievement (Iacolino et al. 2017) and social prestige (Sergi and South 2016), anti-reductionism, anti-normalism and anti-victimism contribute to maintaining and reinforcing these representations. From the participants' perspective, the negation of these ideologies may serve to build a myth of the criminal organization as an entity that acquires social capital as the seriousness of their crimes increases. ...
This paper addresses the topic of ideologies underlying organized crime based on interviews with individuals living in Mafia-affected territories. High school and university students produced narratives that reflected their ideologies about organized crime, which were duly compared with the ideologies endorsed by Mafia members in televised interviews. This comparison has yielded several similarities, namely the presence of amoralism, familism, verticalism and religious relativism, but, at the same time, substantial differences in the form of anti-reductionism, anti-normalism and anti-victimism (vis-à-vis reductionism, normalism and victimism). The thrust of this study is that ideologies about organized crime are, to a large extent, shared by members of organized crime and outsiders living in Mafia-affected areas.normalism and anti-victimism (vis-à-vis reductionism, normalism and victimism). The thrust of this study is that ideologies about organized crime are, to a large extent, shared by members of organized crime and outsiders living in Mafia-affected areas.
Labels are frames that emphasize certain characteristics of a phenomenon while downplaying others. The mafia, widely recognized as a criminal organization, can also reveal much about the ways in which we give meaning to our life experiences. This study explores contemporary representations of the mafia among ordinary people in southern Italy. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, we collected open-ended responses from 587 participants about how they perceive the mafia. The analysis revealed four main thematic cores: the mafia as a cultural system rooted in society, as a parallel State, as a system of power, and as a social pathology. Our findings highlight the mafia’s complex role in the social fabric, a role played not just through criminal activity but also as a deeply embedded cultural and social phenomenon. These insights suggest the opportunity of community-focused psychological interventions.
In two studies we aimed at developing the Attitude towards Italian Mafias Scale (AIMS). In study 1 ( N = 292) we used an Exploratory Factor Analysis to reduce the number of the items and explore their latent constructs. In study 2 ( N = 393) we performed a Confirmatory Factor Analysis on the resulting 18-item questionnaire, whose latent structure was best identified by a general factor Mafia Attitude and three specific factors related to Behaviors, Cognitions and Emotions-Cognitions towards mafias. Moreover, we showed that the AIMS has (i) discriminant validity compared to a measure of attitudes towards crime, (ii) predictive validity of donation behavior to an association against mafias, (iii) internal consistency, and (iv) invariance for people of the five deep-rooted mafia regions of Southern Italy and those from the rest of Italy. Finally, we observed a difference between the participants from the five deep-rooted mafia regions ( i.e. , Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Sicily) and the rest of Italy, with the former having surprisingly more negative attitudes towards mafias compared to the latter. The AIMS might help to reliably survey people’s sentiment towards Italian mafias and promote targeted and effective law-related education interventions.
The Mafia (Cosa Nostra) and the Camorra are criminal organizations deeply rooted in an immoral familyism in which group interests are protected to the detriment of the individual. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of personality disorders, alexithymic traits and specific attachment styles in a sample of members belonging to these two different organized crime groups. We carried out two studies adopting two different perspectives. In the first study, we recruited 20 participants (10 members of Cosa Nostra and 10 members of the Camorra) who were serving time in the Augusta (Sicily) prison for crimes they had committed as members of the two Mafia-type organizations. The age of the Cosa Nostra members ranged from 28 to 62 years (M = 47.40, SD = 10.25); the age of the Camorra members ranged from 45 to 68 (M = 55.30, SD = 7.06). We tested personality profiles, attachment styles, alexithymia, and psychopathy and compared the results between the two groups. In this study while we did not find significant differences between the two groups, we were able to identify some discrepancies in a few of the variables analysed. In the second study, we used the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO) to analyse the personality organization of 10 of 20 participants (5 members of Cosa Nostra and 5 members of Camorra). Analysing the results at the STIPO we found a significant presence of borderline personality organization in both groups. As regards attachment style, we found that Camorra-members’ scores high (75°) on the Discomfort with Closeness (related to Avoidant Attachment Style) and Relationship as Secondary factors of the Attachment Style Questionnaire. The Data collected in our study were not sufficient to identify a specific personality disorder or a specific serious psychological condition in the two groups of participants. Nonetheless, thanks to use of the STIPO we were able to determine that in the sample analysed there was not one subject with a psychotic personality organization; we did however find the presence of borderline personality organization and neurotic personality organization in some of the subjects.
