Mitch MacDonald

Research

I conduct research into organized crime and criminal networks; the effects of different types of 'social interactions' on crime; and quantitative research methods in social network analysis.

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

A current interest of mine concerns the stratification and segregation of persons and groups inside criminal networks, and the effects that stratification and segregation has on group structure. I have three current projects that fall under this set of themes.

The first of which tries to reconcile the contradictory archetypes that have come to describe the structure of criminal organizations. The first, more traditional archetype is the bureaucratic model of criminal organization that outlines each person's position in the hierarchy of the criminal organization. The second, and more contemporary, archetype holds that criminal organizations do not resemble the structure of formal hierarchies, but rather more so resemble "criminal networks" that consist of peers who collaborate in efforts to perpetrate illegal enterprise. I suspect, however, that both archetypes emerge interdependently and, therfore, both contribute to the structure of criminal organizations. I test this hypothesis from sets of police records that provide insights into the formal and informal relations of the 1950s mafia. To do so, I test if the formal or hierarchical relations of criminal organizations spillover into the the informal relations that connet groups of criminal associates that exist outside the confines of criminal organization.

Another project concerns the segregation of persons and groups inside criminal organizations. A first type of segregation occurs formally through the top-down mechanisms of the criminal organization, where persons often occupy some faction inside of it in relation to its formal hierarchy. Another type of segregation happens informally through bottom-up formation of cliques that consist of friends, peers, or close associates. An open question concerns differences in group segregation that possibly relate to the differences in the top-down mechanisms from those that characterize the bottom-up mechanisms. I therefore test if the factions that exist inside of criminal organizations differ from those that emerge outside of them and, if so, what do those differences in the segregation of persons and groups suggest in relation to our concepts of organized crime? To do so, I first detect the segregation of persons into groups from sets of police records that differenitate formal membership to criminal organizations from the informal relationships that connect groups of criminal associates. I then compare the segregation of groups that occur under diametrically opposite conditions to test if informal group structures disregard the confines of formal group process.

The third project concerns the effects that different types of relationships or "foci of illegal activity" has on the stratification of status differences in organized crime, which differentiate someone's position in the status hierarchy from the positions of their peers. A number of different kinds of relationships, group affiliatiations, or types of activity in the social domain can and do spillover into the criminal domain. For instance, mafias were traditionally webs of kinship relations and retain strong kinship dynamics to this day; criminal associates who have influence in certain sectors of industry often collude to extort labor unions or other special interest groups; and groups of criminal associates historically share ties to neighborhoods or geographic terrorities on the basis of where they grew up, where they live, or where they 'do crime'. All of those types of relationships differentiate strong ties from weak ties and may not prove to be equally advantageous to everyone. It is possible, rather, that those who have criminal networks rich in strong ties represent the minority and that their strong ties contribute to their high status in relation to their peers. I therefore test if strong ties disproportionately advantage those who who have higher levels of status or prestige in terms of the size, strength, and quality of their criminal networks.

Teaching

SI0266: Analysing Social Change (Year 3 undergraduate-level)

Analysis of social change is necessary to understand important questions that concern some of the most prominent social issues of our time. For example, many of those sorts of questions pertain to changes in social conditions that include levels of inequality, public attitudes on social issues, and shifts in population demographics: “does university education reduce the gender pay gap?”; “do protests impact election results?”; “do race-gender disparities in evictions reproduce poverty in urban neighbourhoods?”; “do public perceptions of the police impact social cohesion?”; “has the segregation of communities led violence to endure in some neighbourhoods, but not others?”. Answers to those questions on the societal level, however, require that we use the types of data and methods of data analysis necessary to understand and, in turn, effectively respond to social issues.

In this module, students receive training in the types of quantitative data and methods necessary to measure changes that occur during the course of people’s lives and the changes that occur throughout time within and between communities. To do so, students use statistical software that supports the analysis of quantitative data and efforts to measure change over time. The module incorporates case studies of different topics across sociology, criminology, education, geography, and demography that provide substantive context to the concepts taught during lectures and seminars. Across the different blocks of the module, students obtain exposure to different types of data that include surveys (e.g., crime victimisation surveys, surveys on health and well-being, etc.), public administration data (e.g., police records, election results, school records, etc.), and census records reported by the Office for National Statistics (e.g., population demographics, measures of poverty and deprivation, etc.). The precise case studies, datasets, and software packages taught throughout the module depends on the interests of the instructor.

After the completion of this module, students will have learned to:
•    critically evaluate studies that measure change over time
•    analyse changes over time using quantitative data
•    demonstrate proficiency in the use of statistical software for quantitative data analysis
•    synthesise theory and data to construct credible arguments

SIT313: Crime Data, Methods, and Analysis (postgraduate-level)

This module introduces students to qualitative and quantitative methodologies in criminology. Four broad topics guide this module: (1) data sources used in research, and strategies to data collection; (2) the operationalization or measurement of core concepts in criminology; (3) methodologies that tie into research design; and (4) concepts and strategies that bring rigour to research in criminology. Furthermore, students will become responsible consumers of data and research, more generally.

The modules cover both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. From the modules on qualitative perspectives, students gain exposure to data sources that permit qualitative research (e.g., observation; interviews; text; etc.); use theory to operationalize concepts; qualitative research methods (e.g., ethnography; content analysis; discourse analysis; etc.); and strategies to mitigate bias through qualitative insights. From the modules on quantitative perspectives, students gain exposure to quantitative data sources (e.g., survey designs; police statistics; public administrative data; etc.); the practical challenges to measure or operationalize concepts statistically; the basics to multiple regression; and strategies to mitigate threats to validity and reliability.

All seminars include short lectures on methodological concepts or issues, plus open group discussion on readings or case studies. The module covers numerous case studies that illustrate the challenges to doing research, best practices, and questionable research practices. From seminars and group discussions, students will learn to interpret, critique, and present insights through data and research.

Biography

Employment

Lecturer in Quantitative Criminology, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, 2021–

Supervisions

I'm happy to chat regarding supervision. You can contact me by email.

I welcome prospective PhD students to send me proposals on topics that relate to organized crime, illegal enterprise, or "criminal networks", generally, especially if their projects propose that they conduct quantitative data analysis or use forms of secondary data in some original manner. I may also be willing to supervise projects on other topics that include theory and quantitative research methods from social network analysis.

CRIMINOLOGY

I can supervise postgraduate projects on organized crime, illegal enterprise, or "criminal networks" which incorporate theory and quantitative research methods from social network analysis, complexity science, and demography.

I'm happy to surpervise projects which put non-traditional data sources to use (e.g., official narratives from public commissions; contents of reports that provide insights into specific cases; text data from traditional print sources, etc.) to test research questions that relate to topics on organized crime or criminal networks.

Furthermore, I have intentions to use computer simulations and machine learning techniques to predict the group dynamics in organized crime, so I'm happy to supervise students in this space too.

GENERAL

I may be willing to supervise students who have interests in "social interaction" or social network analysis, more generally, if I have enough interest and expertise to support the project. Your project would have to include the use of quantitative research methods and, ideally, make some original contribution to the field of social network analysis.