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Semester 2

Sociology of Illicit Markets and Criminal Organisations (SCIL10089)

Subject

Sociology

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed at least 2 Social Science courses (i.e. Sociology, Politics, Social Policy, Social Anthropology, African Studies, American Studies, Gender/Queer Studies) at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. It is also RECOMMENDED that students have completed a previous research training or data science course such as: Designing and Doing Social Research, Introduction to Statistics for Social Science, Doing Social Research with Statistics, Ethnography: Theory and Practice, courses in Criminology and other courses which relate to the core material.

Course Summary

Digitally mediated illicit markets, particularly those in illicit drugs and malware, challenge existing assumptions in criminology, sociology, policing and politics regarding the makeup and motivations of criminal operations and the relationship between online markets and the illicit supply chain. You will join a research team with students and staff and focus on a live, real world problem set by the course. The emphasis is on the analysis and problem solving skills you bring and learn during the course. We will examine questions of ethics and politics, the motives of market participants, and the global patterning of illicit markets.

Course Description

The initial focus of the course is on drug cryptomarkets - online markets for the sale of illegal drugs and illegal services. However you may take your research in a direction of interest to you, such as markets in malware, sex work and security technology and other aspects of digital deviance that may not be directly criminal. Questions we will examine in the course: What are the ethics and politics of research and law enforcement interventions in drug cryptomarkets? What motivates cyber-criminals? What would be a suitable legal and ethical framework for law enforcement and related security activity online? How can the benefits and costs of drug cryptomarkets be assessed? How can the illicit supply chain be investigated? How can the effectiveness of law enforcement action in drug cryptomarkets be measured? What are the organizational problems faced by people running illegal businesses? What global patterns and variations are there in illicit markets? The course will be taught through a combination of seminars/workshops and lecturer/tutor led research teams. The course will respond to the problems students identify in their teams, hence the specific direction may vary during the course depending on students' own interests.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

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