Culture, Migration and Transnational Crime: Ethnic Albanian Organized Crime in New York City

The purpose of this research is to understand if ethnic Albanian organized crime groups have tried to reconstruct their group's activities, territorial control, cultural codes and organized structure in a new territory of operation, New York City. This research seeks to understand six dimensions related to ethnic Albanian organized crime groups: 1) reasons for going abroad; 2) level of support from constituencies; 3) importance of cultural codes; 4) organized structure in new territory; 5) selection of criminal activities in the new territory; and 6) economic incentives, investments and political infiltration.
Data is drawn from focus groups with experts and members of the Albanian diaspora, semi-structured interviews with Albanian offenders, interviews with key contact points, ethnographic study and participant observation in areas of concern identified by the New York Police Department, and survey interviews of community members in areas of concern.
Data gathered will be analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The grantee will examine links between cultural codes and involvement in crime as well as the prevalence and patterns of crime victimization due to culture and ethnic background.
This study will provide policy makers and law enforcement officials with knowledge that can be used for the development of balanced, effective anti-organized crime policies for dealing with ethnic Albanian organized crime and potentially other emerging organized criminal enterprises. ca/ncf