TY - JOUR
T1 - Pathological risk-propensity typifies Mafia members’ cognitive profile
AU - Salvato, Gerardo
AU - Fiorina, Maria Laura
AU - De Maio, Gabriele
AU - Francescon, Elisa
AU - Ovadia, Daniela
AU - Bernardinelli, Luisa
AU - Santosuosso, Amedeo
AU - Paulesu, Eraldo
AU - Bottini, Gabriella
N1 - Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 699824 for the project: PROTON “Modelling the Process leading to Organised crime and TerrOrist Networks.” The Authors declare that the publication reflects only the Authors’ view, and the Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - 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.
AB - 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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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-020-65486-z
DO - 10.1038/s41598-020-65486-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 32444792
AN - SCOPUS:85085264988
VL - 10
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
IS - 1
M1 - 8559
ER -