Criminal Group Dynamics and Network Methods

Value – Network methods provide a means to revisit and extend theories of crime and delinquency with a focus on social structure. The unique affinity between group dynamics and network methods highlights immense opportunities for expanding the knowledge of collective trajectories

Network Exposure and Excessive Use of Force: Investigating the Social Transmission of Police Misconduct

Research Summary: In this study, we investigate how a police officer\u27s exposure to peers accused of misconduct shapes his or her involvement in excessive use of force. By drawing from 8,642 Chicago police officers named in multiple complaints, we reconstruct police misconduct ego‐networks using complaint records. Our results show that officer involvement in excessive use of force complaints is predicted by having a greater proportion of co‐accused with a history of such behaviors. Policy Implications: Our findings indicate officers’ peers may serve as social conduits through which misconduct may be learned and transmitted. Isolating officers that engage in improper use of force, at least until problematic behaviors are addressed, seems to be critical to reducing police misconduct and department‐wide citizen complaints. Future studies should be aimed at investigating how social networks shape police misconduct and the ways network analysis might be used to diffuse intervention strategies within departments

“On to the next one:” Using social network data to inform police target prioritization

As part of the portfolio of strategies used to achieve crime reductions, law enforcement agencies routinely establish a list of offenders to be targeted as priorities. Rarely considered, however, is the fact that targets are embedded in larger social networks. These networks are a rich resource to be exploited as they facilitate: 1) efficient prioritization by understanding which offenders have access to more resources in the network, and 2) assessments of the impact of intervention strategies. Drawing from law enforcement data, the personal networks of two mutually connected police targets from a mid-size city in British Columbia, Canada were constructed. Results show that of the 101 associates in their combined network, 50 percent have a crime-affiliated attribute. The network further divides into seven distinct communities, ranging from four to 25 members. Membership to these communities suggests how opportunities, criminal and non-criminal, form and are more likely to occur within one’s immediate network of associates as opposed to the larger network. As such, seven key players that have the highest propensity to facilitate crime-like behaviours are identified via a measure of “network capital,” and located within the communities for informed target selection

The Promise of a Network Approach for Policing Research

Considerable attention has been devoted to understanding police socialization and the resulting culture, yet only recently have scholars turned to a network approach to understand the social relationships between officers. We extend these efforts with results from a pilot study of officer networks in a large US police department. Network data are collected from 88 front-line officers to examine officers’ informal working relationships. Our findings shed light on the connected nature of officer relationships, showing how personal support networks intersect and diverge from more formal advice and mentorship networks. The study provides an alternative starting point for understanding socialization as a vehicle of officer attitudes, values, and behaviors. Likewise, it demonstrates the applicability of a network approach for understanding departments’ social and structural organization. We conclude with a discussion on how officer networks can inform meaningful policy initiatives, including shifting organizational climate, enhancing retention, and curbing abuses

Back to the core : A network approach to bolster harm reduction among persons who inject drugs

Background. Injecting drugs safely almost always includes the presence of one’s social network, especially for the prevention of overdose. Yet, the systematic analysis of users’ social networks has yet to be established as a focal method in harm reduction research, and interventions. Methods. This study draws from 200 interviews with persons who inject drugs recruited from North America’s first sanctioned supervised injection facility and a drug user’s advocacy group. Respondents were asked about the individuals they personally considered as facilitators of harm reduction, and the relations between them. Collectively, these 200 respondents provided over 900 individuals whom they considered as members of their harm reduction network. The aim was to locate individuals that would potentially make the network denser (harm reduction champions) and users that were situated in the “periphery” of the network, and in practice, further away from the harm reduction core. Results. Results found that 63 individuals formed the “core” of the harm reduction network, collectively reaching approximately 70% of individuals in the network. We also uncovered 31 individuals that acted as “articulation points”– these individuals were not as connected, but were more effective at reaching peripheral individuals. Conclusion. The PWIDs we sampled were surrounded by a relatively rich harm reduction network, but the network approach showed that only a minority of individuals were true harm reduction “champions”. Recruitment of a combination of well-connected harm reduction champions, and strategically connected articulation points, would be most effective in planning network interventions that encourage harm reduction behaviors among this population.Medicine, Faculty ofOther UBCNon UBCPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofReviewedPostdoctoralOthe