Social Network Analysis of Youth Offender Networks: The Role of Connectivity in Violence Transmission

• In Event: Crime and Social Networks

Abstract

Social network analysis has become more and more important in criminology in the recent years. Unlike prior studies that have focused on highly structured organized crime networks, the focus of our analysis was on more informal offender networks. More specifically, by using Belgian police recorded crime data, a social network of problematic youth groups was established. In this network, the goal was to assess the extent to which physical violent suspects were connected to other violent and non-violent offending peers. In order to achieve this, we studied clustering patterns of violent behavior at different levels. In particular, local clustering, the community structure, and network fragmentation were examined. Here, we hypothesized that there was a strong connectivity between physical violent nodes in the network (high clustering) as violent youth tend to be associated with other violent youth. Moreover, we hypothesized that the suspect network was connected instead of fragmented – even if clustering was involved – since the small world concept shows that there can be ties that connect different clusters. This connectivity can subsequently allow (violent) behavior to spread between nodes. The results of these analyses will be demonstrated during the presentation.

Authors

• Joke Geeraert, Ghent University

• Christophe Vandeviver, Ghent University

• Luis Enrique Correa da Rocha, Ghent University