Praeger Publishers - Greenwood Publishing Group 2007
"INTERNET LAW BOOK REVIEWS - Service Provided by Rob Jerrard LLB LLM
Smuggling and Trafficking in
Human Beings
Edition: HB
Author: Sheldon X Zhang
ISBN: 0275989518
Publishers: Westport, Greenwood,
Praeger
Price: £22.95
Publication Date: 30th
July 2007
Publisher's Title
Information
Description:
Coming to
America to make a better life has long been a dream of many from around the
world, even if it means being voluntarily smuggled into the country to gain
entry. Perhaps more ominously, various criminal elements now traffic people to
the United States--especially vulnerable groups like women and children from
poor nations--against their will for sexual exploitation, slavery, and other
illicit, underground purposes. The implications for the United States are
potentially staggering. This book examines how for-profit human smuggling and
trafficking activities to the United States are carried out and explores the
legal and policy challenges of dealing with these problems. Zhang covers the
scope and patterns of global human trafficking and smuggling activities; the
strategies and methods employed by various groups to bring individuals into the
United States; major smuggling routes and venues; the involvement of organized
criminal organizations in transnational human smuggling activities; and the
challenges confronting the U.S. government in combating these activities.
Endorsements
From Ko-Lin
Chin, Professor, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University-Newark:
This volume is simply one of
the best books on human smuggling and trafficking, well written, well
organized, and comprehensive. The book is unique because Professor Zhang is not
only extremely familiar with the literature, but also has conducted empirical
research on the topic for so many years. As a result, this is a solid book
filled with findings from some of the best research on human smuggling and
trafficking.
From Carlo
Morselli, School of Criminology/International Centre for Comparative
Criminology, Université de Montréal:
This book is precisely the
type of sound and firmly documented work that we need to approach human
smuggling. Strong on aggregate facts, rich in interview material, informative
on the ins and outs of the smuggling trade, and void of the stereotypes that
are too often and too easily used to represent this phenomenon, Zhang is
definitely ahead of the game when it comes to research in this area.
From Dr.
Jeffrey Scott McIllwain, Co-Director, Graduate Program in Homeland Security San
Diego State University:
Dr. Zhang provides an
insightful, scholarly analysis of human trafficking at a time when immigration
policy once again dominates American political discourse. By breaking down the
human trafficking business into its component parts, Dr. Zhang is able to
provide policymakers with a research-based foundation from which they can
develop more effective and efficient countermeasures.
The
Author
Sheldon X.
Zhang is Professor of Sociology at San Diego State University. He is the
co-author of Criminology: A Global Perspective. His research revolves
around two main themes--transnational organized crime and community-based
corrections. His articles have appeared in journals such as Criminology,
British Journal of Criminology, Criminology and Social Policy,
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Crime and
Delinquency. He has given numerous conference presentations and keynote
speeches to academic as well as law enforcement audiences.
Review
This is a book about
smuggling and trafficking of people into the United States of America.
There is a distinct
difference between smuggling and trafficking of people. Human smuggling is the act of assisting and
facilitating, often for a fee, the unauthorised entry of a foreign national
into a country. It is important to note
that smuggling does not only occur for money because sometimes, people who
smuggle others into a country do so because they are related to those they
smuggle into a country, making smuggling by friends and relations a purely
personal act, whilst smuggling by professional smugglers is usually done for
profit.
Trafficking, defined in the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime Trafficking
Protocol 2000, identifies elements of trafficking as being ‘recruitment and
facilitated movement of a person within or across national frontiers by means
of coercion, threats or deception for the purpose of exploitation’.
This is different to
smuggling, which ends when the migrants reach their destination, both relating
to the complex causes of illegal/irregular migration. The nine chapters of this book comprise 203 pages and these range
from topics of human smuggling through illegal channels, legal channels,
counterfeit documents, bribery, and terrorism.
In Chapter 4- on human
smuggling through illegal channels, the author discusses smuggling overland, by
sea and by air. The author discusses the United States border, which consists
of 5,000 miles of border with Canada, 2,000 miles border with Mexico and 93,000
miles of shoreline. Yet the United States only employs 11,300 Patrol Agents for
this entire vast border. The author describes the routes which smugglers take,
some of these being “treacherous and dangerous”. One would think that because of the 93,000 miles of USA
shoreline, there would be more smuggling by sea, but this is not so. Smuggling
by sea is mostly used by Chinese smuggling organisations and the practice is
not what it used to be in 1882 when the United States implemented the Chinese
Exclusion Act 1882, the first American immigration law, targeted a particular
group of people based on their race.
Smuggling by air can use the
method of a visiting delegation, facilitated by legal documents and temporary
visas or permits to make transfers in other countries. One such strategy is by entering the country
as a business delegation. This strategy
is only successful when facilitated by corrupt officials and by switching
boarding passes and passports,
Professor Zhang says that
there are three basic strategies to the transporting or smuggling of illegal
migrants into the United States:
By travel to Mexico and
Canada by some means and then illegally crossing into the United States;
By transporting migrants as
stowaways in fishing trawlers, freighters, luxury yachts or cargo containers to
reach a port or unguarded United States shore;
By flying to the United
States either directly or through transit.
Professor Zhang’s
well-researched book causes deliberation as to border controls. Reading the
details in this scholarly work makes one wonder if obvious border controls and ID
cards are really the solution, or whether deeper thought should be addressed to
this worldwide problem which does not stand alone, but is deeply integrated
with other social problems of poverty, inequality and fairness, as everybody
wants the opportunities that health, food and money bring. Border controls might not necessarily be the
answer. This book gives an unemotional,
data-filled account of the problem of smuggling and trafficking as it impacts
the United States.
