Mafiosi cannot resign membership once initiated

Evidence

According to Buscetta: “It has never happened that a man of honor has gone to the boss of his family to inform him that he no longer wanes to belong to the Cosa Nostra. Circumstances can, for example, take the man of honor away from Sicily so that he is not used actively in the family’s affairs; but at any time, and wherever he is, they may remember him and ask him to act in a way consistent with his being a man of honor, and he cannot refuse” (TB: III, 139). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 940

Categorization

• CANDY: The permanent, non-renounceable membership — ‘you can’t quit the Mafia’ — is a striking elevator fact about commitment mechanics.
• XREF: The irrevocable membership is a commitment device — the mirror image of Schelling’s credible commitment and hostage-binding; also resonates with West Point alumni norms or religious orders.