Italian mobsters who commit violent crimes in groups more likely to re-offend: study

You don’t have to be a wise guy to come to these conclusions.

A new research paper found that Italian mobsters who previously committed violent crimes in groups were more likely to re-offend.

Researchers at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Transcrime in Italy broke omerta by analyzing data of 9,819 Italians convicted of organized crime.

The paper’s authors focused on violent crimes committed between 1964 and 2016.

Mafioso who engaged in group violence were 14.2% more likely to bust heads again, compared to just 4.9% for made men who roughed up people solo, the researchers found.

Being a part of an organized criminal syndicate or street gang “may favor a persistent, dynamic diffusion or responsibility” that drives people to commit violent acts together in the future, according to the study.

A new study found Italian mobsters who previously committed violent crimes in groups were more likely to reoffend. ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Researchers analyzed data of 9,819 Italians convicted of organized crime. ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Mafioso who engaged in group violence were 14.2% more likely to bust heads again. Savoy Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection

“They may know it’s morally wrong but it’s easier to justify when everyone is doing the same – and we see an impact of these rationalizations on future offending behavior too,” said study author Cecilia Meneghini, who compared the dynamics of how violence spreads throughout the Mafia to “a contagion.”

“It’s easy to be a tough guy when you’ve got a group of guys [around you] — they’re like hyenas, they only got balls when there’s a group,” former Gambino associate John Alite told The Post.

“It only takes one guy’s bad decision and the other guys jump in with him,” he said, adding, “Without each other, they are impotent.”