This article focuses on four different criminal markets: counterfeiting, illegal firearms trafficking, gambling and waste management. Despite recurrent allegations that these markets have a high mafia presence, there is a lack of reliable estimates of their sizes and the revenues that they generate. Figures in reports and media vary significantly, and the methods used to obtain them are often obscure. This study develops four different estimation methodologies with which to estimate the four criminal markets in Italy at the national and regional levels. Considering that these are the first attempts to estimate these markets, the aim of the article is to stimulate debate on how to improve measurement of the crime proceeds from these criminal markets.
Background
Literature has demonstrated the adaptive function of identity development and parenting toward manifestation of problem behaviors in adolescence. These dimensions act on both internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
Methods
The objective is to investigate the relationship between identity status, parenting, and adolescent problems, which may manifest through internalized (phobias, obsessions, depression, eating disorders, entropy) and externalized modes (alcohol use and school discomfort). The research involved 198 Italian students (104 males and 94 females) in the 4th year (mean =16.94 years, standard deviation =0.35) and 5th year (mean =17.94 years, standard deviation =0.43) of senior secondary schools, who live in Caltanissetta, a town located in Sicily, Italy. The research lasted for 1 school year. The general group consisted of 225 students with a mortality rate of 12%. They completed an anamnestic questionnaire to provide 1) basic information, 2) alcohol consumption attitude in the past 30 days, and 3) their beliefs about alcohol; the “Ego Identity Process Questionnaire” to investigate identity development; the “Parental Bonding Instrument” to measure the perception of parenting during childhood; and the “Constraints of Mind” to value the presence of internalizing symptoms.
Results
Data show that identity status influences alcohol consumption. Low-profile identity and excessive maternal control affect the relational dependence and the tendency to perfectionism in adolescents. Among the predictors of alcohol use, there are socioeconomic status, parental control, and the presence of internalizing symptoms.
Conclusion
Family is the favored context of learning beliefs, patterns, and values that affect the broader regulatory social environment, and for this reason, it is considered the privileged context on which to intervene to reduce the adolescents’ behavior problems. This deviance could be an external manifestation of the difficulty in management of internalizing symptoms in adolescence.
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work considers stress and quality of life as emerging. One of the first issues they prioritize mainly as a psychosocial risk is the changing world of work. We went to investigate if ‟job contract” (traditional/atypical) increases levels of stress. The purpose of this study was to identify the possible relationships between individual and organizational aspects of work (self-efficay, engagement, autonomy and satisfaction) and levels of stress in two categories of individuals, traditional and atypical workers, in order to emphasize probable differences, and to increase the efficacy at work aims to re-balance, when necessary, a condition of psycho- physical well-being. The results show significant differences. In fact, our findings obtained show different values: self-efficacy relates negatively to stress, which in turn relates negativly to engagement. The study must be considered as a preliminary assessment for a study of broader intervention to increase quality of life.
The family of disabled persons often goes through periods of instability and mismatch; the birth of disabled children may affect communication, problem solving, satisfaction and general family functioning. The present study aims to explore the perception that both parents of disabled children have of their family functioning, measuring: the dynamics of the familiar functioning; the perception that the parental couple has about parenting and family functioning; the similarities between fathers and mothers in the perception of these dimensions. The research involved 50 parent couples (age: M=50.84; S.D=7.23), who have 100 disabled children. They completed: Family Assessment Device (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983) to assess specific aspects of family functioning, such as problem solving, communication, roles, affective response and involvement, behavioral control and general functioning; Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (Olson, 2011), to measure family adaptability and cohesion. The parents of disabled daughters showed significantly higher on following scales: cohesion, communication and satisfaction. In contrast, the parents who have male sons showed high scores in the scale of flexibility. Parents of children with autism reported higher scores than the parents of children with pervasive developmental disorders in the following scales: cohesion, communication and satisfaction. The results suggest that family functioning when there is a disabled child might be affected by child’s gender and disability. Among the research limits there are the lack of a representative sample and the absence of a longitudinal study. In future studies, it is expected an evaluation of triadic family functioning to examine intergenerational differences in perception of family dynamics.
