Criminal Justice/Security Management Research Article. Add Article

¶ … criminal justice/security management research article. Add article post (hyperlink attachment). Provide a summary research (Do recopy abstract. Use words). Explain "qualitative." Be identify discuss elements research: Units Analysis Hypothesis Variables Operationalization: variables operationalized? Time dimension what conclusions made research? How conducted experiment differently?

Criminal justice and security management: Article summary

Dorn, N., & Levi, M. (2009). Private-public or public-private? strategic dialogue on serious

crime and terrorism in the EU. Security Journal, 22(4), 302-316. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.sj.8350086

To improve security management, public-private relationships are increasingly being used as a way permit governments to access the full resources of private security enterprises, while still protecting citizen's individual rights under national laws. The European Commission has attempted to facilitate a dialogue between public and private entities on the subject of how to improve security measures. It has also entertained the possibility of creating an official forum to bring together representatives of public and private sector security interests to discuss further collaboration. The research chronicled in the article was commissioned by the European Commission's Directorate General for Justice Freedom and Security (DG-JLS). Researchers interviewed private and public senior security managers, compared their experiences, and discussed the value of creating of a permanent discussion forum.

Why the research is qualitative

Twelve persons were interviewed which is not enough for a statistically significant 'sampling' in quantitative terms. The research was conducted through interviews, rather than questionnaires, and was open-ended in nature. No responses were statistically tabulated; there was no experimental and control groupings. The researchers themselves dictated the trajectory of how information was gathered. Common themes were identified after the interviews were conducted, not before. There were no select pre-determined questions: in the open-ended interview process interviewees were asked about their thoughts regarding the EU's security policies; personal experiences dealing with the EU; what types of sensitive issues might be difficult to discuss in an open forum; and legal issues related to exchanging information between private and public entities. From these open-ended responses, common themes were identified, such as the need for trust and the dilemmas of information-sharing.

Hypothesis

It can be useful for the EU to draw upon both public and private institutions to improve overall security.

Variables

Private vs. public sector workers with experience in security.

Operationalization

Private sector interview subjects included security firm employees and senior security managers from industries that require a great deal of security-related vigilance, such as IT, transportation, and the chemical industry. Public interviewees consisted of representatives experienced in crime and terrorism, supply chain security and customs.

How were the variables operationalized?

The responses of both subjects in open-ended interviews were compared, common themes were identified, and then specific dilemmas related to the creation of a common EU forum to facilitate dialogue and information-sharing were catalogued.

Over the course of the research, different options were entertained about the creation of an EU forum devoted to talking about security issues. Suggestions included the creation of a virtual forum which was password-protected; an open forum with one physical meeting a year; a stable 'trusted' forum of public and private representatives that would have defined responsibilities; an executive forum of top-level industry and government leaders (not necessarily security personnel), and a new formal legal body. The majority of respondents favored the third option, with possibly including the virtual option as well. A final option is not to create a forum at all, but to simply continue to talk about issues of concern on a less formal basis.

Time dimension

The research was not longitudinal in nature and all twelve participants were only interviewed once, after which their responses were analyzed. No specific policies were implemented as a result of the conclusions of the study. It was designed as exploratory research and primarily devoted to information-gathering.