Stephan Davidshofer, Amal Tawfik, and Tobias Hagmann
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Cultures & Conflits
Institution:
Cultures & Conflits
Abstract:
Investigating the possible emergence of a transnational field of security in Europe constitutes a very stimulating research venue for literature on critical approaches to security. However, the operationalization of such an agenda entails some challenges. Notably, time-consuming data collection and analytical processes are needed in order to fully grasp the characteristics and resources of numerous actors. Drawing on a research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), the aim of this paper is double. It offers both an analysis of the contemporary dynamics of the field of security in Switzerland and a presentation of practical solutions for researchers willing to conduct empirically-oriented studies of different settings of the transnational field of security in Europe. In order to do so, this contribution stands as a methodological roadmap, presenting the various steps leading to the construction of a national social space dedicated to “security issues”. Given the significant volume of data collected in this research project, a series of statistical analysis methods are mobilized in this paper: multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), principal component analysis (PCA), and network analysis. Lastly, in summarizing the project’s results, the paper points to the growing influence of transnational security dynamics on Swiss security actors.
Social agents in charge of the coordination of local security committees dedicated to delinquency and its prevention seem to integrate submissvely the tools offered by the “new criminology” (such as local observatories, statistics, mapping, population profiling). In reality, such tools are mobilised for various reasons that are not only geared towards efficiency. The agents in charge not only use quantitative techniques because they believe in their legitimacy. They also use them as a way to consolidate the legitimacy of their roles. These roles are indeed quite new in the security landscape in France, and mobilising such criminological tools enable the agents to claim a particular form of expertise.
This project was aimed to research and analyze the quality of the statistical data on police
involvement in corruption kept by police agencies in BiH, and to measure their effect on the
overall integrity of the police system. The project also aimed to increase transparency of police
agencies as well as generate dialogue on the methods of generating statistics and quality of the
statistics themselves. The project is emphasizing the importance and need of harmonizing
manners for data collection and keeping statistics and possibilities of achieving harmonization
across BiH.
"Mapping the Quality of the Statistical Data on Police Involvement in Corruption Amongst Police Agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)" is the first evidence-based research on police corruption in
BiH. Most of research of local and international NGOs and other bodies stating that there is a
high level of police involvement in corruption in BiH have been based on the citizens'
perspective or were victim-based. None of them had dealt with real and relevant data from
official registers and there is no evidence-based research on police corruption that takes into
account the relevant statistical data. Hence, the real picture on police corruption in BiH is still
not clear. However, the methodology used in mentioned research is somehow "justified"
understandable. This is due to the lack of real and objective statistical data on police corruption
in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The lack of legislation regulating this obligation usually leads to
misinterpretation and wrong assessment of police behavior. In addition to that, the lack of clear
international standards regulating this area makes the issue more dubious.
Topic:
Corruption, Crime, Statistics, Police, and Transparency