Italian placed in charge shows lack of respect (6)
I believe the answer is:
levity
'lack of respect' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'italian placed in charge' is the wordplay.
'italian' becomes 'it'.
'placed in' is an insertion indicator (I've seen this in other clues).
'charge' becomes 'levy' (levy is a kind of charge**).
'it' put inside 'levy' is 'LEVITY'.
'shows' is the link.
(Other definitions for levity that I've seen before include "Light quality" , "thoughtlessness" , "Unseriousness" , "Frivolous tendency" , "Flippancy" .)