Friendship among mafiosi has none of the qualities with which the term is commonly associated (Silver 1989). It draws a rhetorical veil over what is simply a prosaic exchange. The concept is similar, for analytical purposes, to that of territory, which also serves to confine competition within controllable boundaries.

DEFINE: Explains how the mafia term 'friendship' functions rhetorically, analogous to 'territory' as a boundary-setting concept.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 528