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Postgraduate Research Paper Assignment
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Added on 2020-05-01
Postgraduate Research Paper Assignment
Added on 2020-05-01
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Postgraduate Assignment Cover and Feedback Sheetto be submitted as the front page of every assignment Registration number __________________________Module code __________________________________ Essay Question: ____________________________Class tutor ____________________________________ Date of Submission _________________________Title of essay or assignment ________________________________________________________________I understand that my work may be submitted to a plagiarism detection service such as Turnitin, and that use of theservice complies with UK Data Protection Law. www.essex.ac.uk/records_management/policies/students.aspxMain StrengthsYou can improve your work in future byFinal mark1
IntroductionOrganised crime, gang activity, delinquent behaviours as well as illicit businessesare common phenomenon in major cities and countries around the world. Thecommon theme is that organised crime or mafia group radiate fear and reputation forbeen ruthless wherever they are based or operate from. The costs of organisedcrime to society include the resources exhausted on their activity, productive andinvestment distortions and other dynamic effects on occupational choice Accordingto (8000), organised crime’s core function is protection. Organised crime groupsemerge from areas of weak state control either because geographic, ethnic, or socialisolation.In this study, the two research papers selected looked at organised crime from twodifferent countries through methodological perspective employed to conduct theresearch. It focused thoroughly by looking at the given specific and definite ideasabout the difference in the qualitative and quantitative analyses methods and howeach of them works and what are the basic conditions that need to be adhered to, ifeither of the methodologies are to be adopted and implemented.The first of the two research papers, published by Federico Varese and Rebecca WYWong looked into the organised assault on peaceful pro-democracy protestors inMong Kok, the working-class neighbourhood of Hong Kong. The second researchpaper focused on how Marshall (2013) measure the rate of crime, using robbery as adependent variable in areas or neighbourhood with high Italian American withconnection to organised crime in Chicago compared to other cities. Marshall (2013)tried to establish that the robbery rates are lower in American Italian populatedneighbourhoods compared to rest of the city by using quantitative methods andnumerical analyses.Varese and Wong (2017) research paper was triggered by demonstration in HongKong in 2014 when the citizens of Hong Kong demands universal suffrage throughprotests and peaceful occupation in different areas of the city against theauthoritative decision-making stance of the Chinese government. The objectives of the study were to identify if the attackers are locally based, or ifthey are from outside Mong Kok and financial districts as well to know if the attackersare affiliated to the Triads or not. It is common for organised mafia groups or thugs to2
be hired by politician to destruct political process. In other words, organised crime isdetrimental to the efficiency of any democratic and economic system (Gambetta,1993; Pinotti 2015, Acemoglu et al., 2013).Varese and Wong (2017) have analysed the situation that led to the assault on theseprotestors on 3rd October 2014. The assault that was unleashed upon thedemocracy advocates was organised and there were speculations whether thegoons were affiliated to gang triads of Hong Kong or were simply acting out on theorders of some other organisation or group (Chui and Khiatani 2017). The theorywas that these thugs had carried out the assault of their own simply to ensure theirown businesses, most of them illegal in nature. The Organised crime or mafia groupsare known to protect their territory with violence, fear and retribution. Marshall (2013)research shows that Italian American organised crime syndicate protect theirneighbourhood through fear and reputation, informal social control or network andorganisation.In this study, the researchers take an epistemological approach that is closer tointerpretivist perspectives. This because the researcher interpretation of the study isthat individuals are intricate and complex and different people experience andunderstand the same ‘objective reality’ in very different ways and have their own,often very different, reasons for acting in the world, thus scientific methods are notappropriate. The inductive approach taken by Varese and Wong (2017) necessitatesthe study to be conducted in an open minded manner without preconceived ideas ofwhat will be found.In contrast, the second research paper published by Marshall (2013) address howthe rate of crime is lower in areas with high ethnic concentration, in the study theItalian American organised. The author highlighted the current arguments forpopulation homogeneity, collective efficacy, and informal social control asexplanations for lowered rates of violent crime. The research question was to identifythe characteristics of the “defended neighbourhood,” and how they are distinctivelyrelated to Chicago neighbourhoods. The aim was to detect how ethnic concentrationis linked to lower crime rate at neighbourhood that embrace self-efficacy andinformal control. Unlike Varese and Wong (2017), Marshall (2013) deployeddeductive research approach by building on existing theory, to design a researchstrategy to test the theory. By using Suttles (1972) on “The social construction of3
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