Promoting Awareness about Psychological Consequences of Living in a Community Oppressed by the Mafia: A Group-Analytic Intervention

Giordano, Cecilia; Cannizzaro, Giusy; Tosto, Crispino; Pavia, Laura; Blasi, Maria Di

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01631

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Such crimes affect the community by increasing levels of fear and violence, and decreasing trust and well-being (Giordano, Cannizzaro, Tosto, Pavia & Di Blasi, 2017;cf. Ciziceno & Travaglino, 2018).…”

Section: Omertàmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The resulting fear provides such groups with a powerful means of social control because fear precludes individuals from rebelling and reporting criminal organisations' crimes to the authorities (cf. Giordano, Cannizzaro, Tosto, Pavia & Di Blasi, 2017;Roberti, 2008).…”

Section: Omertàmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Italian criminal organisations and organised crime more generally are recognised fields of study in disciplines such as anthropology (Schneider & Schneider), sociology and political science (Allum, 2006;Toros & Mavelli, 2013) and criminology (Paoli, 2003;von Lampe, 2016). Contributions from clinically-oriented psychology have taken into account specific and important aspects of the impact of the presence of criminal organisations in the community (Giordano et al, 2017).…”

Section: Practical Implications and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How criminal organisations exert secret power over communities: An intracultural appropriation theory of cultural values and norms

Travaglino

Abrams

2019

European Review of Social Psychology

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Section: Omertàmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Omertàmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practical Implications and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

How criminal organisations exert secret power over communities: An intracultural appropriation theory of cultural values and norms

Travaglino

Abrams

2019

European Review of Social Psychology

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“…Literature looks at the difficult relationship between mafia culture and the communities in which this culture exists (Giordano, Cannizzaro, Tosti, Pavia & Di Blasi 2017). Census data in Australia in 2016 reveal that with only 194,000 people born in Italy, over a million traces back their family origins there.…”

Section: ‘Ndrangheta ‘Behaviours’mentioning

confidence: 99%

Polycephalous ‘ndrangheta: Crimes, behaviours and organisation of the Calabrian mafia in Australia

Sergi

2018

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology

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While attention to the 'ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, in Australia, has significantly increased in the past two decades, historical records referring to this peculiar manifestation of organised crime in the country date back almost a century. This research is situated in between studies on mafia mobility and studies on the nature of mafia-type organised crime in Italy and in Australia. Relying on archival research, fieldwork and focus groups with law enforcement agencies across most Australian jurisdictions, this paper will essentially argue that there is in Australia an ongoing criminal system that is made of ethnically hybrid criminal networks-predominantly made of, but not limited to, Calabrian ethnicity. Ethnic solidarity and traditional norms and values of the 'ndrangheta, embedded in Calabrian migrant culture, provide the roof to these networks' behaviours and organisation. This paper will discuss how the resilience of this mafia in Australia is linked to the capacity of 'ndrangheta clans to maintain different heads-to be polycephalous-all differently and equally important: their organisational head is stable and culturally homogeneous, their (mafia-type) behaviours are constant, flexible and rooted in ethnic solidarity, and their activities are very dynamic, but hybrid in their ethnic composition. Introduction and methods The 'ndrangheta is today considered the 'most powerful' Italian mafia, with specific reference to its penetration in Italian society as well as its international presence, especially in the drug trade (Sergi and Lavorgna, 2016). According to the Italian National Antimafia Prosecutor Directorate (DNA, 2017: 3), recent investigations "confirm the diffused presence of the 'ndrangheta in almost all Italian regions, as well as in different countries, not just in Europe, but also in America-United States and Canada-and in Australia". As any other mafia group (Sergi, 2017b), the 'ndrangheta clans are characterised by the commission of criminal activities for profits as well as the quest for power, political and financial. Building on previous studies on the topic (Sergi, 2015; Bennetts, 2016; Spagnolo, 2010), this study will present the results of two months fieldwork in Australia between July and August 2017-and the accompanying desk research.

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“…Over the last decades, the Italian mafia has constantly exercised power to influence both the economic and political systems. For instance, it actively intervenes with violence to gain control over territories and further expand its political influence 1 , 3 , 10 , 11 . Such political violence is assumed to be connected to assassinations of and attacks on Italian politicians that significantly increase before and after elections 10 , 12 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling the influence of the Italian mafia as a Dark Triad threat on individuals’ affective states and the power of defense mechanisms

Diller

Hämpke

Coco

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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The present research investigated whether the Italian mafia as a Dark Triad threat increased threat-related affective states and explored how thinking about defense mechanisms may help to reduce these states. For this, we conducted a multi-method experimental study with Italians (N = 253). The quantitative results show that the mafia as a threat manipulation increased threat-related affective states in terms of higher behavioral inhibition (BIS) and lower behavioral activation (BAS). The qualitative results further depict proximal and distal defense mechanisms to reduce this threat, which can be categorized into models of threat and defense. Exploratory analyses indicate that naming distal defenses positively affected the increase of BAS. Additionally, when participants had higher levels of BIS after the threat, naming more defenses and proximal defenses positively affected the decrease of BIS. Further qualitative results provide valuable information on effective personal and societal buffers for the perceived threat of the Italian mafia.

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Promoting Awareness about Psychological Consequences of Living in a Community Oppressed by the Mafia: A Group-Analytic Intervention

Cited by 8 publications

References 54 publications

How criminal organisations exert secret power over communities: An intracultural appropriation theory of cultural values and norms

How criminal organisations exert secret power over communities: An intracultural appropriation theory of cultural values and norms

Polycephalous ‘ndrangheta: Crimes, behaviours and organisation of the Calabrian mafia in Australia

Unveiling the influence of the Italian mafia as a Dark Triad threat on individuals’ affective states and the power of defense mechanisms

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