Early mafiosi gained status accidentally through protective reputations [causal]
- Several early mafiosi describe their status as having been accidentally acquired through a reputation for protecting people, mediating transactions, and settling disputes, as in Ardena's story (see Hess 1973 for excellent examples).
XREF: Connects to discussions about how social capital and reputation-building generate institutional power, relevant to organizational legitimacy theories.
Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 869