U.S. Government Contractors and Human Trafficking by Celline Cole & Resy Vermeltfoort

Author:Celline Cole & Resy Vermeltfoort
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

9.3 Methodology

This thesis will be a case study of DynCorp and their complicity in sex trafficking and endeavoring a cover-up of these crimes during the UNMBIH. As defined by George and Bennett (2005, p. 27), a case study is “the detailed examination of an aspect of a historical episode to develop or test historical explanations that may be generalizable to other events.” Even though some form of complicity in sex trafficking was widespread among peacekeepers during the UNMBIH, the involvement of DynCorp employees was best documented and proven, which certifies its selection as the subject of study in this thesis.

This thesis uses case study as its research method, as it enables this thesis to look at a large number of intervening variables and examine the operation of complex causal mechanisms in the widespread transformation process of peacekeepers into perpetrators. Moreover, a detailed consideration of contextual factors obtained from extensive NGO reports and interviews with an expert and a participant who were present in Bosnia during the UNMBIH provides the potential for achieving high conceptual validity. These strengths of a case method make it particularly useful for theory development in this thesis. The case study of DynCorp and their complicity in crimes will be examined with a deviant theoretical approach. There are no theories in the literature that examine the power of subunits with both a top-down and bottom-up approach within the bigger macro, meso, and micro context. Through the analysis of the case study with both a top-down and bottom-up approach, this thesis aims to develop a new theory by inductively identifying new variables or causal mechanisms. The intensive study of a case that fails to fit existing theories may provide significant theoretical insights (George and Bennett, 2005). This may lead to new generalizations when it uncovers new causal mechanisms that prove to be applicable to a wide range of cases.

In addition, this thesis will use the method of process tracing to generate new hypotheses and variables on the basis of events observed inductively in the case study. The method of process tracing is an attempt to trace the links between possible causes and observed outcomes within a particular historical case (George & Bennett, 2005). Through process tracing this thesis tries to convert a historical narrative into an analytical causal explanation couched in explicit theoretical forms. According to George and Bennett (2005), some historians criticize this procedure of transforming a detailed and rich historical explanation into selective and abstract theoretical concepts. They argue that unique characteristics of the explanation inevitably will be lost in the process. This thesis agrees that information will be lost in any effort at theory formulation. However, in line with George and Bennett (2005), this thesis argues that this loss does not necessarily jeopardize the validity of the conclusions obtained from the case for the theory and its utility.

For the method of process, tracing this thesis uses literature study and in-depth interviews as its research methods. With regard to the literature study, this thesis will approach and analyze academic literature from a criminological perspective.

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