
Inside the Godfather's Mind
Ce que la psychologie révèle sur les caïds — du DSM-5 à la rue
By Gildas Garrec · 388 pages · 2026
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About this book
Hors-série. Comment un être humain ordonne un assassinat et dort sans difficulté ? Une étude clinique froide de plus de 30 profils criminels — 19 organisations criminelles + 12 vrais mafieux + 5 personnages fictifs — au prisme du DSM-5, de la PCL-R de Hare et des neurosciences du trauma.
How does a human being order an assassination and sleep soundly the next night? This clinical special edition explores the psychology of organized crime through more than thirty profiles — nineteen criminal organizations worldwide (the Sicilian Mafia, cartels, the Yakuza, the Bratva, the Triads, the 'Ndrangheta and more), twelve real-life godfathers (from Al Capone to Griselda Blanco) and five fictional characters (Tony Soprano, Michael Corleone) — read through the lens of the DSM-5, Robert Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and trauma neuroscience. Every real-life profile relies exclusively on public sources — biographies, court testimony, published psychiatric assessments; the psychopathy scores are presented as reasoned clinical estimates, never as formal diagnoses. The book also examines the childhood of these kingpins, the code of honor as a parallel morality, the role of women in organized crime, and finally asks why the mafia fascinates the public so deeply. A clinical analysis that neither glorifies nor condemns: it dissects.
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Take the antisocial personality test →Table of contents
- 1What Psychology Reveals About Crime Lords — from the DSM-5 to the streets
- 2Table of Contents
- 3Disclaimer
- 4Introduction — Why analyze the psychology of mobsters?
- 5Preliminary Chapter — What Is the Mafia? Definitions and Distinctions
- 6Chapter 1 — Five mechanisms common to all mobsters
- 7Chapter 2 — The psychopathy spectrum: from manager to killer
- 8Chapter 3 — The code of honor: a parallel morality
- 9Chapter 4 — The childhood of the crime lord: trauma, resilience, and the tipping point
- 10Chapter 5 — Al Capone: the charismatic narcissist
- 11Chapter 6 — Pablo Escobar: megalomania as a system
- 12Chapter 7 — Lucky Luciano: the cold architect
- 13Chapter 8 — Griselda Blanco: the black widow
- 14Chapter 9 — Salvatore "Toto" Riina: paranoia as strategy
- 15Chapter 10 — John Gotti: the showman narcissist
- 16Chapter 11 — Anthony Spilotro: Violence in Its Purest Form
- 17Chapter 12 — Kazuo Taoka: The Godfather of Kobe
- 18Chapter 13 — Amado Carrillo Fuentes: The Lord of the Skies
- 19Chapter 14 — Matteo Messina Denaro: The Last Godfather
- 20Chapter 15 — Haji Mastan: The Godfather of Bollywood
- 21Chapter 16 — Vyacheslav Ivankov: Yaponchik, the Tsar of Brighton Beach
- 22Chapter 17 -- Tony Soprano: The Mobster on the Couch
- 23Chapter 18 -- Michael Corleone: The Fall of the Innocent
- 24Chapter 19 -- Walter White: Latent Narcissism Revealed
- 25Chapter 20 -- Tommy Shelby: PTSD as Engine
- 26Chapter 21 -- Gustavo Fring: The Perfect Mask
- 27Chapter 22 -- The Wives: Accomplices, Victims, or Survivors?
- 28Chapter 23 -- The Female Bosses: When Women Take Power
- 29Chapter 24 -- Why the Mafia Fascinates: The Psychology of the Viewer
- 30Chapter 25 -- Can We Prevent a Mobster? Psychological Levers
- 31Appendix A -- Comparative PCL-R Table of Real Profiles
- 32Appendix B -- Criminological and Clinical Glossary
- 33Appendix C -- Integrative CBT Mapping Applied to Mafia Profiles
- 34Appendix D -- Annotated Filmography
- 35Appendix E -- Bibliography
- 36Appendix F -- Resources
- 37By the Same Author
- 38Crisis resources
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