Control Mechanisms

Sociology of Mafias Assignment submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Sociology at the University of Oxford.

Trust and reputation are essential control mechanisms for the Mafia to exist and operate; criminal organizations share remarkably similar rules on mutual help and obedience as well as responsibility for the collective reputation of the organization, “a reputation that can be improved or harmed by the behaviour of its members” (Varese, 2018, p.29). Distrust in state’s institutions and demand for protection—“a poor and costly substitute of trust” (Gambetta, 1993, p.2)—stand out as key elements for the emergence of Mafiosi’s Families (Gambetta,1993). Trust is key to foster cooperation, however, it bears high costs to implement, hence Mafiosi wish to reduce these expenses by exploiting a reputation for violence, which in turn coerces collaborative attitudes. While trust serves for the effectiveness of these criminal networks, their reputation of men of honour certifies quality, status and guarantees their business operations. In the lives of Mafias, trust and reputation intertwine as they constitute fundamental principles for their internal functioning and thus for the interdependence of their members, whilst also counting as valuable assets for their work and establishment in the underworld.

Grade: 68

De momento solo disponible en ingles. Con sus setenta y dos entradas, Konrad Becker pretende abrir las puertas de la realidad estratégica: su construcción a lo largo de los siglos, su imposición a través del sigilo y la fuerza, su mantenimiento aburrido y laborioso, y su disolución y destrucción por parte de aquellos que ya no pueden soportarlo.  Los temas tratados aquí varían ampliamente, desde Imágenes afectivas y entornos conspirados hasta el Estado Hiperreal (un tema de alto perfil durante la crisis crediticia de 2008), Inducción fantasma, Mapas de realidad, Miedo sintético, etc. Estas claves son modelos comunicacionales de sistemas fantasmagóricos, que desbloquean y muestran, por breves momentos, las operaciones de la compleja maquinaria que intenta sigilosamente recrear nuestras propias percepciones, afectos y expresiones. Sin embargo, a diferencia de los otros sistemas que imitan y reduplican de manera tan experta, estos tienen la gracia de disolverse de inmediato en el aire, mientras revelan de manera duradera el humo y los espejos que parecían darles sustancia.

Society is a collectivity consisting of free individuals living with harmony, solidarity, and order. Yet, the "freedom" of the individuals is questionable. For the continuity of the order, human beings have to be kept under control. Individuals of a certain society are controlled, molded and orientated into the needs of the system by the rules and norms that are determined by the powerful. Gender and the notion of reconstructed "truth" are the most influential ways of control. The 19th century was the era in which these control mechanisms can be observed clearly. Since the 19th-century society was male-dominant and ruled by patriarchal norms, gender was one of the dominant control mechanisms of the era. The gap between male and female were massive and both genders belonged to different spheres which increased the level of inequality. Through certain rules, depictions and language used by men, the 19th-century women were controlled, molded and interpellated into the mainstream patriarchal society. The other control mechanism is the brand new notion of "reality or truth" constructed by the upper-class people of the 19th-century. Since the "truth" is determined by the upper-class, in other words, the powerful, rules and laws serve to them. Therefore, everyone lives their lives in accordance with those rules and norms in order not to be otherized, marginalized and terrorized. Likewise, gender as a control mechanism, how lower-class people are controlled, and interpellated into the system by the powerful can be observed through laws, depictions and the use of language. Thus and so, this paper will study gender and the reconstructed notion of "truth" as control mechanisms and how these mechanisms are seen in the 19th-century novel, Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell.

La evasión tributaria es considerada como un fenómeno preocupante para el Estado ecuatoriano, porque a pesar de los esfuerzos realizados por parte del Servicio de Rentas Internas en fortalecer los controles para reducir el nivel de evasión y en potenciar los procesos destinados a aumentar la recaudación, aún no se logra alcanzar tales objetivos. El presente estudio se desarrolló con la finalidad de determinar el porcentaje de evasión del impuesto a la renta en personas naturales no obligadas a llevar contabilidad en la ciudad de Guayaquil y se identificaron las razones que conducen a los contribuyentes a cometer evasión, este estudio servirá a la administración tributaria para repensar acerca de las estrategias que motiven a los contribuyentes al cumplimiento de sus deberes formales en materia tributaria. La
investigación se realizó bajo un enfoque cuantitativo. Los resultados arrojaron que el 38,9% de los contribuyentes aún evaden impuestos

Jedan od važnih instrumenata za vršenje nadzora nad državnim tužilaštvom i policijom, kao i za ocjenu njihovog rada, je putem redovnog izvještaja o radu. Uslov da ovaj mehanizam funkcioniše je da su izvještaji pravovremeni, precizni, tačni i da sadržinom odgovaraju na pitanje: koji su rezultati ostvareni u izvještajnom periodu i šta su problemi i prepreke u radu.

