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Case Studies | Social Science | Italy | Volume 8 Issue 8, August 2019

The Fake Devotion within the Procession as an Affirmation of the Mafia Power

Salerno Rossana M. Ph.D.

Abstract: The religious sense or rather of the religiosity of the individual is closely linked to the intimate, private sphere that a social actor does not manifest; religiosity is very strictly personal. The religion of the individual concerns the public sphere, that which manifests through gestures and devotional acts, pilgrimages, faith paths and processions. Mafia religiosity can be identified in three specific moments: the first takes place in the private sphere of the individual, in which the behaviour is closely linked to the faith of the individual but also to the transgression of the law by carrying out crimes that at their base are violent in both physical and psychological terms. The second concerns the public sphere of the individual, that is, the manifestation of one's religiosity by presiding over processions or being part of it. The third form is manifested through the gestures and the behaviour of deference directed not at the simulacrum but at the mafia subject or at those who have a close connection with the mafia organization or take their place. Two systems of values ??are distinguished: sacred and secular. Each of these two value systems corresponds to a type of company, also opposite. What is a procession? Who are the participants at the procession in to the streets? What is the “bowing” phenomenon during a procession? “Genuflect or Bowing?”.

Keywords: territory, social space, sacred, ritual, religion, processions, devotion, bowing

Edition: Volume 8 Issue 8, August 2019,

Pages: 2126 - 2129

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