Despite growing evidence about heterogeneous pathways leading individuals into organized crime, there is limited knowledge about the differences in the criminal career between individuals who entered criminal organizations in their youth and those who joined at an older age. This study assesses the differences between early and late recruits in the Italian mafias through logistic regressions considering several criminal career parameters computed on the period prior to recruitment. Results show that recruitment in the mafias is far from a homogenous process. Early recruits report an early criminal onset, lower educational attainment, more serious offenses within a shorter time-span, and more frequent violent co-offending; late recruits show a later onset, more prolific and versatile—but less serious—offending.
AlbiniJ. L. (1971). The American mafia: Genesis of a legend. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
2.
ArlacchiP. (1983). La mafia imprenditrice. Il Mulino.
3.
ArlacchiP. (1994). Addio Cosa Nostra. La vita di Tommaso Buscetta (1st ed.). Rizzoli.
4.
BehanT. (1996). The Camorra. Routledge.
5.
BlokA. (1975). The mafia of a Sicilian village, 1860–1960: A study of violent peasant entrepreneurs. Harper and Row.
6.
BloklandA.van HoutL.van der LeestW.SoudijnM. (2019). Not your average biker; criminal careers of members of Dutch outlaw motorcycle gangs. Trends in Organized Crime, 22(1), 10–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-017-9303-x
7.
BlumsteinA.CohenJ.RothJ. A.VisherC. A. (1986). Criminal careers and “career criminals”: Volume I (National Research Council (U.S.) Panel on Research on Criminal Careers) National Academies Press.
8.
BrancaccioL. (2017). I clan di camorra: Genesi e storia. Donzelli editore.
9.
CalderoniF.CampedelliG. M.SzekelyA.PaolucciM.AndrighettoG. (2022). Recruitment into organized crime: An agent-based approach testing the impact of different policies. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 38, 197–237.
10.
CampanaP.VareseF. (2013). Cooperation in criminal organizations: Kinship and violence as credible commitments. Rationality and Society, 25(3), 263–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043463113481202
11.
CampedelliG. M.CalderoniF.ComunaleT.MeneghiniC. (2021). Life-course criminal trajectories of mafia members. Crime and Delinquency, 67, 111. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128719860834
12.
CatinoM. (2019). Mafia organizations: The visible hand of criminal enterprise. Cambridge University Press.
CiconteE. (1992). ‘Ndrangheta dall’Unità a oggi. Laterza.
15.
ComunaleT.CalderoniF.MarchesiM.SuperchiE.CampedelliG. M. (2020). Systematic review of the social, psychological and economic factors relating to involvement and recruitment into organized crime. In WeisburdD.SavonaE. U.HasisiB.CalderoniF. (Eds.), Understanding recruitment to organized crime and terrorism (pp. 175–204). Springer International Publishing.
16.
ConwayK. P.McCordJ. (2002). A longitudinal examination of the relation between co-offending with violent accomplices and violent crime. Aggressive Behavior, 28(2), 97–108.
17.
CresseyD. R. (1969). Theft of the nation: The structure and operations of organized crime in America. Harper and Row.
18.
DeckerS. H.PyroozD. C. (2014). Gangs: Another form of organized crime. In PaoliL. (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of organized crime (pp. 270–287). Oxford University Press.
19.
DensleyJ. (2013). How gangs work: An ethnography of youth violence. Palgrave Macmillan UK.
20.
DesmondE.HussainN. (2017). Organized crime and terrorism. In FreilichJ. D.LaFreeG. (Eds.), The handbook of the criminology of terrorism (pp. 373–384). Wiley Blackwell.
21.
EgglestonE. P.LaubJ. H. (2002). The onset of adult offending: A neglected dimension of the criminal career. Criminal Justice Journal, 30(6), 603–622. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2352(02)00193-9
22.
