Candidates must commit serious crimes to bind themselves irreversibly

Evidence

The person who is considered by the members of the Cosa Nostra to possess the qualities necessary to become a member is monitored to check the degree to which he possesses them, above all how able he is to commit serious criminal facts and maintain silence with the police. In certain areas, the candidate is required to commit a serious crime to test his qualities as a “man of action” and also to bind him so that he cannot go back. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 730

Categorization

• XREF: Recruitment-by-compromising-act is exactly the hostage/credible-commitment mechanic: committing the crime burns bridges so the recruit cannot back out — mirroring Don Corleone’s pattern of obligation, and Gambetta’s signaling-through-costly-action logic.