The mafia psychology and the coexistence systems

One of the main objectives of this paper is the analysis of the systems that allowed the coexistence of three most important, well-known and widespread Italian mafia organizations, on national and interna- tional territories, namely: Cosa Nostra, 'ndrangheta and camorra. First of all, we will introduce the theo- retical framework, which is focused on social coexistence (Carli, 2000a, 2000b) and on social- organizational coexistence (Gozzoli, 2014). Secondly, this article will propose a reading of the mafia organizations coexistence phenomena in Sicily, Calabria, Campania and Lombardy, mainly focusing on the structure of thought and on their relational approach towards the Other. Interestingly, the analysis revealed a profound difference between mafia organizations’ relational approach when in their home- land and when in "conquered" territories: in their homeland they subject the population through fear, there is no need for further investments, as it is recognized by people, and above all, the concept of ma- fia is psycho-anthropo-culturally established and part of the community structure itself. By contrast, in conquered territories, mafia organizations invest, they do business, they carry out lawful activities and are involved with influential people in finance. On the other hand, Lombardy’s communities often have a dangerous type of relationship with mafia, known as "fundamentalist": criminals are seen as “disposa- ble", an object to be used. For this reason, in the final part of the work, we developed a plan to promote a generative coexistence in territories where coexistence is currently impossible and destructive, that is wherever mafia organizations have set up and required a code of silence from people. The final aim is to create the most hostile ground possible for the mafia, to create a "socio-relational and economic deserti- fication of criminal organizations”, and build awareness in professionals (e.g., entrepreneurs, artisans, etc.) and non-professionals (i.e., communities) that coming to terms with organized crime is far from economically viable and, indeed, deadly.