Organized crime: First paper assignment

SOCIOLOGY 264: ORGANIZED CRIME AND CORRUPTION

First comparative paper

Choose any two of the books we have been reading this semester on various aspects of organized crime and corruption (at this point in the term, that includes Gambetta, Sanchez Jankowski, and Bourgois), and develop a comparison of the two. The comparison may be based on the theoretical or methodological approaches, differences between the types of phenomena being considered in the book, conclusions drawn by the author, or treatment of a more specific empirical problem. Questions that you may want to consider in developing a strategy for comparison include:

•What strategies are used by the author to gain information about organized crime? What are the relative benefits and drawbacks of these strategies?

•How is the research problem of overcoming secrecy and gaining trust approached by the researcher?

•How is the relationship between organized crime and the communities in which criminals operate and the institutions with which they interact conceptualized?

•What general principles are used to exlain how illegal activity is able to function?

•What elements of the “rationality” of organized crime are emphasized in the analysis?

•What is the relative contribution of each to forming a general understanding of organized crime?

This list of questions is not exhaustive – you can come up with your own – and you will not be expected to treat all of them in your paper. The list is meant to help you in organizing your initial thoughts.

Papers should be on 6 to 8 pages in length, and are due in class on Friday, 24 February (advance notice: late papers will be refused). Proper citation of sources is required, according to the ASA format. The ASA Style Guide can be found online at this location:

http://www.calstatela.edu/library/bi/rsalina/asa.styleguide.html

Papers will be evaluated on the basis of the style, structure, reasoning and quality of the evidence brought to the argument.