An Ethnographic Study of the Triad Mentality in Hong Kong

Abstract

An Ethnographic Study of the Triad Mentality in Hong Kong In the literature on triad societies in Asia, it is rather self-evident that most studies are written from the direct observation and/or personal experience of researchers themselves. Nearly all triad research output thus far was oriented from an out-group perspective, paying little or no attention to, among other things, the ever-changing meanings of ‘triad’, ‘triad membership’, ‘triad culture, custom and behaviour’, etc. as understood specifically from the perspectives of triad members. To address this particular problem, the researcher of this study conducted a series of face-to-face, in-depth interviews with a number of (ex-)triad office-bearers from different criminal groups and participated in a number of their informal social gatherings over a 33-month period. It is hoped that through this qualitative approach more insightful and revealing data could be collected and that the key question ‘What constitutes a triad society, its membership, discourse as well as culture, behavioural patterns and ideological beliefs?’ could be better answered realistically from the perspectives of criminals. The fieldwork data was analyzed through a Sociocognitive Approach (SCA) proposed by Teun A. van Dijk. The research findings demonstrated that there exist opposing or contradictory views (i.e. mental/context models) from the interview participants reflecting the highly elusive nature of Hong Kong criminal underworld.