Between psychopathy and deviant socialization: A close look at the mafia men.
Felice Carabellese, Fulvio Carabellese, Gabriele Mandarelli, Domenico Montalbò, Lia Parente, Donatella La Tegola, Giulia Petroni, Giulia Bruno, Roberto Catanesi, Alan R Felthous
Author Information
Felice Carabellese: Section of Criminology and Forensic Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", p.za G. Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy.
Fulvio Carabellese: Section of Criminology and Forensic Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", p.za G. Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy. Electronic address: fulvio.carabellese@uniba.it.
Gabriele Mandarelli: Section of Criminology and Forensic Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", p.za G. Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy.
Domenico Montalbò: Section of Criminology and Forensic Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", p.za G. Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy.
Lia Parente: Section of Criminology and Forensic Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", p.za G. Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy.
Donatella La Tegola: Section of Criminology and Forensic Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", p.za G. Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy.
Giulia Petroni: Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
Giulia Bruno: St.Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Roberto Catanesi: Section of Criminology and Forensic Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", p.za G. Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy.
Alan R Felthous: Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Forensic Psychiatry Division, 1438 South Grand Blvd, Saint Louis, MO 63104, USA.
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. Following broader national multicenter research, the present study aimed at investigating the possible differences in psychopathy between those mafia associates who had been convicted only of mafia association (Group A, bosses), and those who were also convicted of violent crimes (Group B, soldiers). The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) was administered to n = 48 male inmates convicted of mafia association (M 45.0 years, SD 10.9, range 20-80 years); Group A consisted of n = 26 (54%) subjects, Group B n = 22 (46%). Most of the sample (73%) did not manifest psychopathy (PCL-R ≥ 25) nor Mann-Whitney U test disclosed significant differences in the total PCL-R scores between the study groups. We found significantly higher scores of PCR-R factor 1 (interpersonal / affective) in the members of the mafia association also convicted of violent crimes (PCL-R F1, group A: 5.8 ± 3.7; group B: 7.9 ± 3.5; p < 0.05), this difference appeared explainable on the basis of a higher component of affective psychopathy. These initial results add to the limited literature on mafia and psychopathy and seem to suggest the existence of a specific component of psychopathy in the subgroup of mafiosi with overtly violent conduct.