FarringtonD. P.TtofiM. M.CragoR. V.CoidJ. W. (2014). Prevalence, frequency, onset, desistance and criminal career duration in self-reports compared with official records: Onset, desistance and criminal career duration. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 24(4), 241–253. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbm.1930
23.
FrancisB.HumphreysL.KirbyS.SoothillK. (2013). Understanding criminal careers in organised crime. Research Report 74. Home Office.
24.
GambettaD. (1993). The Sicilian mafia: The business of private protection. Harvard University Press.
25.
GambettaD. (2009). Codes of the underworld: How criminals communicate. Princeton University Press.
26.
GambettaD. (2011). Signaling. In BearmanP.Hedström (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of analytical sociology (pp. 168–194). Oxford University Press.
27.
HaganF. E. (2006). “Organized crime” and “organized crime”: Indeterminate problems of definition. Trends in Organized Crime, 9(4), 127–137.
28.
HessH. (1993). Mafia: Le origini e la struttura. Laterza.
29.
HigginsonA.BenierK.ShenderovichY.BedfordL.MazerolleL.MurrayJ. (2015). Preventive interventions to reduce youth involvement in gangs and gang crime in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 11, 1–176. https://doi.org/10.4073/csr.2015.18
30.
HigginsonA.BenierK.ShenderovichY.BedfordL.MazerolleL.MurrayJ. (2018). Factors associated with youth gang membership in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 14, 1–128. https://doi.org/10.4073/csr.2018.11
31.
HobbsD.AntonopoulosG. A. (2014). How to research organized crime. In PaoliL. (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of organized crime (pp. 96–117). Oxford University Press.
32.
HodgkinsonJ.MarshallS.BerryG.NewmanM.ReynoldsP.BurtonE.DicksonK.AndersonJ. (2009). Reducing gang related crime: A systematic review of “comprehensive” interventions. Technical report. Research Evidence in Education Library. EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.
33.
IanniF. A.Reuss-IanniE. (1972). A family business: Kinship and social control in organized crime. Russell SAGE Foundation.
KempL.ZolghadrihaS.GillP. (2020). Pathways into organized crime: Comparing founders and joiners. Trends in Organized Crime, 23, 203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-019-09371-w
36.
KirbyS.FrancisB.HumphreysL.SoothillK. (2016). Using the UK general offender database as a means to measure and analyse organized crime. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 39(1), 78–94. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2015-0024
37.
KleemansE.van KoppenV. (2020). Organized crime and criminal careers. Crime and Justice, 49, 385. https://doi.org/10.1086/707318
38.
KleemansE. R.de PootC. J. (2008). Criminal careers in organized crime and social opportunity structure. European Journal of Criminology, 5(1), 69–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370807084225
39.
KleemansE. R.van de BuntH. (1999). The social embeddedness of organized crime. Transnational Organized Crime, 5(1), 19–36.
40.
KleemansE. R.van KoppenM. V. (2014). Careers in organized crime. In WeisburdD.BruinsmaG. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of criminology and criminal justice (pp. 285–295). Springer.
41.
KleinM. W.Maxson. (2006). Street gang patterns and policies. Oxford University Press.
42.
KlementC. (2016a). Outlaw biker affiliations and criminal involvement. European Journal of Criminology, 13(4), 453–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370815626460
43.
KlementC. (2016b). Crime prevalence and frequency among Danish outlaw bikers. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 17(2), 131–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/14043858.2016.1240420
44.
LantzB. (2020). Co-offending group composition and violence: The impact of sex, age, and group size on co-offending violence. Crime and Delinquency, 66, 93. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128719834564
45.
LantzB.KimJ. (2019). Hate crimes hurt more, but so do co-offenders: Separating the influence of co-offending and bias on hate-motivated physical injury. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46(3), 437–456. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854818810314
46.
La SpinaA. (2004). The paradox of effectiveness: Growth, institutionalisation and evaluation of anti-mafia policies in Italy. In FijnautC.PaoliL. (Eds.), Organised crime in Europe: Concepts, patterns and control policies in the European Union and beyond (pp. 641–675). Springer.
