Becoming a camorrista : criminal culture and life choices in Naples

Allum, Felia

doi:10.1080/13545710110084262

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…However, existing scholarship seems to refrain from seeing pentitismo as a socialized event and a relational phenomenon, focusing on "individual" "life" choices. This sociology examines the "repentant" as a choosing agent (see, e.g., Allum 2001Allum , 2006, arguing that the individual performs a cost-benefit analysis in deciding whether to exit the mafia or criminality (Arlacchi 1994(Arlacchi , 2010.…”

Section: The Socialized Confession and The Social Life Of Repentantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Life of Mafia Confession: Between Talk and Silence in Sicily

Rakopoulos¹

2018

Current Anthropology

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Exploring Sicilian secular confessions, this essay discusses anthropological impasses on talk and silence. Such dilemmas reveal ethnographic frailties in engaging with concealment and revealing. The delicacy of negotiating between those demanding silence (the mafia) and those demanding self-revelation (the antimafia activists) unsettles the fieldwork ethics of our own anthropological entanglement in the gray areas of fieldwork between silence and talk. I show that pentiti (mafia confessants) blur the area between mafia and antimafia, allowing people to navigate across institutional categories. What is more, the essay embeds Sicilian confession in an intellectual genealogy, comparing mafia confession with its Christian counterpart and with bureaucratic theodicy. The move of confessional material of mafiosi and ordinary Sicilians from a private exchange to the public sphere recalls comparisons with religious ritual. While acknowledging the effects of confession on the mafia person, akin to the religious experience as a path to change and a new self, the essay suggests that secular confession should be approached through the lens of its effects on the lives of others. Its secularism is not imbued in an institution as much as it is invested in the life trajectories it inspires, often in the face of punishment. 1. The more official term, used by state agents, is collaboratore di giustizia ("justice collaborator").

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Section: The Socialized Confession and The Social Life Of Repentantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Life of Mafia Confession: Between Talk and Silence in Sicily

Rakopoulos¹

2018

Current Anthropology

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“…For example, until 1981, Italian legislation considered motives of honor as mitigating circumstances in a crime (e.g., murder of an adulterer). In the south of Italy, codes of honor and respect are central aspects of everyday life (Allum, 2001; J. C. Schneider & Schneider, 2003).…”

Section: Cultures Of Honor and The Italian Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…C. Schneider & Schneider, 2003). These codes are also a feature of criminal groups and COs, which have interpreted and manipulated some aspects of this value system to support criminal aims (Allum, 2001, 2006; Dorjee, Baig, & Ting-Toomey, 2013; J. C. Schneider & Schneider, 2003).…”

Section: Cultures Of Honor and The Italian Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…C. Schneider, 1971). Specifically, COs draw social consensus and legitimization by mirroring and manipulating values present in the broader civil society, particularly values related to the domains of honor and masculinity (Allum, 2001, 2006; Lavezzi, 2014; Paoli, 2003; J. C. Schneider & Schneider, 2003).…”

Section: Italian Criminal Organizationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A. Hughes & Short, 2005; see Viki & Abrams, 2013). These characteristics, together with the prestige and status associated to belonging to one of those organizations (Allum, 2001) may be fascinating and even attractive among young people. As a consequence of this fascination, and as suggested by the words of the ex-Mafioso Calderone (J.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Organized crime and group-based ideology: The association between masculine honor and collective opposition against criminal organizations

Travaglino

Abrams

Moura

et al. 2014

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations

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What is the role of culture in establishing young people’s pathways into gang membership? Italian criminal organizations (COs) exhibit adherence to codes of honor and masculinity, important values in the context where they originated. Here it is proposed that the embedding of these values at an individual level may lessen young people’s group-based opposition to such organizations, and indirectly, create a space in which such organizations can persist and recruit. In a study of young Southern Italians ( N = 176; Mage = 16.17), we found that those who endorsed ideological beliefs related to the honorableness of male violence reported lower intentions to engage in antimafia activities. Consistent with the hypothesized mechanisms, this relationship was mediated by more positive attitudes toward COs, and lower reported vicarious shame in relation to the activities of COs. Directions for future research and implications for research on gangs are discussed.

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Pathological risk-propensity typifies Mafia members’ cognitive profile

Fiorina

Maio

Francescon

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Since the recruitment process, Italian Mafias impose on their members a strict code of conduct. These rigid rules regulate their private and public behavior, implying a total adhesion to the group’s values. Such juridical and social aspects substantially distinguish organized crime (OC) from ordinary crime. It is still unknown whether these two categories of offenders also show distinctive cognitive traits. Here we investigated the frontal lobe cognitive functions of 50 OC prisoners from the Mafia and 50 non-OC prisoners based on the performance of 50 non-prisoner controls. We found that OC members were more likely to show pathological risk-propensity than non-OC prisoners. We interpret this finding as the result of the internal dynamics of Mafia groups. OC is a worldwide threat, and the identification of cognitive traits behind criminal behavior will help in devising focused prevention policies.

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Becoming a camorrista : criminal culture and life choices in Naples

Cited by 5 publications

References 4 publications

The Social Life of Mafia Confession: Between Talk and Silence in Sicily

The Social Life of Mafia Confession: Between Talk and Silence in Sicily

Organized crime and group-based ideology: The association between masculine honor and collective opposition against criminal organizations

Pathological risk-propensity typifies Mafia members’ cognitive profile

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