Drawing on a specific example or issue, describe how increased global mobility or technological innovation has led to the emergence of a new form of criminality. What changes have to be made to the relevant agencies in order to respond effectively?
Research Essay
The research essay asks you to develop a research essay that engages
appropriately with course content. As a research essay, you will be
graded both on the quality of your research and its presentation as an
essay, with attention to the following criteria:
• level of engagement with the task, the material and the course
• the cogency of your argument
• quality of your essay’s overall structure
• the effectiveness of your critical analysis
• the extent to which you handle the material in a thoughtful, interesting,
or original way
• the care you demonstrate by the quality of the submitted document
WORD LIMIT: 2,000 words
Please remember to use journal article and books.
Example, challenge, response
3. Drawing on a specific example or issue, describe how increased global
mobility or technological innovation has led to the emergence of a new form of
criminality. What changes have to be made to the relevant agencies in order to
respond effectively?
Essay Question
Using a case study of global crime to examine challenges posed by key concepts
from the course [this can be either in the form of harm or highlighting
deficiencies in the national or international response to crime] keeping in mind
the above, how they may be rectified.
Your answer could also consider the underlying assumptions guiding this
response; they may be grounded in concepts of criminal justice, military
strategy , emerging new norms, international cooperation or perhaps economic
development.
Research what?
(choosing an example)
• You can choose *any* phenomena that is reasonably frame-able as
global crime. You have to exercise your judgment here and I encourage
you to think outside the box but the link to global needs to be made.
• It doesn’t have to be a crime, it can be also be an instance of harm that
could be treated as a crime
• My advice if you are having trouble identifying an example of global crime
(this is only advice, not an instruction) would be:
• choose a phenomena, choose a location, and set a timeframe for the
enquiry.
Research what?
(choosing a topic)
• Bear in mind, you should engage with the course themes, so don’t
choose anything that makes this engagement difficult for you.
• My advice: choose a topic that actually interests you.
• Follow your curiosity (this may become more obvious as you explore
examples if it not already).
• But information is not knowledge. For that you have to translate it,
using your understanding. This can be challenging but this is a natural
part of learning.
Conducting research: what is being asked for?
• These days it is very easy to generate an archive of relevant material very
quickly.
• But what is more difficult is to engage thoroughly with reports and
official documents.
• If you really want to do well in this essay there will need to be
evidence of in-depth engagement and an inability to really ‘drill
down’ on a topic.
• If you want to do really well ensure you’ve engaged with a number of
reports from various, high-quality sources.
Reports as a source of data
• Google and Google Scholar can be helpful in finding reports.
• NGOs such as the UN, World Bank and other IGOs are another source.
• On certain topics NGO advocacy groups can be very helpful
• Also universities doing large grant-funded projects can also be a good
source.
**in all of the above there may be bias**
Reports as a source of data
Consider carefully where reports have come from (eg. a US government report is
likely to be biased in favour of the US government’s official support for the War
on Drugs).
• Read the relevant parts carefully. Don’t just gloss the executive
summary.
Recall: not just one, but several. If you get a statistic from somewhere, crosscheck it against another report, to the extent it’s possible. Be skeptical.
Use journal articles
• You are also expected to use journal articles. Lucky for us, there is a
journal called Global Crime. It’s a good one. Perhaps set yourself the
task of using at least one source from this journal, so long as it’s
relevant.
• You can also find journal articles using Google Scholar. Just make sure
they’re reputable sources and journals
• Pay attention to bias. There is no such thing as an unbiased source –
objectivity is something we should always strive for, but it’s also a fallacy.
Use books…
• Go into the actual library, find some books, and look some stuff up.
• Articles are sometimes very narrow, books will have a broader
argument
• Again, you can library search through the library’s website; it is really
good but do ask a librarian if you have difficulties.
• Try to use at least a few good books. This can include single-author
monographs, edited collections, and classic works that provide broader
historico-socio-political context.
in sum…
For Global Crime, ‘really good research’ means you can demonstrate evidence of
having…
– read relevant journal articles (and a book or two)
– read and engaged with some reports
– read and incorporated some contextual material (this may include
newspapers, though consider whether the facts they report are
reputable).
– had a real think about what it is that needs to be said (this is about how
you develop an argument from what the data indicates).
Thus there is no ‘number’/quantity of sources, but you should have a strong
bibliography with a good mix of the above.
presentation as an essay: what does it mean?
• You must submit an essay. This means, first of all, that the document is
structured in such a way that it develops a cogent argument – with a
beginning, middle, and end – using effective paragraphs.
• Your argument should emerge from examples/facts/data. This is the
aim of research. Your assumptions guide your selection of material, but
they do not prejudge it. Good research is always both surprising and
somehow ‘disappointing’, insofar as it destabilises what we self-evidently
thought was the case before we had a look.
If you don’t have an argument, keep reading and thinking. Do some more
research and/or read what you’ve found carefully.
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