“Maranza? They are an emergency, we talk about them in ‘Duvets and Chains'”

“Here – explains Arditti to AdnKronos – we are faced with a new phenomenon: teenagers, in most cases from North African countries“, or “Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, which have developed without particular reasons a form of rejection of rules and school. These kids – whose parents made their life in Italy – reject the rules by choosing a path in the best situations of protest and rudeness – typical, in this sense, are arrogant behavior on local transport buses, trams and trains – and in many others of real delinquency. Since the number of these young people is not small, the topic is beginning to take on serious and even quantitatively significant contours. It’s not girls, it’s not graffiti on the walls.”

A reflection which – Arditti claims – must pave the way for a new way of addressing the issue. “A certain do-goodism around these things and a somewhat sociological approach – he says – need a profound review. This is because the phenomenon is starting to take on non-trivial characteristics. In realitythe deep conviction of these young people is that our system of rules and guarantees allows them to do what they want. That is, they understood that, contrary to what would happen in their countries of origin, if they cynically exploit our guarantee system they may not respect the rules, paying very low prices and in any case very much over time”.

Arditti, going into more detail, underlines that this type of delinquency exploits “our system of rules, from the administrative sanction to the warning from the police commissioner, to procrastinate and in some cases completely avoid any type of sanction or in any case keep it going for years”. In short, it is also about “a challenge to the Italian order“. What, then, could be the best response? “For the portion of this phenomenon that corresponds to true delinquency – he replies – the repressive instrument is unquestionably the main instrument”. As for the response towards children who, on the contrary, behave rudely “it is complex and also involves families. I say it but I don’t really believe it because these kids have their source of information much more on social media and in their group of friends than at home”. However, “what we are interested in with this book is above all to make it clear that a portion of this phenomenon has become delinquency”.

In the book, Arditti and Gallicola reveal the identikit of the maranza. A boy who, according to Treccani’s definition, “is part of noisy street groups or groups, with boastful and loud attitudes… also recognizable by his flashy way of dressing (designer clothing, even worn in a counterfeit manner) and by his vulgar language”. Not only that. In fact, in the pages of the essay, their stories are told with the slant of news and analysis. Thus twelve particular events take place: from the Ramy case to the Corvetto baby gangs; from the rise of Don Alì, leader of the Turin Maranza, to the Bocconi student attacked in Milan; from the tragic story of Gennaro and Salvatore in Forcella to the violence of the Maranza which also affects Peppe, a defenseless ten-month-old puppy. A story enriched by the analysis of Tommaso Cerno, director of Il Giornale who states: “The phenomenon of maranza is a civil and cultural failure. Violence becomes spectacle, amplified by social media, while institutions, schools and communities appear incapable of stemming the degradation. We therefore need a response on multiple levels. Repressive measures but also a cultural project that recovers the idea of ​​collective responsibility”.