The Declining Significance of Triad Societies in Transnational Illegal Activities. A Structural Deficiency Perspective

Zhang, Sheldon X.; Chin, Ko Lin

doi:10.1093/bjc/43.3.469

Cited by 74 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…Generally, four major types of Chinese crime groups are often cited by law enforcement and the media as being the main perpetrators of an international criminal conspiracy: Triads, Chinatown tongs, Asian youth gangs, and criminal networks involving ethnic Asian individuals. Recent research has gathered little support for such claims (Chin 1990(Chin , 1996(Chin , 2000(Chin , 2003Chu 2000;Joe 1994;Mark 1997 (Chin 1999(Chin , 2000Chu 2000;Zhang and Chin 2003).…”

Section: Past Research On the Structure Of Chinese Gangsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gangs as contractors: the social organization of American Taiwanese youth gangs in Southern California

2010

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This paper examines the organizational structure and operations of Taiwanese organized crime and youth gangs in Southern California. In-depth interviews were used as the principle method of research. In contrast to transnational criminal conspiracy claims and the La Cosa Nostra model of vertically integrated organizations, our findings suggest that these criminal groups consist of discrete local Taiwanese youth gangs which operate as largely independent economic units that show no substantive and operational ties to criminal organizations in Taiwan. The formation of Taiwanese criminal organizations and gangs in Southern California is primarily governed by the availability of financial opportunities. Furthermore, both the inter-gang relations and intra-gang structures exhibit a distinct form of contractor arrangement which consists of market-like weak ties that are simultaneously circumscribed by the criminal embeddedness. We argue that that these economic weak ties, which seem to render conventionally understood criminal organizational boundaries administratively less meaningful, still function as an operationally significant governance mechanism of the organizational structures of American Taiwanese youth gangs. In addition, the paper discusses the implications that the embeddedness has on the somewhat paradoxical and incoherent organizational structure.

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Section: Past Research On the Structure Of Chinese Gangsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gangs as contractors: the social organization of American Taiwanese youth gangs in Southern California

2010

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“…Zhang and Chin [79] proposed a conceptual framework, the structural deficiency perspective, to explain why traditional Chinese crime syndicates are not availing themselves to the opportunities in transnational criminal activities. This is because traditional racketeering activities, such as gambling, prostitution or loan sharking, are neighborhood based and geographically constrained.…”

Section: Money Laundering and Other Enterprise Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Xia [72] argued that due to the structural flaws in the political system and the ineffectiveness of the government's anticrime policy, a rising criminal underworld has emerged as a new force shaping the future of China. Zhang and Chin proposed the cartwheel network [78] to explain the superiority of personal networks (or task force orientation) in transnational criminal activities, and the structural deficiency perspective [79] to explain why traditional neighborhood-based criminal organizations are not equipped to deal with the challenges and uncertainties in transnational activities, and the gendered market perspective [80] to explain why women have come to play a prominent role in Chinese human smuggling activities.…”

Section: Money Laundering and Other Enterprise Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Snakeheads, mules, and protective umbrellas: a review of current research on Chinese organized crime

Zhang

Chin

2008

Crime Law Soc Change

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China's red-hot economy in recent decades has not only brought the country unprecedented wealth and political prominence in the world but also created ample opportunities for criminal enterprises to flourish. A review of recently published literature reveals that two types of transnational criminal activitieshuman smuggling and drug trafficking -received a fair amount of empirical attention in the research community. Other crimes, however, although carrying equally significant cross-national implications, have received scant attention. Thanks to a handful of empirical studies in recent years, the notion that traditional Chinese crime syndicates dominated transnational criminal activities has largely been dispelled. Most of those involved in transnational crimes (at least in human smuggling and drug trafficking) were found to be otherwise ordinary individuals who exploit their social or familial networks to take advantage of emerging opportunities. The criminal underworld in China appears to be growing along two separate tracks, with transnational organized crimes operating on one track and locally based criminal organizations on the other. Both groups of criminal entities are not known to cross paths in any systemic way. Research on Chinese organized crime (either locally based or transnational) has remained rather limited. Future research needs to emphasize empirical strategies to explore these and other pressing transnational criminal activities, as well as to solidify recent findings.If the Chinese economy can be viewed as a dragon roaring and blazing throughout the world, transnational criminal enterprises of Chinese origin are also thriving in its wake. After the Communists took over the country in 1949, for decades criminal organizations all but disappeared in China [22]. However, amidst the economic Crime Law Soc Change (2008) 50:177-195

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“…Seven systematic samples of sentencing files were drawn from each of the seven provinces/special administrative regions that covers the entire "China Route" of drug trafficking. Narcotics are smuggled into China from the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia (bordering the areas of Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand) through the border between the Golden Triangle and Yunnan Province, then moved through Guangxi and Guangdong provinces to Hong Kong and Macau, which have long been known to be centers of drug collection and distribution to international markets, particularly the USA and Europe [11,36,49,52]. This route is known in the literature as the "China Route".…”

Section: Court Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Data sources in Chinese crime and criminal justice research

Liu¹

2008

Crime Law Soc Change

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This paper reviews major criminological data collected in China over decades. Very few quantitative criminological data-sets are available to international and comparative scholars because of the sensitivity of the topic. Studies have been scattered and intertwined in other areas of study, such as law. However, several major projects have been conducted, although they may not be widely known to the international research community. The paper describes and analyzes the major projects in terms of their designs, samples, and measures. It also assesses their nature, scope, and utility that may be informative for further research on crime and justice in China.

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The Declining Significance of Triad Societies in Transnational Illegal Activities. A Structural Deficiency Perspective

Cited by 74 publications

References 0 publications

Gangs as contractors: the social organization of American Taiwanese youth gangs in Southern California

Gangs as contractors: the social organization of American Taiwanese youth gangs in Southern California

Snakeheads, mules, and protective umbrellas: a review of current research on Chinese organized crime

Data sources in Chinese crime and criminal justice research

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