ABSTRACT
The empirical investigation of corruption is a notoriously difficult task which may be made more problematic by complex moral and cultural constructions. The ethnography of ‘corruption’ on which I draw in this chapter illustrates both criminal corruption and corruption that is not contemplated by the law but is regarded as such in the wider society. As a whole, it exemplifies the maxim, ‘Quod volimus credimus lisenter’, we always believe what we want to believe. If the reality of corruption of any kind is corrupting in its own right (Parry 2000), its adverse consequences are multiplied by the inflated rhetoric that is often superimposed on such a reality. The present discussion will help to clarify how both honest and dishonest motivations play a role in establishing the sociological and political significance of the belief that individuals are caught in a corrupt world. Until recently (D’Emmanuele 2000), in Italy, such a belief has been encapsulated by the expression, corruzione ambientale (a general climate of corruption; see Pardo 2000c). Documentary evidence and material collected through participant observation and the study of significant cases during the 1990s bring to light significant gradations of corruption at individual and institutional levels and the ways in which these levels interact.1 The analysis focuses on the links between illegitimate behaviour and corruption in the health service in the context of a difficult relationship between politics, law and the broader society. In such a context, understanding the precise nature and extension of these links is an absolute priority.