47.
La SpinaA. (2014). The fight against the Italian mafia. In PaoliL. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of organized crime (pp. 593–611). Oxford University Press.
48.
LiuJ.FrancisB.SoothillK. (2011). A longitudinal study of escalation in crime seriousness. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 27(2), 175–196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-010-9102-x
49.
LoeberR.AhonenL. (2014). What are the policy implications of our knowledge on serious, violent, and chronic offenders?Criminology & Public Policy, 13(1), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12072
50.
LoeberR.FarringtonD. P.PetechukD. (2003). Child delinquency: Early intervention and prevention. Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.
51.
MaltzM. D. (1976). On defining “organized crime”: The development of a definition and a typology. Crime and Delinquency, 22(3), 338–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/001112877602200306
52.
McCordJ.ConwayK. P. (2002). Patterns of juvenile delinquency and co-offending. Crime and Social Organization, 10, 15–30.
53.
McGillowayA.GhoshP.BhuiK. (2015). A systematic review of pathways to and processes associated with radicalization and extremism amongst Muslims in Western societies. International Review of Psychiatry, 27(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2014.992008
54.
McGloinJ. M.PiqueroA. R. (2009). ‘I Wasn’t alone’: Collective behaviour and violent delinquency. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 42(3), 336–353. https://doi.org/10.1375/acri.42.3.336
MoffittT. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100(4), 674–701.
57.
MorganA.BrownR.FullerG. (2018). What are the taxpayer savings from cancelling the visas of organised crime offenders?Australian Institute of Criminology.
58.
MorganA.DowlingC.VoceI. (2020). Australian outlaw motorcycle gang involvement in violent and organised crime (No. 586; Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice). Australian Institute of Criminology. https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi586
OstroskyF.BorjaK. C.RebollarC. R.GalvánK. X. D. (2012). Neuropsychological profiles of members of organized crime and drug-traffic organizations. Research and Reports in Forensic Medical Science, 2, 19–30. https://doi.org/10.2147/RRFMS.S32352
61.
PaoliL. (2003). Mafia brotherhoods: Organized crime, Italian style. Oxford University Press.
62.
PaoliL. (2014). The Italian mafia. In PaoliL. (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of organized crime (pp. 121–141). Oxford University Press.
63.
PedersenM. L. (2018). Do offenders have distinct offending patterns before they join adult gang criminal groups? Analyses of crime specialization and escalation in offence seriousness. European Journal of Criminology, 15(6), 680–701. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370817751351
64.
PiqueroA.OsterR. P.MazerolleP.BrameR.DeanC. W. (1999). Onset age and offense specialization. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 36(3), 275–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427899036003002
65.
PyroozD. C.DensleyJ. A. (2016). Selection into street gangs: Signaling theory, gang membership, and criminal offending. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(4), 447–481. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427815619462
66.
PyroozD. C.TuranovicJ. J.DeckerS. H.WuJ. (2016). Taking stock of the relationship between gang membership and offending: A meta-analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 43(3), 365–397. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854815605528
67.
RabyC.JonesF. (2016). Identifying risks for male street gang affiliation: A systematic review and narrative synthesis. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 27(5), 601–644. https://doi.org/10.1080/14789949.2016.1195005
68.
RequenaL.de JuanM.Giménez-SalinasA. G.de la CorteL. (2014). A psychosocial study on crime and gender: Position, role and status of women in a sample of Spanish criminal organizations/Un estudio psicosocial sobre la delincuencia y género. Posición, rol y estatus de la mujer en una muestra española de organizaciones criminales. International Journal of Social Psychology, 29(1), 121–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/02134748.2013.878572
69.
SalinasA. G.RegaderaS. F. (2016). Multiple affiliations in criminal organizations: Analysis of a Spanish sample. Crime Law and Social Change, 65(1–2), 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-015-9597-z
SergiA. (2016). A qualitative reading of the ecological (dis)organisation of criminal associations: The case of the ‘Famiglia Basilischi’ in Italy. Trends in Organized Crime, 19(2), 149–174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-015-9254-z
72.