This work analyzes the correlation of retrospective ratings on parental binding with cognitive patterns in the inmates for property crimes. The participant group comprehended 248 adults men, including 130 marked out as offenders (the target group), aged between 19 and 70, currently serving sentences in the Cavadonna prison in Siracusa, and 118 marked out as non-offenders (the control group), aged between 20 and 70, living in Siracusa (Sicily). The instruments used were the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), and the Young Schema Questionnaire-3 (YSQ). The preliminary analysis showed a high percentage of offenders who experienced an affectionate constraint parenting. Offenders scored significantly higher than the non-offenders on the level of paternal control and the YSQ subscales. The study underlines the influence of maternal care on most of the cognitive schemas, and the role of father's control on the tendency to social isolation and defectiveness in the offenders.
The work we present has a double purpose: sketching some thinking guidelines to overcome the typical Sicilian Mafia mindset and, at the same time, helping to reinforce the theoretical–methodological paradigm of group analysis by means of a dialogue with the concept of relational good. In this framework of dialogue and confrontation, since psychical, social, and economic developments influence each other, they can determine a strong repercussion in the social context of individuals. Relational good thus becomes not only an interdisciplinary intersection, but also a tool that can significantly help fulfilling suitable programs of local development. 2015
This work proposes research on a still unexplored psychical world: thoughts, emotions, and real events experienced by racket victims of the three largest criminal organizations of the South of Italy: Mafia, Camorra, and ‘Ndrangheta. The purpose is to understand the multifaceted psycho-anthropological and social issues criminal organizations have settled on, and particularly which psycho-relational dynamics and sociocultural codes come into play in the complex and controversial relationship between victim and criminal system, between victim and support systems. With entrepreneurs and tradesmen victims of organized crime, we have analyzed lived experiences—in particular fear—and psychological problems they had to cope with; events and motivations that allowed them “breaking” the silence and asking for help; the representation of a support network before and after their possible pressing charges; the kind of help offered by support systems. Dignity and self-respect, the fight for one's own freedom and honor, deep values of southern cultures, those same values the various Mafias use and radicalize, turning them upside down and transforming them into suppression and domination tools, seem to be the main themes leading the rebellion to victimization. Together with this are the strong supports of anti-racket association networks. 2015
L‟articolo affronta i temi legati al lavoro psicoterapeutico con soggetti appartenenti a famiglie mafiose
a partire da una ricerca condotta su un campione di psicoterapeuti delle tre regioni in cui
l‟organizzazione criminale è storicamente più forte e radicata (Sicilia, Campania, Calabria).
Dopo le stragi del ‟92, infatti, l‟intera organizzazione Cosa Nostra entra in crisi e con essa i suoi
membri.
A partire da quegli anni la sofferenza psichica di questi soggetti comincia a trapelare al di fuori di
queste realtà attraverso un‟esplicita domanda d‟aiuto agli psicoterapeuti operanti nei servizi di salute
mentale o nel privato.
Che cosa significa per un terapeuta aiutare un paziente a svelare la propria storia quando questa è
attraversata da omicidi, tradimenti, morti bianche, di uomini noti alla cronaca giudiziaria? In tal senso
il presente contributo mira a mettere in luce, attraverso l‟analisi delle dinamiche controtransferali che
si attivano nel terapeuta, le peculiarità e le difficoltà che contraddistinguono la relazione clinica nel
lavoro con soggetti appartenenti a famiglie mafiose.
The article discusses the issues related to psychotherapeutic work with people belonging to mafia
families from a reasearch of a sample of psychotherapists of the three regions in which the criminal
organization is historically strong and deeply rooted (Sicily, Campania, Calabria).
