Talk:Salvatore Riina

The Mafia War of 1981 to 1983

Seems contentious to say that "Tommaso Buscetta became the first Sicilian Mafioso to become an informant, or pentito, and co-operate with the authorities." Dickie considers this to be a myth, I think, and is of the opinion that there were always pentiti. He talks specifically about one whose name I can't remember but who was discredited as insane... Edjack 16:11, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

You are indeed correct. It was Leonardo Vitale who was discredited. That section does need updating and I plan on moving a lot of the info to a seperate article about the Mafia War. I'll get round to it soon. Robert Mercer 19:12, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Changed "psychopath" to "sociopath"

I changed this sentence:

This may suggest that he was a psychopath....

to read,

This may suggest that he was a sociopath....

The editor who wrote this made the common error of confusing the two mental illnesses. The confusion probably results from Hitchcock's pioneering slasher film Psycho--adapted from the Robert Bloch's novel of the same name. Socio obviously isn't as catchy.

A psychopath is a person who suffers from a more or less complete break with reality, delusions, hallucinations (especially auditory ones, the classic hearing of "voices" that aren't there). People suffering a psychopathic episode are rarely violent, especially schizophrenics (who are very, very rarely violent), probably the most common form this type of mental illness.

A sociopath is a person who, in Freudian terms lacks a superego, i.e. the part of the personality that is the conscience. The most common traits of sociopaths are a total inability to feel empathy with humans or even animals. This lack of empathy, coupled with a more or less complete absence of morality, often leads sociopaths to commit horrendously violent acts. In, short, they are completely self-centered and will do anything to satisfy their desires, whatever those might be. Most serial killers shows at least some sociopathic traits.

Although many sociopaths can function normally, in society, at least on the surfrace, they are "aggressively anti-social". Although they are capable of the detailed planning needed for serial murder, they are often loners and seldom able to exhibit the leadership, especially charismatic leadership, that Riina displayed.

Therefore it is highly unlikely that Salvatore Riina was psychopath. Whatever mental illnesses he may or may not suffer from, he's basically just evil. Evil of the type, even if in microcosm, that has driven men like Stalin, Hitler, and Idi Amin to commit their horrific crimes.

Of course, sometimes an individual can exhibit both types of mental pathology. David Berkowitz, (aka the "Son of Sam" and "the .44 caliber killer"), for example, claimed that his neighbor's dog was telling him to commit the murders. Of course, some have tried to fake psychopathology Kenneth Bianchi, one of the Hillside Strangler killers, nearly convinced state shrinks that he had multiple personality disorder. Fortunately an astute psychiatrist noticed that Bianchi was aping whatever behavior he thought the shrinks were looking for.) PainMan (talk) 05:46, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Psychopathy is a psychological construct describing amoral and antisocial behavior. The term is often used interchangeably with sociopathy. - Mafia Expert (talk) 09:12, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, but I have to disagree; I'm reverted the term to sociopath. The two are not interchangeable. My above post explains the differences so there's no reason to repeat it.

If someone posts a quote from the DSM IV or some other reputable psychology/psychiatry text corroborating your point...well, I may be stubborn but not to the point of brain damage; a rewrite would be appropriate. Unless someone does so, I will revert psychopath back to sociopath. Ciao! PainMan (talk) 23:50, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

I am sorry to, but I took the description from Wikipedia, where psychopath seem to fit the personality of Riina much better then sociopath. If you don't agree, I suggest you first change the articles there. That is the right place to explain the differences, where it is reviewed by others with knowledge about the issue, not here. - Mafia Expert (talk) 08:03, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

I took my definition from Webster's New World Dictionary, v.2.0. And I stand by the difference. While the conditions are not mutually exclusive they are not synonyms; cannot be used interchangeably.

I agree that the article itself is no place for this discussion, certainly the discussion page is.

"Psychopath" reverted to "sociopath" for reasons cited above. PainMan (talk) 02:52, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article itself defines the term "sociopath" as interchangable with "psychopath" and indeed mentions that Psychopath has been used in a legal sense by UK law. As for the Webster's definitions: there's no consensus in the psychological community as to the use of either terms, and the DSM-IV more or less treats both definitions under one umbrella of Antisocial Personality Disorder. Unless you can quote an authorative text on psychology that defines "psychopathy" and "sociopathy" into more or less well-defined categories, there's no tangible evidence Riina is more of a sociopath than a psychopath or vice versa. I'm not sure why you're convinced one term is more applicable than the first. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.79.248.6 (talk) 14:40, 3 July 2008 (UTC) Could you be confusing "psychopathy" with the classic definition of "psychosis"? Schizophrenic patients suffering from auditory and visual hallucinations ("the voices"), derealization, delusions and such are said to be suffering from a "psychotic episode", not a "psychopathic episode". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.79.248.6 (talk) 14:45, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

The supposed definition of psychopath near the top of this section is actually the definition of psychosis. They are two very different things, although they are often confused with each other. Jim Michael (talk) 02:29, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Early life

There's no discussion of his parents or upbringing; in light of the allegations of bizarre (to say the least) psychology, this would be a good subject to add. In addition, the double-I in his surname seems almost Estonian. Is there some explanation? --Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 16:20, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Categories

Should he be in the categories Italian mass murderers and/or Italian serial killers? Lkjhgfdsa 0 (talk) 16:01, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Suggest of changes

The very early line "Salvatore Riina, also known as Totò Riina (born 16 November 1930) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia who became the most powerful member of the criminal organization in the early 1980s." I think should be changed into "Salvatore Riina, also known as Totò Riina (born 16 November 1930) is a member of the Palermo Mafia (known as "La costra nostra") who became the most powerful member of the criminal organization in the early 1980s." Reason - Riisi never "conquered" the whole Sicilly, "the Corleoneses" neved struggled for the power in Catania and Messina. And Palermo is only one of the three major cities. 83.249.34.180 (talk) 06:24, 10 September 2011 (UTC)

Interesting, do you have any reliable sources for this? Is only the Palermo Mafia known as Cosa Nostra? Nitto Santapaola, from Catania, if I remember well, was allied with Riina, and killed Riina's adversary Giuseppe Calderone. I think we better keep it the way it is. - DonCalo (talk) 13:13, 10 September 2011 (UTC)

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A well written and researched article. A few suggestions to improve: Add a caption to the first pic in the lead that gives context to the bars in front of him, and an approx. date. Citation format needs to be standardised per WP:CITET. =Salvatore_Riina&diff=96836205&oldid=96772139 Here is an example of how to go about this. Last four paragraphs of the "In jail" section comprise single sentences only - merge or expand. No need to link to partial dates (eg 1969, or 1960s). Internal links should only be used for full dates, such as November 16, 1930. Other than that, great work. + Ceoil 00:26, 28 December 2006 (UTC) Many thanks for your comments Ceoil, I'll get round to trying to make suggested changes as appropriate. I am thinking of starting an seperate article for the Second Mafia War including most of the information included in this article, which will mean removing a bulk of this segment from Riina's entry. I feel this is necessary as Riina was only one of many Mafiosi involved in this conflict and it deserves its own entry rather than just a portion of this one. Thanks once again for your comments, much appreciated. Robert Mercer 20:49, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Last edited at 20:49, 2 January 2007 (UTC). Substituted at 05:19, 30 April 2016 (UTC)