Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Secret Power of Criminal Organizations

A Social Psychological Approach

  • Book
  • © 2020

Overview

Authors:
  1. Giovanni A. Travaglino

    1. School of Humanities and Social Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Lisbeth Drury

    1. Department of Organizational Psychology, University of London, Birkbeck, UK, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Presents a new perspective on organized crime and other extreme and criminal groups
  • Evidence based view of community interactions with criminal organizations
  • Brings together viewpoints from sociology, anthropology, political science and psychology
  • Highlights cultural values as a key factor in communities’ interaction with criminal groups

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Psychology (BRIEFSPSYCHOL)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Giovanni A. Travaglino, Lisbeth Drury
    Pages 1-4

  3. Understanding Organized Crime

    • Giovanni A. Travaglino, Lisbeth Drury
    Pages 5-12

  4. Intracultural Appropriation Theory

    • Giovanni A. Travaglino, Lisbeth Drury
    Pages 13-22

  5. Assessing the Empirical Evidence: Masculine Honor Values and Organized Crime

    • Giovanni A. Travaglino, Lisbeth Drury
    Pages 23-35

  6. Intergroup Contact in the Context of Criminal Organizations

    • Giovanni A. Travaglino, Lisbeth Drury
    Pages 37-47

  7. Towards a New Understanding of Criminal Groups’ Secret Power

    • Giovanni A. Travaglino, Lisbeth Drury
    Pages 49-54

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 55-66
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This Brief presents a social psychological approach to understanding the reaction of communities to organized crime and illegal groups.  Based on a new theoretical framework and the latest empirical evidence, this book explores questions of how criminal organizations are able to gain power and exert governance over entire territories. This book draws on the prototypical example of Italian organized crime and analyzes the thesis that the power of criminal groups is grounded in dynamics of legitimization rather than fear or coercion. The compliance of a community is seen here as stemming from the endorsement of specific cultural values and norms. These cultural values are actively appropriated, mobilized and transmitted by criminal groups, a dynamic the authors have labeled Intracultural Appropriation Theory. The book emphasizes what can be learned from using this emerging theory in similar settings such as those of terrorist groups and violent gangs, and points the way to solutionsfor this social problem.

Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Humanities and Social Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    Giovanni A. Travaglino

  • Department of Organizational Psychology, University of London, Birkbeck, UK, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    Lisbeth Drury

About the authors

Giovanni A. Travaglino, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Applied Psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), and Lecturer in Social and Organizational Psychology at CSGP, School of Psychology, University of Kent. His research focuses on resistance to criminal organisations and, more broadly, on group processes and inter-group relations in different cultural contexts. He is co-editor with Benjamin Abrams of Contention: The Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Protest and founder of the Interdisciplinary Network for Social Protest Research.

Lisbeth Drury, PhD, is a Lecturer in Organizational Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London. Her research examines on the impact and antecedents of inter-group relations across a range of public, private and organizational settings.  She is a consulting editor for the journal Group Processes and Intergroup Relations.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Secret Power of Criminal Organizations

  • Book Subtitle: A Social Psychological Approach

  • Authors: Giovanni A. Travaglino, Lisbeth Drury

  • Series Title: SpringerBriefs in Psychology

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44161-6

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and Psychology, Behavioral Science and Psychology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-44160-9Published: 03 September 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-44161-6Published: 02 September 2020

  • Series ISSN: 2192-8363

  • Series E-ISSN: 2192-8371

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VI, 66

  • Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Psychology Research

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation