Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Pathological risk-propensity typifies Mafia members’ cognitive profile” by Salvato, G.; Fiorina, M. L.; De Maio, G.; Francescon, E.; Ovadia, D.; Bernardelli, L.; Santosuosso, A.; Paulesu, E. and Bottini, G. (2020), in which authors study whether differences between the cognitive profile of a Mafia member and the cognitive profile of a regular offender exist.
Organized crime is a matter of global concern, and resources and efforts are increasingly invested in order to improve its understanding and prevention.
One of the most important points of prevention is based on ways to detect it early, to avoid it or minimize its consequences.
On the other hand, regarding the understanding of the phenomenon, we already know some things. For example, we know that they are very stable organizations with a complex hierarchical structure that works according to very strict rules.
The newest members must leave behind their identity to adopt a new one. Their criminal activities, as well as their private lives, are regulated by codes of conduct that could practically be called commandments. These norms build a collective identity to which members adhere, creating a very strong and powerful cohesion.
The group is known to push individuals to carry out risky behaviors. Authors suggested two explanations for this.
First, the shared responsibility of the group. This would mean that risky decisions are perceived as more affordable.
Second, there is a persuasion, aimed at perpetrating these risky behaviors, which would be exercised by the individuals who are most influential in and for the group.
In addition, they understand that this can also occur as a way to maintain the status achieved within the group, or to get closer to the one that is intended to be achieved.
These and other characteristics distinguish organized crime from regular crime, both from a legal and social perspective.
Authors wonder if there are also differences between offenders of one type and another at the behavioral level.
They assume the following idea: it is possible that distinctive features, if any, stem from cognitive variations in frontal lobe execution functions.
This comes from previous studies, which have shown that certain executive dysfunctions of this type predict specific criminal behaviors.
However, until now it is unknown if there is a characteristic pattern of members of criminal organizations.
To answer these and other questions, authors decided to carry out an experiment in which participated 50 convicts serving time for organized crime and 50 common criminals.
In addition, a control group consisting of people with no criminal history was created to compare.
They were given tests on cognitive abilities, depression, anxiety and psychopathy, among others.
Obtained results yielded very interesting ideas. Firstly, that indeed, the affiliation to groups as dominant as the mafias, influences the behavior of their members inside and outside their professional activities.
This would be consistent with social psychology studies that show that group dynamics modulate individual behavior in general.
This would be the first difference between the two types of criminals mentioned, since people with a strong sense of belonging to a group would behave differently than those who perceive themselves as lonely individuals.
Regarding the cognitive profile, the study shows that members of organized crime gangs appear to be more likely to show a tendency to pathological risk compared to common criminals.
We are not surprised, knowing that belonging to a group seems to have an enormous influence on the emerging of this pathological behavior. This would be the most important difference between one type of criminal and another.
Authors point out that numerous prevention programs have been designed to promote the development of emotional and social skills from childhood and also adolescence, in case dysfunctional behaviors are detected.
They consider that these types of programs should be adopted much more frequently, since they are particularly effective for factors such as the pathological risk-propensity observed in this study.
As in most investigations, there are limitations. One of them is that authors consider that the people who participated in the study are not representative of the whole of society.
Although authors have achieved a partial answer to the question, it is very important to bear in mind that the criminological phenomena related to organized crime are extremely complex and, therefore, efforts and resources should continue to be allocated to research on how to prevent them.
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