Paranoid padrino: inside the mind of the mafia

They are obsessed with secrecy and symbolism, arcane codes and structures, they have messianic tendencies and are prone to extreme violence. Clare Longrigg asked psychiatrist Corrado De Rosa, don’t you need to be a bit mad to be a Mafioso? ‘Ask Giovanni Brusca what he was thinking when he pressed the button to blow up …

Faking it: madness and the mafia

The mafia uses madness both as a get out of jail card, and to discredit their enemies. Psychiatrist Corrado de Rosa has studied several cases for his book, Mafia da Legare (Mafia Fit To Be Tied), and notes that a smart boss can make capital from looking a fool. In March 2012, prison guards watched …