After the massacres of '92, in fact, the entire organization Cosa Nostra is in a state of crisis.
From those years, the mental suffering of these people began to leak out of these realities through an
explicit request for help to the psychotherapists working in mental health services or private.
What does really mean for a therapist helping a patient to reveal their history deeply marked by
murder, betrayal, white deads and men known to the judicial reporting?
In this sense, this current contribution aims to highlight, through the analysis of countertransference
dynamics which are activated in the therapist, the pecularities and difficulties characterizing the
relationship in the clinical work with people belonging to mafia families.
In Sicily, the increasing presence of immigrants has given the society an important challenge which has also required the adoption of an intercultural view and intervention designed to deepen the needs of migrants. Immigrants living in Sicily are distributed above all in coastal areas. The most numerous migrant communities come from Romania, Tunisia and Morocco. In the province of Trapani, the presence of foreigners reflects the regional distribution with migrants from Romania, Tunisia and Morocco. However, a different distribution of the population has been recorded in Mazara del Vallo, a small town in the province of Trapani, where a Tunisian community justifies the prevalence of Tunisians (77.7%) above any other group of immigrants living in the city. The presence of the Tunisian community in Mazara Del Vallo for over forty years allows us to identify the variety in needs between first generation and second generation migrants. Particularly, this study explores the issue of redefining one’s personal identity in both I and II generation migrants and the differences that emerge between them through the text analysis of interviews conducted on 40 immigrants, 20 pertaining to first generation migrants and the remaining 20 belonging to the second generation: parents and children, all members of the Tunisian community of Mazara del Vallo.
DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s1p380
Background
Forming one’s identity is thought to be the key developmental task of adolescence, but profound changes in personality traits also occur in this period. The negotiation of complex social settings, the creation of an integrated identity, and career choice are major tasks of adolescence. The adolescent, having to make choices for his or her future, has not only to consider his or her own aspirations and interests but also to possess a capacity for exploration and commitment; in fact, career commitments can be considered as a fit between the study or career that is chosen and personal values, skills, and preferences.
Methods
The objective of the study reported here was to investigate the role of identity on profile of interests; the relation between identity and decisional style; the correlation between identity, aptitudes, interests, and school performance; and the predictive variables to school success. The research involved 417 Italian students who live in Enna, a small city located in Sicily, Italy, aged 16–19 years (197 males and 220 females) in the fourth year (mean =17.2, standard deviation =0.52) and the fifth year (mean =18.2, standard deviation =0.64) of senior secondary school. The research lasted for one school year; the general group of participants consisted of 470 students, and although all participants agreed to be part of the research, there was a dropout rate of 11.28%. They completed the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire to measure their identity development, the Intelligence Structure Test to investigate aptitudes, the Self-Directed Search to value interests, and General Decision Making Style questionnaire to describe their individual decisional style.
Results
The data showed that high-school performance was positively associated with rational decision-making style and identity diffusion predicted the use of avoidant style. Interests were related to identity exploration; the differentiation of preferences was related to identity commitment; investigative personality correlated with the rational style and negatively with the spontaneous style and high levels of school performance; and social personality correlated with the use of the spontaneous style and the intuitive style, a high-profile identity, and identity exploration.
Conclusion
Intervention in the development of the identity process proves to be fundamental for increasing aptitudes and improving school performance, and, above all, for broadening the diversification and coherence of interests and improving the decisional process.
The following paper will report back an implementation of a broader research project based on the acknowledged value in education (and self-education too) of autobiographical writings, as recognized at national and international level, for example by Demetrio, Alberici, Merrill, West, etc. The present section of the research had been performed on a sample consisting of adult immigrants (half male and half female of 20-40 years old) in a class who were attending training courses within a CTP (Permanent Territorial Centre) in Italy. Most of immigrants were from East Europe, South America, Africa and China. So, such class was characterized by heterogeneous histories and experiences which initially may be perceived by the same students as problematic and an obstacle, but that have always been transformed into an opportunity for share and discussions about peculiar differences as a resource and a value both in an intercultural and in educational perspective. An original autobiographical format had been administered to them and it had been considered by participants as very useful for development of self identity, to enhance their own experiences and for a better orienteering too.
