Jonathan F. Shulz (2016) has shown that not only is consanguineous marriage highly significantly correlated with mafia activity, “cousin marriage is a highly significant and robust predictor of democracy.”
The Mafia without godfathers
Are Corleone’s Mafiosi more likely to marry close relations? Part 4
In a controlled study of Mafia marriages in Corleone, Mafia members are more closely related to their brides than their non-mafiosi neighbors in Corleone.
Are Corleone’s Mafiosi more likely to marry close relations? Part 3
I hypothesized that the control group would have a rate of consanguineous marriage close to that found throughout Sicily by Cavalli-Sforza et al (2004), and that the study group would have a higher rate than the control.
Are Corleone’s Mafiosi more likely to marry close relations? Part 2
To study mafia marriages, first, you need to find the mafiosi. See Part 1 of this series. To study the marriages of Mafia members requires several steps. First, there is the identification of members of a secret, criminal organization. A few, like members of Giuseppe Morello’s family, and the bosses of Corleone, have been written... Continue Reading →
Are Corleone’s Mafiosi more likely to marry close relations? Part 1
Over the next several weeks, I will share the results of my first study, into the rates of consanguineous marriage among known members of the Mafia in Corleone, and a control group matched by year of marriage. I’ve noticed that Mafia members in Corleone appear to marry into other known Mafia families, engage in double... Continue Reading →
Cousins, many times over
There’s a classic illustration of exponential growth, that goes something like this: a king agrees to play a chess match for a prize: a single grain of rice on the first square of the chessboard, two grains on the second square, and so on, doubling the number for each of the 64 squares. The king... Continue Reading →
Ten percent of Mafia wives
Research reveals a common ancestor shared by six Mafia wives, two Mafiosi, and one mafia genealogist. I've identified 101 men who are (or were) known to be involved in organized crime in Corleone. I found them using a selection of primary and secondary sources, in combination with genealogical sleuthing around. News reports, trial records, police blotters, and... Continue Reading →
Measuring consanguinity and dispensation rates in Corleone
Finding proof of the high rate of cousin marriage in Corleone proves more difficult than expected. In an earlier post, “Kissing Cousins,” I wrote about the high rates of marriage between close relations that have been detected throughout Sicily. Before 1918, dispensation was required for marriages in Sicily, out to the fourth degree of consanguinity, or... Continue Reading →
Mafia Genealogy 