Children taken from mafia bosses: a necessary measure or a mistake?

MINORS ABSTRACT FROM MAFIA PARENTS –

Taking a child from his parents , even the worst, is never a painless solution. However, leaving him at the mercy of a father who is a professional mafia boss, and perhaps uses him to package bundles of heroin, means surrendering to the laws of the underworld, including the right to inheritance in criminal activity. It is in the narrow corridor between these two opposing boundaries that the Reggio Calabria Public Prosecutor's Office has been moving for some time, in agreement with the Juvenile Court, to remove minor children from mafia families . This is almost like exploring a new tool in the fight against crime , like the seizure of assets, which, after Reggio Calabria, is also being tested in Naples. On Tuesday night, a raid was conducted, with machine gun fire targeting a Carabinieri barracks in Secondigliano: a protest by small-time criminals after their children were taken from the family of a mafia boss.

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CHILDREN TAKEN AWAY FROM MAFIA BOSSES: THE DATA –

Data suggests that approximately 80 children have already been removed from the 'Ndrangheta, a significant number, always by applying the law, not through shortcuts or forced interpretations. The legal framework offers a variety of tools. The penal code allows minors to be removed from their families in cases of sexual abuse, an article that last year, with a mini-reform, was extended to include mistreatment . This is where the jurisprudence introduced in Calabria comes into play: a minor, the child of a boss who teaches him to shoot with a Kalashnikov, can be considered an "abused" child and removed from his family, until his parental responsibility (formerly parental authority) is forfeited. A second legislative instrument dates back to Italy's monarchy, a 1944 royal decree that targets "irregular behavior," even if it does not constitute a specific crime, such as chronic school absenteeism . Finally, special security measures are in place for children under 14, who cannot be charged with anything. In all cases, once removed from the bosses, with their wives complicit, the children of mafiosi and Camorristi can be placed in a community, a foster home, a local social service run by the municipality, or a social service under the Ministry of Justice . "The Reggio experiment is certainly positive, and we are trying to make it as effective as possible," comments Francesco Cascini, head of the Juvenile Justice Department at the ministry on Via Arenula. "The important thing is not to abandon them to a predetermined fate that, sooner or later, leads to prison and the 41 bis regime. So separation from the family is only the first step in a strategy that must be followed inch by inch." And what about the risk of violently uprooting children from their natural bonds with their parents? "The method involves reaching out to the family, trying to involve them, with a constructive and as non-traumatic approach as possible. On the other hand, we apply the forfeiture of parental responsibility to the minor children of Roma parents, so why shouldn't we use it for a child forced to live with a father who teaches him to shoot and kill?" Less convinced of this strong solution, like the forfeiture of parental responsibility, is Caterina Chinnici, a Democratic Party MEP, a former magistrate who fought against the Mafia and the 'Ndrangheta and former head of the Department of Juvenile Justice, who calls for limiting it "to only a temporary separation from the family, without making decisions that could later be counterproductive, but within a process that must aim at the rehabilitation of young people and the very young."

TO LEARN MORE: Assets confiscated from the mafia need to be cleaned up after opaque management.

MINORS TAKEN FROM THE MAFIA –

The Naples Juvenile Court's approach is also inspired by the goal of involving families wherever possible, as Deputy President Maurizio Barruffo explains: "The important thing is to defeat and combat the culture of bullying and oppression, which, in truth, is not limited to the homes of Camorra members. But we juvenile court magistrates, ultimately, are the lowest echelon. The prevention game to keep minors away from the risk of crime is played out locally. We are extremely vulnerable here, especially in the polluted area of ​​the province of Naples. Just consider that in a high-risk municipality like Giugliano, home to 80 residents, there are barely three social workers. I don't believe, under these conditions, they can do much to prevent a minor from becoming a criminal." A growth that involves a sort of curriculum: first the home delivery of an envelope demanding protection money or a dose of heroin, then the arson attack or the demonstrative warning, and finally the lesson, weapons in hand, to become a ruthless killer. It's all in the family.

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