The present work evaluates time perception in children with dyscalculia (DD) to verify whether DD can interfere with timing tasks. Sample includes: 12 DD subjects (M=9.5 years) and 12 healthy subjects (M=9.2 years). Two studies are carried out: a time comparison task (to judge whether an interval was longer or shorter than a reference interval) and a time reproduction task. The ANOVA shows the effect of factor GROUP on temporal relationship and errors on temporal comparison. In sub- second duration timing task, DD children are less accurate than healthy children; boys seem to have a lower level of performance than girls.
The passage from modernity to postmodernity deeply upset the group dimension, and, consequently, personal identity itself. Transformations involving the entire planet, socioanthropological changes our society had to cope with, are producing a change in the dynamics of identity formation and the appearance of new psychopathological figures. The loss of cohesion of the sense of belonging and the weak internalization process of the elements that form the individual identity (cultural, linguistic, religious traditions, etc.) draw an essentially uncertain and temporary existence. Drawing on some themes of subjectual group analysis theory of personality, the article proposes the concept of dis-identity as key to read ongoing psychic changes.
Background
Several studies have demonstrated a significant association between dissociation and posttraumatic symptoms. A dissociative reaction during a traumatic event may seem to predict the later development of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Moreover, several researchers also observed an alexithymic condition in a variety of traumatized samples.
Methods
A total of 287 flood victims (men =159, 55.4%; women =128, 44.6%) with an age range of 17–21 years (mean =18.33; standard deviation =0.68) completed the following: Impact of Event Scale–Revised, Dissociative Experiences Scale II, Twenty-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire.
Results
We found significant correlations among all variables. Linear regression showed that peritraumatic dissociation plays a mediator role between alexithymia, dissociation, and post-traumatic stress symptoms.
Conclusion
Our results seem to confirm the significant roles of both dissociation and alexithymia for the development of posttraumatic symptoms.
As a theoretical extension of other previous studies, this work represents an improvement of the notions about the relationship between adolescence and Mafia. The research has been aiming at exploring teenagers’ universe within specific social contexts where the presence of criminal organizations is significant, focusing the attention on the modalities through which evolutionary tasks are coped with in contexts with high Mafia density and often characterized by a perception of social space which makes personal, financial and political development problematic. The research has involved 93 teenagers who live in southern regions where the presence of Mafia organizations (Camorra, ‘Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra) is widespread. Six focus groups have been carried out, audio recorded and then transcribed. Verbalizations have been analyzed through appropriate qualitative grids which allowed detecting three thematic macro-areas: representations of the phenomenon of Mafia, emotions connected to it and planning skills. The qualitative analysis of transcriptions points out that the presence of Mafia organizations, the contiguity between legal and illegal symbolic-cultural codes, the commonality of belonging matrices, sharing the same symbolic and social spaces are all elements which violently enter these teenagers’ identification and release paths, deeply influencing them.
Questo studio, in continuità teorica con altri che lo precedono, rappresenta un amplia-mento delle conoscenze sulla relazione tra adolescenza e mafia. La ricerca si è proposta come obiettivo l’esplorazione dell’universo adolescenziale all’interno di specifici contesti sociali in cui la presenza di organizzazioni criminali è pregnante, focalizzando l’attenzione sulle modalità at-traverso cui vengono affrontati i compiti evolutivi all’interno di contesti caratterizzati da alta densità mafiosa e spesso contraddistinti da una percezione dello spazio sociale che rende pro-blematico lo sviluppo personale, economico e politico. La ricerca ha coinvolto 93 adolescenti che vivono in regioni meridionali in cui la presenza delle mafie (Camorra, ‘Ndrangheta e Cosa Nostra) è capillare. Sono stati realizzati sei focus-group, audioregistrati e in seguito trascritti; le verbalizzazioni sono state analizzate attraverso apposite griglie qualitative che hanno consenti-to di individuare tre macro-aree tematiche: rappresentazioni del fenomeno mafioso, emozioni ad esso connessi e progettualità. L’analisi qualitativa dei trascritti evidenzia che la presenza delle Mafie, la contiguità fra codici simbolico-culturali legali ed illegali, la comunanza delle matrici di appartenenza, la condivisione del medesimo spazio simbolico e sociale, sono tutti elementi che entrano violentemente dentro i percorsi di individuazione e svincolo di questi adolescenti, influenzandoli profondamente.
