Research Interests
My research is on strategic behaviour within the constraints of illegal settings. In particular I focus on social mechanisms of self-governance, individual accreditation, recruitment, and trust building in both organized crime and political underground groups.
Until now I have based on qualitative sources my work on gender and the Sicilian mafia, recruitment, and the strategic use of identity signalling and I am planning to integrate quantitative and qualitative data in further research on signalling underground groups identity.
Recent / Selected Publications:
1999 “Gender Norms in the Sicilian Mafia. 1945-1986”, in M.Arnot, C.Usborne, editors, Gender and Crime in Modern Europe, Routledge, London
2006 “Becoming Visible: did the Emancipation of Women Reach the Sicilian Mafia?”, in A. Cento Bull, A..Giorgio, editors., Speaking Out and Silencing, Maney&Son, London
2008 “Women and the Mafia: A Methodological Minefield””, Global Crime, 9:4, 348-53
2009“Women in Gomorrah”, Global Crime, 10:3, 267-271
2012 "Organized crime", Oxford Handbook on Gender, Sex, and Crime, edited by Rosemary Gartner and William McCarthy, forthcoming
Working Papers
"Recruitment among Rebels and Mobsters: Shady Advertising" (with Heather Hamill)
"Mimics among Rebels: Design and Forgery of Violent Radical Groups Signatures. Italy 1969-1980"
"Women in the mafia: Opportunities before Emancipation"
"On the origins of the Sicilian Mafia" (with Tommy, E. Murphy, Bocconi University Milan)
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