Adekvatno izvještavanje o radu ova dva organa je dodatno značajno u svjetlu otvaranja pregovora sa Evropskom unijom u poglavlju 23 – Pravosuđe i temeljna prava – i potrebe praćenja napretka u ostvarivanju zacrtanih ciljeva. Otvaranjem ovog poglavlja ozvaničen je uslov za napredak Crne Gore u procesu učlanjenja u EU ostvarenjem mjerljivih rezultata u borbi protiv korupcije na visokom nivou i organizvanog kriminala. Posebno važnu ulogu na tom zadatku imaju upravo Tužilaštvo i Policija.

Predmet analize ovog istraživačkog izvještaja su izvještaji o radu Državnog tužilaštva (u daljem tekstu: DT) i djelovi izvještaja Ministarstva unutrašnjih poslova koji se odnosi na rad Uprave policije (u daljem tekstu: UP) u kontekstu međunarodnih standarda o otvorenosti i transparentnosti. Analizirali smo vrste/kateogrije podataka, statističkih i narativnih, dostupnih u izvještaju u odnosu na nadležnost, rad i aktivnosti ovih organa. Takođe smo pratili u kojoj mjeri se građanima i Skupštini Crne Gore, koja nad ovim organima vrši nadzor, sadržinom izvještaja postiže približavanje ostvarenih rezultata, posebno u borbi protiv korupcije i organizovanog kriminala.

Studies were conducted to determine farmers ’ perception on Striga control options and their potential for adoption in two Extension Planning Areas (EPAs) in Central Malawi. Individual interviews were conducted in Mpingu (Lilongwe District) and Mponela (Dowa District) EPAs in 2010 in a sample of 247 respondents. The study revealed that crop production was the main source of livelihood for most households. Farmers identified Striga as a constraint to maize production and attributed its increasing incidence to insufficient funds to purchase inputs, soil fertility and grazing animals. On Striga control mechanisms, manure application was perceived to be the best by farmers, followed by crop rotation, fertilizer application and hand pulling. Even though Striga infestation is increasing in farmers fields, they have not adopted the control options. The low adoption of the options has been justified as “too risky ” as farmers do not trust them. Emphasis should be laid on undertaking on-farm...

This work focuses on the mathematical model for the dynamic behavior of two competing plant species. We introduced a control mechanism and a growth enhancer to reduce the population of the weed and enhance the growth of the foodcrop respectively. We obtained steady state solutions which were characterized using the Linearization method. The results obtained were analyzed.

Over the past few decades, caring for special patients has taken center stage in healthcare systems. Moreover, what necessitates conducting a comparative study into the conditions of special patients and designing a suitable model are as follows: high admission rates of these patients in hospitals, continual recurrence of the illness, sky-high costs of treatment and medicine, lack of coordination between the services offered by hospitals and community needs, and severe pressure of special patients on their families. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the models of government support programs for special patients in Iran, the United Kingdom, the USA, Italy and Sweden through a descriptive-documentary method. The findings revealed that the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the private sector were the major providers of health services to special patients in most of the countries under study. It was also demonstrated that the services offered to special patients are jointly mainly funded by governments, associations, and non-governmental organizations and partially by insurance premiums and so forth. The results also indicated that the bulk of healthcare provision was shouldered by non-governmental sectors and the contribution of charitable people. Finally, it can be concluded that both health-related policies and the health of special patients can be closely honed and monitored through the formation of committees on the health of special patients at the Supreme Council of Health, the establishment of an office for special patients at the Vice-chancellery for Health at the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, provision of decentralized services, and financing through taxation and contribution of charitable people and international organizations.