In this paper I explore Creative Inquiry as an approach to education that navigates between and beyond the Scylla of reproductive, "banking" education and "right brain" narcissism to view education as a creative process. This process includes the self-creation of the knower as well as the understanding of how knowledge is created. The paper takes a broader view of the creative process: it requires rigor and imagination, learning and unlearning, self-knowledge and a thorough grounding in one's subject matter, theory and praxis.
Several studies demonstrate that Schwartz’s (1992) theory of human values is valid in cultures previously beyond its range. We measured the 10 value constructs in the theory with the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ), a new and less abstract method. Analyses in representative samples in South Africa (n = 3,210) and Italy (n = 5,867) and in samples of 13- to 14-year-old Ugandan girls (n = 840) yielded structures of relations among values similar to the theoretical prototype. In an Israeli student sample (n = 200), the values exhibited convergent and discriminant validity when measured with the PVQ and with the standard value survey. Predicted relations of value priorities with a set of 10 background, personality, attitude, and behavioral variables in the four samples supported the construct validity of the values theory with an alternative method of measurement.
The concept of improvisation has become increasingly popular in the discourse of organizational theory. This paper explores several aspects of improvisation, in the context of musical, organizational, and everyday activities, in order to address some of the philosophical and practical issues relevant to this emerging interest. Connections are made between the modernist concept of organization and scholarly inquiry, and postmodern or complexity-based approaches that stress creativity as an emergent property of the relationship between order and disorder. It concludes by suggesting that the study of improvisation demands a profound immersion in (inster-)subjectivity, emotions, time, aesthetics, performance, and social creativity, none of which have traditionally been the focus of organization and management studies, or the social sciences in general. It also suggests that the practice of social sciences itself should reflect upon, and attempt to incorporate these elements.
This article describes Cosa Nostra bosses’ psychological characteristics starting from research data collected over almost twenty years (1994–2013). Through the use of fragments of interviews to justice collaborators and their wives, children, and sisters-in-law, we analyze the boss’ role and relational context. This article also reports the results of a recent research on the relationship between boss and white-collar workers, carried out through the analysis of environmental tapping recorded at a famous Sicilian Mafia boss’ house: Giuseppe Guttadauro. This research highlights the psychological diversity the relationship between boss and white-collar worker is based on. The analysis of environmental tapping transcriptions has also allowed discovery of the main relational modalities used by the boss and white-collar worker in their conversations. 2015
This study analyzes the representation of the Italian mafias (Cosa Nostra, Camorra and 'Ndrangheta) in a purposive sample of Spanish, German and Dutch newspaper articles between 2000 and 2013. The main aim is to understand how Italian mafias are perceived abroad, and particularly in Europe. The analysis shows that the Italian mafias attracted much European interest in recent years and that this interest is related to specific events. The 'Ndrangheta received significant attention in Germany, while the Camorra is prevalent in Spain. Cosa Nostra records a low amount of domestic attention in the three countries under consideration. Here, the Sicilian mafia is sometimes referred to as a synonym or a definitional term to describe other criminal organizations or criminal methods. More in general, Italian mafias abroad are frequently described as a foreign problem.
Moral agency has dual aspects manifested in both the power to refrain from behaving inhumanely and the proactive power to behave humanely. Moral agency is embedded in a broader socio-cognitive self-theory encompassing affective self-regulatory mechanisms rooted in personal standards linked to self-sanctions. Moral functioning is thus governed by self-reactive selfhood rather than by dispassionate abstract reasoning. The self-regulatory mechanisms governing moral conduct do not come into play unless they are activated and there are many psychosocial mechanisms by which moral self-sanctions are selectively disengaged from inhumane conduct. The moral disengagement may centre on the cognitive restructuring of inhumane conduct into a benign or worthy one by moral justification, sanitising language and exonerative social comparison; disavowal of personal agency in the harm one causes by diffusion or displacement of responsibility; disregarding or minimising the injurious effects of one's actions; and attribution of blame to, and dehumanisation of, those who are victimised. Social cognitive theory adopts an interactionist perspective to morality in which moral actions are the products of the reciprocal interplay of personal and social influences. Given the many mechanisms for disengaging moral control at both the individual and collective level, civilised life requires, in addition to humane personal standards, safeguards built into social systems that uphold compassionate behaviour and renounce cruelty.
