College Thesis - input appreciated

[auntynatal]

Hi fellow reefers.

I am currently studying criminology at A level (mature (ish) student) and we have been asked to come up with a plan for an extended project which can be about anything that is connected to criminal activity and deviant behaviour. I have spent ages tossing ideas around, and tonight, after following a link on here. I found my topic.

It would appear that there is a rather grey area surrounding divers that die for the sake of catching rare fish, often forced into the job by poverty and refused wages if they do not complete these dangerous and frequent dives. (see here: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...1#post11575001)

I thought I could use this as a subject matter as for me that post has been an eye opener in relation to how little value is put on a human life, just so the rich can get richer. I also wanted to talk about the ecological effect of fish, corals and anemones (amongst other things) being taken from the ocean to further someones bank balance.

If you feel you have anything that could help me begin my research I would appreciate it if you could either reply to this message, or send me a PM if you prefer.

I will be posting this across the boards, to get a full spectrum of replies and I hope this does not annoy management or members alike. I think this is an extremely important subject to study and that when my thesis is complete I will be able to post it here with my findings for all to read.

as I said, if you have any information, or links (obviously I will be searching too and not relying on other people to do my research) then I would greatly appreciate you taking the time to reply to this message.

At some point in the future I may need to post a questionnaire, I hope that lots of you will take time to fill it in. No details will be revealed and the questions will not be asking if you have committed crime lol, more on the basis of reef practises that need looking at in order to 'save the planet' so to speak.

Anyway, that's all for now, I do hope that I get a few replies and that I can learn valuable lessons from what I find out.

thank you for reading thus far.

[HippieSmell]

Originally posted by auntynatal

I thought I could use this as a subject matter as for me that post has been an eye opener in relation to how little value is put on a human life, just so the rich can get richer. I also wanted to talk about the ecological effect of fish, corals and anemones (amongst other things) being taken from the ocean to further someones bank balance.

If the exploitation of people to create wealth for a few is your main topic, then there are a lot of industries that will be easier to research than the aquarium trade. I'm not trying to discourage you, just saying.

[auntynatal]

I am absolutely sure that there are, but there are little that light a flame under me like reefing does. I haven't slept properly for days trying to find 'my' subject and nothing else I have come up with comes close to raising my interest like this does.

I could spend hours looking at companies that release unsafe goods on to the market because paying human beings compensation for missing limbs or 40% burns is cheaper than recalling 1000's of items for remodelling. I could look into the cheap labour used to build 'top of the range' televisions that have a 100% markup of pure profit while 10 year olds learn to solder chipsets for 2p a day.

but these do not light the flame for me. Its difficult to explain, but I feel in my heart that I will get more out of this than any other subject I have tossed aside. I may not get anywhere at all with it and have to conform to something less interesting, but if I don't try then I won't know.

Thank you for your input x

[auntynatal]

Maybe i will end up having to broaden the spectrum into more of a bourgoisie v's the world type of thesis, using the deep divers as a section...