ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the authority structure for Cosa Nostra that resembles the structure of the Sicilian-Italian Mafia. This resemblance does not, however, lead to the conclusion that our confederation is merely the Mafia transplanted to new soil. The structure and values of the Sicilian Mafia could readily have been invented in the United States, independently of any contact with Sicily, just as they have been independently invented by prisoners and members of underground movements in many parts of the world. The similarity to the skeletal structure characterizing Cosa Nostra in the United States is obvious. Even more important to an understanding of the American organization is awareness of the roots of the "family" concept as it is used by Italian-Sicilian criminal units in the United States. Sicilian villages are united by the fact that marriages are seldom made outside the community, making the village itself an extended kinship group.
