Overview of psychopathy in women of the mafia

• In Event: Mind of the Mafia

Abstract

The research focuses on the socially deviant mafia world, investigating specifically on the psychopathic dimension of individuals in mafia. From the forensic point of view this continues to be an unexplored field of research. The profiles of the members of the mafia seem to correspond to popular conceptions of the psychopath. Even less known is the women’s role in criminal organizations. With the changing times their historical role in the last decades has gradually shifted and become more important than it was in the past. The autor’s interest is focused on identifying the prevalence of the psychopathic dimension in mafia women. So, the author examined a sample of 20 convicted mafia women coming from Campania and Calabria, the regions of Camorra and 'Ndrangheta respectively, two of the most important Italian criminal organizations. These women inherited their roles from previous bosses and successfully carried on the criminal business. The study compared this sample of mafia women with a sample of female offenders with full criminal responsibility who were in common female prisons. Like men of mafia, the women of mafia have a low prevalence of the psychopathic dimension. Further research is necessary to identify the psychopathic dimension in larger samples of women, and then compare them with similar male samples.

Author

• Felice Carabellese, University of Bari