Illegal drug markets

Illegal Drug Markets
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Illegal Drug Markets
Drug trafficking will always remain a highly prioritized problem in the US with heroin, cocaine, cannabis and other synthetic drugs being the most common drugs in the illegal market. The war on drugs is costly, and attempts have been made to understand the operation of the illegal drug market. Various research methods have been deployed in studying the production and distribution of illegal drugs. This paper explores how the qualitative research methodology can be used to gain an understanding the causal reasons, viewpoints and motivations of the drug trafficking cartel. Bachman, Ronet, and Russel (2015) proposed three distinctive research designs deployed in participant observation as a method of qualitative research. They include complete observation, participant and observation and covert participation.
Complete observation encompasses going to the field and keeping watch of what is going on in the illegal drug market without disrupting the drug cartels. The presence of the researcher alters the natural setting of the situation under study. The participants who in this case are the drug dealers will, therefore, be prompted to change their behavior and tactics which would not have happened if the situation was natural. This subjects this research design to bias where incorrect information may be collected when the drug dealers notice the presence of a stranger, researcher. According to Bachman, Ronet and Russel (2015), such a situation is referred to as the reactive effect and is common when the population under study is small and scattered.

However, this method is effective in a social setting with many participants to mask the attention of the researcher. Complete observation guarantees security and safety of the researchers since they do not engage the drug cartels directly when conducted successfully. This strategy is applicable is researchers camouflage and adapts to the social setting of the drug cartels’ environs without raising suspicion of their presence or intentions.
Participation and observation involve adopting an active role in research. This approach engages one or several members of the group under study. However, the researcher must engage in several group activities to gain their trust in the quest to learn their experiences. The principal advantage of this approach is the collection of first-hand information since the researcher engages the drug cartels directly. The researcher may also disclose their role of researching to all group members in the quest to create a conducive and friendly environment for collecting information. However, developing trust and rapport of the whole gang to permit the researcher in their acts is a cumbersome and time-consuming task. Consequently, it’s also a risky research design especially when one raises the alarm to other group members on the real motive of the researcher considering that the possession and use of illegal drugs is prohibited. This method is effective among users of the illegal drugs although one may be forced to start taking drugs in the quest of concealing their real identity.
Covert participation is deployed in a research study that requires dredging confidential information by gaining access to inaccessible places within the drug dealers territory. It is the only research method that may guarantee engaging the drug cartel warlords in a direct interview. It is an in-depth approach that necessitates the collection of first-hand information from the producers and distributors of illegal drugs. In the quest to keep their research and identity a secret, a researcher is forced to act and behave like a drug dealer by smoking and using some of the illegal drugs. However, without proper coordination with the law enforcement officers, a researcher may be prosecuted when found in possession or using illegal drugs. However, this research design is time-consuming, and one may take a couple of years to learn the social setting of the drug trafficking environment and learning how to be incorporated in the illegal business. Consequently, it is the riskiest approach, if the researcher fails in their undertakings since this will raise the alarm on the presence of an intruder where the punishment may be execution. Covert participation also restricts the methods used to collect data to avoid raising suspicion.
There is no single research method can be proposed for the study of the illegal drug market. This can be attributed to its unlawful abiding and the risks involved. Very few researchers have conducted studies in this field, and most prefer using the available secondary information to derive their analysis. However, there are some overlapping approaches which can be used to study the illegal drug market. The qualitative methodology should be intertwined with the ethnographic approach of study to encompass the element of a community and its identifying culture. Behavioral and psychological approaches to study are pivotal in understanding the behavior of drug dealers in different environmental settings. The inclusion of the criminology and law enforcement section is crucial in defining the acceptable legal boundaries under which research is carried. The incorporation of the economic approach in this study assists in evaluating how big is the illegal drug industry and its impact on the economy.
Reference
Bachman, Ronet, and Russell K. Schutt. Fundamentals of Research in Criminology and Criminal
Justice., 2015. Print.