While the Golden Age of the Italian Mafia is in the past, it still wields a great deal of power in the underworld of the major cities in the United States. Since its founding in the aftermath of the Castellamarese War, the American Mafia has operated with the same hierarchal structure. As any fan of The Sopranos television program or The Godfather films knows, the Mafia is an exclusive organization whose hierarchy is open only to its members. These members are known as "made men." Although the Mafia may do business with non-members on occasion, only made men can rise the ranks of the Mafia hierarchy. Membership in the Mafia, however, is restricted to only a select group.
For many years, only those of pure Italian decent were eligible to become made men. Even those born in those country had to be able to prove that all of their ancestors had come from Italy. This ethnic qualification excluded many of the people with whom the Mafia did business. It was ultimately dropped by John Gotti so his son could be "made." Today, the requirement is that candidates only have to be Caucasian who is Italian on their father's side. Today, having an Italian surname is more important than actually being 100% Italian.
Until the 1980s, candidates could become made men without having first "made their bones." That means that candidates could become members without having to have ever carried out a murder for the Mafia. That changed with the Mafia learned that it had almost made undercover agent Joe Pistone a made man. That would have given him even more access to the inner-workings of the Mafia. To prevent that from happening again, the Mafia now requires that potential made men first prove that they are not undercover cops by performing contract killings for the Mafia. While an undercover agent could potentially fake a killing for a time, he would not actually commit the act. So long as the Mafia could determine that the candidate really killed the target, they could be 100% sure that the candidate was not a cop.
At least among the families of the East Coast, becoming a made man is marked by a special ceremony. Allegedly, this ceremony requires a candidate to prick his finger and burn a picture of a saint while swearing an oath of loyalty to his new "family." In so doing, the inductee swears that his soul will burn in Hell if he betrays his friends. As soon as the ceremony is over, the inductee has all of the privileges and responsibilities of a member of the Mafia organization. While those privileges are declining along with the power and prestige of the Mafia organization, many criminals still count it an honor. It makes one virtually immune from harassment from criminals lower down the order "criminal food chain." Attacking, killing, or moving in on a made man is a dangerous proposition for anyone who has not first obtained the permission of the higher-ups.