This book presents a new approach to how culture works in contemporary societies. Exposing our everyday myths and narratives in a series of empirical studies that range from Watergate to the Holocaust, it shows how these unseen yet potent cultural structures translate into concrete actions and institutions. Only when these deep patterns of meaning are revealed, it argues, can we understand the stubborn staying power of violence and degradation, but also the steady persistence of hope. By understanding the darker structures that restrict our imagination, we can seek to transform them. By recognizing the culture structures that sustain hope, we can allow our idealistic imaginations to gain more traction in the world.
Lotte politiche in Sicilia sotto il governo della destra
- P Alatri
La trasmissione dei pensieri. Un approccio psicologico alle comunicazioni di massa [The transmission of thoughts. A psychological approach to the mass media
- L Arcuri
- L Castelli
Conoscere il territorio per intervenire [Know the territory to intervene Rischio di dispersione scolastica e disagio socio-educativo. Strategie e strumenti di intervento in classe [School drop-out risk and socio-educational discomfort. Strategies and intervention tools in classroom
- M Bellomo
Educazione e globalizzazione [Education and globalization
- G Bocchi
- M Ceruti
Crescere in terre di mafia [Growing up in the Mafia lands]. Narrare i gruppi. Etnografia dell'interazione quotidiana
- Di Blasi
- M Cavani
- La Grutta
- S Lo Baido
- R Pavia
Gruppi. Metodi e strumenti [Groups
- Di Maria
- F Lo Verso
Famiglie allo specchio
- R Baiocco
- M Cacioppo
- C Laudani
Familismo amorale. Le basi morali di una società arretrata [Amoral familism. The moral basis of a backward society
- E Banfield
Il conoscere. Saggi per la mano sinistra
- J Bruner
Nella testa del serpente
- G Casarrubea
- P Blandano
Osso, Mastrosso, Carcagnosso. Immagini, miti e misteri della 'ndrangheta [Osso, Mastrosso, Carcagnosso. Images, myths and mysteries of the 'Ndrangheta
- E Ciconte
- V Macrì
- F Forgione
Narrare l'organizzazione. La costruzione dell'identità istituzionale [Narrating the organization. The institutional identity
- B Czarniawska-Joerges
Contesti multipersonali e formazione dell'identità
- A M Ferraro
- G Verso
Le radici inconsce dello psichismo mafioso
- I Fiore
L'onore e il rispetto. Uno studio antropologico della mafia in Sicilia [The honor and the respect. An anthropological study of the Mafia in Sicily]
- G Licari
Antropologia urbana. Il caso dei contratti di quartiere [Urban anthropology. The case of the district contracts
- G Licari
From power to partnership. Creating the future of love, work, and community
- A Montuori
- I Conti
La misura del disimpegno morale [The measure of moral disengagment
- G V Caprara
- A Barbaranelli
- C Vicino
- S Bandura
Il vincolo e la possibilità
- M Ceruti
DisordinataMente, con un saggio introduttivo di M. Ceruti [Untidily, with an introductory of M
- Di Maria
- F Lavanco
- G Lo Piccolo
- C Menarini
Disidentità e dintorni reti smagliate e destino della soggettualità oggi [Dis-identity and its laddered networks and destiny of subjectivity today
- A M Ferraro
- G Verso
La mafia dentro. Psicologia e psicopatologia di un fondamentalismo [The mafia inside. Psychology and psychopathology of a fundamentalism]
- Lo Verso
Senso e significato nelle organizzazioni [Sense and meaning in organizations
- K E Weich
Industrializzazione senza sviluppo
- E Hytten
- M Marchioni