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Session Submission Summary

Network Criminology I: Social Networks and Substance Use

Fri, Nov 14, 8:00 to 9:20am, Gallaudet - M1

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

a) Objective
This panel examines the intersection of social networks and substance use, focusing on how friendships, community context, and mobility networks shape substance use behaviors. These studies explore how social and spatial networks contribute to risk across different life stages.

b) Data/Methods
Utilizing longitudinal data, geospatial mobility networks, and network-ecological integration, these studies analyze the role friendships, community environments, and urban mobility patterns in shaping substance use. One study investigates how high school friendship stability influences early adulthood substance use, another integrates friendship and community-level data to assess their joint effects, and a third examines how mobility networks contribute to the spatial distribution of drug overdoses in Baltimore.

c) Results
Findings suggest that maintaining high school friendships with substance-using peers increases early adulthood use, while severing these ties mitigates risk. Community context significantly conditions the relationship between friendships and substance use. Additionally, overdose patterns are shaped not just by geographic proximity but by structural mobility pathways, highlighting the role of movement networks in overdose risk.

d) Conclusions/Implications
These studies emphasize the importance of incorporating social and spatial networks into substance use prevention and intervention strategies. Understanding these connections can inform targeted public health and policy responses to substance-related harms.

Sub Unit

Individual Presentations