Sally Ramage
Forensic Science: Modern Methods of Solving Crimes
Edition: HB
Author: Max M Houck
ISBN: 027599323X
Publishers: Praeger
(Westport)
Price: £22.95
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher’s Title Description
From Poe's
Dupin and Doyle's Holmes to the television hits Quincy and CSI, the public's
fascination with science employed to solve crimes continues and grows. But this
understanding of how science works in the forensic laboratory is filtered
through the fictional worlds of books and television. How is science really
used to fight crime? What techniques are used to catch criminals and free the
innocent? Forensic scientists work with police, investigators, medical
personnel, attorneys, and others to uphold justice, but their methods are often
misunderstood, overestimated, underestimated, revered, or disputed. Here, the
author answers many common questions about forensic science: How is the science
conducted and by whom? What are the real limits, and real benefits, of forensic
science? What new techniques are emerging to catch 21st-century criminals?
Readers are treated to an insider's overview of the realties of forensic
science. Forensic Science: Modern Methods of Solving Crime covers the basic
concepts of forensic science and how it assists in criminal investigations.
Starting with a brief history of forensic science, from its early days in
Europe to the modern advances of today, the book describes each method and
presents cases that highlight the applications of the methods. Houck profiles
pioneers in forensic science, offers an overview of such forensic topics as
DNA, fibers, fingerprints, and firearms, takes readers through the collection
and processing of evidence, and uses frequent examples and anecdotes to
illustrate all the major areas of forensic science. This introduction to the
field is a useful starting point for anyone wishing to learn more about the
real world of forensic science.
Reviews to date
Houck presents an
introduction to the field that he hopes will distract students from media
accusations of ineptness and sensational movie portrayals. His topics include
the nature of evidence, fingerprints, trace evidence, DNA, firearms, and expert
testimony.
Reference & Research Book News May 2007
Review
This is an American book and
it looks at Forensic Science from an entirely American perspective. The basics of Forensic Science are of
course, the same the world over, no matter in which country they are
practised. However, the American system
of criminal justice is completely different to that in the UK.
The American system of
Forensic Science Laboratory accreditation, standardisation and certification is
totally different from ours, as are the many American agencies, which are
involved in investigating crime and instigating prosecutions.
This book covers the basic
concepts of forensic science and how it assists in criminal
investigations. It starts with a
chapter on the history of forensic science, from its early days in Europe to
the modern advances of today. The
following chapters then give an overview of:-
The Nature of Evidence.
Pathology.
Fingerprints.
Trace Evidence.
DNA.
Firearms.
Anthropology and
Expert Testimony.
Immediately after the
Preface, (more on that later), there is a section entitled 'Important Moments
in the History of Forensic Science,' which briefly lists important occurrences
in this field from 1810 to the present day. I was pleased to see Francis
Galton, Sir Edward Henry, (fingerprints), and Sir Alec Jeffreys (DNA), included
in this useful list.
However, in the first
chapter (History of Forensic Science), under the section 'Pioneers in Forensic
Science' they do not even get a mention.
In my view, any book which has a section on pioneers in forensic
science, must include these three British pioneers who, played such an
important part in the advancement of identification methods.
The author covers such
subjects as individualisation of evidence, relationships and context and
comparison of evidence, but hardly mentions what is to me the most important
thing about potential evidence, is the correct collection, preservation,
packing and documentation of such evidence.
The difference between the
American and UK systems is starkly illustrated by quoting one paragraph of the
book, which is included in the chapter 'Pathology'. The paragraph reads, "The
position of Coroner is by appointment or election and typically no formal
education or medical training is required.
Today, many coroners are funeral directors, who get possession of the
body after the autopsy. This can be a major source of income for such
officials."
In the UK the Coroners Court is the highest in the land taking
precedence over all other courts, and a Coroner is a trained experienced
lawyer, who also has some medical training or background.
I also take issue with the
author regarding 'Evidence Collection at Autopsy' when he states the number and
type of swabs that should be collected in cases of suspected sexual
crimes. Those mentioned are in the UK,
totally inadequate.
There are other statements
in the book which are incorrect either side of the Atlantic: "Typically, only
head and pubic hairs are suitable for microscopic comparison".
The section on paint, glass
and soils is good, as is the section on firearms and ammunition. The section on
hair comparison concentrates on the actual hair and does not mention other
things that may be important in hair comparison i.e. dyes, bleaches, gels and sprays.
My harshest criticism,
however, is for the chapter on fingerprints. The chapter covers friction ridges
and classification adequately, but does not mention at all how fingerprints are
retrieved from an item or scene, and hardly mentions the many and varied
methods of developing latent fingerprints.
There are four illustrations in the chapter, three are of actual
fingerprints and one shows the anatomy of a fingerprint.
Figure 4.1 states that the
illustration is of a loop fingerprint pattern.
It is not. The fingerprint shown
is an arch pattern.
Figure 4.3 states that the
illustration is of an arch pattern. It
is not. The fingerprint shown is a loop
pattern.
These are basic fingerprint
patterns, and to have these labelled wrongly in any book on forensic science is
a grave mistake. I expect that
somewhere along the line the illustrations of the arch and loop patterns were
switched without the author’s knowledge - I sincerely hope that this is the
case. However, I would also expect and
hope that before any book is published each chapter is proof-read by an expert
in that field, in which case these problems should have been discovered and
rectified, as indeed should the fact that in the Preface – the very first page
of the book, a paragraph consisting of some 94 words is completely repeated.
I am sure that having read
my comments above you will not be surprised to learn that I am unable to
recommend this book to any reader in the United Kingdom.
Andy Day, 2007