GLOBALIZATION, CONDUCT NORMS AND ‘ CULTURE CONFLICT ’ Perceptions of Violence and Crime in an Ethnic Albanian Context 1

The paper examines whether violence in contemporary Albania is a structured phenomenon linked to Albanian customary laws, such as the Kanun of Lek Dukagjini, or whether it is a product of social confusion and ‘ culture confl ict ’. It argues that the expansion of Western legal norms in the Albanian territories has caused a ‘ culture confl ict ’ within the society, which has subsequently led to an increase in crime. The conclusions drawn are based on a cross-national survey with ethnic Albanian respondents from Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia, carried out during 2006. ‘ Culture of Violence ’ or ‘ Culture Confl ict ’? In criminology, ‘ social disorganization ’ and ‘ culture confl ict ’ explanations have been frequently applied to elucidate and explain various forms of confl ict such as crime, war, race relations, suicide and more (see Sutherland 1939 [1934, 1924]; Sellin 1938; Bai