SergiA. (2018). Widening the antimafia net: Child protection and the socio-cultural transmission of mafia behaviours in Calabria. Youth Justice, 18(2), 149–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473225418791420
SladeE. P.StuartE. A.SalkeverD. S.KarakusM.GreenK. M.IalongoN. (2008). Impacts of age of onset of substance use disorders on risk of adult incarceration among disadvantaged urban youth: A propensity score matching approach. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 95(1–2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2007.11.019
75.
SmithD. C. (1975). The mafia mystique. Basic Books.
76.
SmithR. G. (2014). Responding to organised crime through intervention in recruitment pathways. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 473, 1.
77.
SpapensT.MoorsH. (2020). Intergenerational transmission and organised crime. A study of seven families in the south of the Netherlands. Trends in Organized Crime, 23(3), 227–241. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-019-09363-w
78.
SteffensmeierD. J.UlmerJ. T. (2005). Confessions of a dying thief: Understanding criminal careers and illegal enterprise. Transaction Aldine.
79.
SullivanC. J.McgloinJ. M.PrattT. C.PiqueroA. R. (2006). Rethinking the “norm” of offender generality: Investigating specialization in the short-term. Criminology, 44(1), 199–233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2006.00047.x
80.
TremblayR. E.JapelC.PerusseD.McduffP.BoivinM.ZoccolilloM.MontplaisirJ. (1999). The search for the age of ‘onset’ of physical aggression: Rousseau and Bandura revisited. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 9(1), 8–23. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbm.288
81.
van der GeestV.van KoppenM. V.KleemansE. R. (2020). Delinquent development, employment and income in a sample of Dutch organized crime offenders: Shape, content, and correlates of delinquent trajectories from age 12 to 65. In WeisburdD.SavonaE. U.HasisiB.CalderoniF. (Eds.), Understanding recruitment to organized crime and terrorism (pp. 309–335). Springer International Publishing.
82.
van DijkM.KleemansE.EichelsheimV. (2019). Children of organized crime offenders: Like father, like child? An explorative and qualitative study into mechanisms of intergenerational (dis)continuity in organized crime families. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 25(4), 345–363. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-018-9381-6
van KoppenM. V.de PootC. J. (2013). The truck driver who bought a café: Offenders on their involvement mechanisms for organized crime. European Journal of Criminology, 10, 74–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370812456346
85.
van KoppenM. V.de PootC. J.BloklandA. A. J. (2010). Comparing criminal careers of organized crime offenders and general offenders. European Journal of Criminology, 7(5), 356–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370810373730
86.
van KoppenM. V.de PootC. J.KleemansE. R.NieuwbeertaP. (2010). Criminal trajectories in organized crime. The British Journal of Criminology, 50(1), 102–123. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azp067
87.
VareseF. (2017). What is organised crime? In CarnevaleS.ForlatiS.GioloO. (Eds.), Redefining organised crime: A challenge for the European Union? (pp. 27–56). Hart Publishing.
88.
Von LampeK. (2016). Organized crime: Analyzing illegal activities, criminal structures, and extra-legal governance. SAGE.
89.
WolfowiczM.LitmanovitzY.WeisburdD.HasisiB. (2020). A field-wide systematic review and meta-analysis of putative risk and protective factors for radicalization outcomes. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 36, 407–447. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-019-09439-4
90.
WrightK. A.PrattT. C.DeLisiM. (2008). Examining offending specialization in a sample of male multiple homicide offenders. Homicide Studies, 12(4), 381–398. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767908323930
91.
WuJ.HuX.OrrickE. A. (2022). The relationship between motivations for joining gangs and violent offending: A preliminary test on self-determination theory. Victims & Offenders, 17(3): 335–349.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
