Human capital and social capital in criminal networks: introduction to the special issue on the 7th Blankensee Colloquium

This essay and review on criminal network analysis provides an introduction to the special issue “Human Capital and Social Capital in Criminal Networks”. It traces the history of the application of network analysis in the study of organized crime since the early 1970s. It argues that while criminal network analysis has brought a new level of methodological rigor to the study of organized crime, a number of limitations have become apparent. These include the problem of missing data and the challenges encountered in adequately capturing latent structures, individual characteristics of network members and socio-ecological conditions.     

The Strength of Strong Ties: University Spin-offs and the Significance of Historical Relations

This article investigates the relationship between universities and academic spin-offs, with special emphasis on the antecedent conditions of, and the nature of the linkages that the spin-offs form, as well as the means for sustaining them. The present research uses an instrumental case study approach, and is also an instance of a collective case study as four companies of various size and activities have been studied together. The preliminary results indicate that the network relations are characterized by a small number of strong ties to universities, with a high degree of trust and informality. Although fruitful for the transfer of complex knowledge, the strength of the ties also make them difficult to substitute, which may lead to problems as the spin-offs are highly dependent on continued basic research support. This may in turn lead to implications for policy at university, as well as higher levels.     

网络·社会资本·投资:对东南亚华商投资中国大陆特点的分析

本文试图通过社会资本理论来论述东南亚华商投资中国大陆的特点。为了更好的利用关系、网络等社会资本,实现投资利润最大化,东南亚华商早于西方资本对中国大陆特别是侨乡地区进行投资。为了更好地发挥社会资本优势,许多东南亚华商首先对香港进行投资,进而以香港为基地对中国大陆投资。东南亚华商成功地利用社会资本优势以较少的资金成本实现了跨国经营,同时也促进了中国社会经济的发展。     

合作网络治理理论的困境与启示

合作网络治理理论是伴随全球化与信息社会的来临而兴起的,它面临着多重困境。从总体上看,合作网络治理理论留给了我们一些有益的启示,即新时期的治理应坚持:回应社会需求,建构新时期公共事务的责任分担格局;在全球化时代倚重本土化,建构公民自主参与的制度平台;明确合作网络组织的能力限度,全面提高其治理能力;坚持权变开发原则,提高合作网络治理的适应性;加强职业伦理建设,重塑合作网络的合法性基础。     

Providing an Integrated Response to Family Violence: Governance Attributes of Local Networks in Victoria

The establishment of integrated responses to family violence represents a significant implementation challenge for locally‐based networks. This research reports on the experiences of integrated family violence committees in Victoria, and the features of their governance associated with perceived effectiveness in committee functioning. There were consistent regional differences in the perceived effectiveness of committees. The main challenge for effective service integration was establishing and maintaining effective partnerships. There were substantial differences in the capacities of the committees to meet the challenges of integration, and the research points to the need for a stronger guidance and support role by central agencies.     

The 2016 Austrian Presidential Election: A Tale of Three Divides

The 2016 Austrian presidential election was remarkably different than the previous ones in the history of the country characterized by its stable political system. Not only did it open the role of president in Austria to debate, but it also sidelined the two political parties that had dominated Austrian politics since World War II. Alexander Van der Bellen won the election with one of the closest margins in recent history. This article argues that the election divided the country in more than one way. Besides the near 50–50 divide between the candidates, the results show that it generated important dynamics in territorial politics as well, notably in the states and cities of Austria. These results point towards a party system transformation in Austrian politics.     

Analysis of some commonly found inhalants using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC MS) – Effect of substrates on the identification of inhalants

Inhalant abuse is a serious and ever-evolving problem for our society. Inhalants are abused more commonly by teenagers and adolescents. Inhalants such as glue, paint thinners, correction fluid, and nail paint remover are easily available in the market which makes them readily abused. Out of various methods of abuse, huffing (placing a piece of cloth soaked with inhalant is placed in the mouth), bagging (placing head in a polythene bag containing inhalant), and ballooning (balloons filled with inhalant are used for inhaling vapors through the mouth) are most common. Inhalant abuse results in multiple target organ dysfunction with neuritis and brain damage due to the dissolution of the myelin sheath. In acute poisoning cases, it might cause death due to asphyxia and sudden sniffing syndrome. In such cases, various articles containing traces of inhalants could be retrieved from the scene of incidence and to detect these traces become an important facet of the investigation. However, it might be difficult due to the rapid evaporation of inhalants and the formation of reaction product species. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the effect of three substrates (balloon, cloth, polythene) on component profiles of four paint thinners and four nail paint removers. The study suggests that although some components are retained, there is the formation of a large number of reaction product species and these must be taken into consideration before furnishing the opinion. These reaction product species might also be inhalant specific which must be further explored.     

Crossing Eurasia: trans-regional Afghan trading networks in China and beyond

An expanding body of literature in the field of Central Asian studies has brought attention to the problems of considering the region's complex dynamics through the lens of its nation-states. Comparatively less attention has been paid to the role played by trans-regional circulations in connecting parts of Central Asia to the wider world. This paper situates ethnographic work on trans-regional networks of Afghan traders in China, Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine and the UK in relation to the literature on trans-regional connections and circulation societies. Ethnographically it demonstrates the multi-polar nature of these trans-regional networks, and the importance of trading nodes, especially the Chinese city of Yiwu, to their formation and ongoing vitality.     

VIOLENT OFFENDING AND VICTIMIZATION IN ADOLESCENCE: SOCIAL NETWORK MECHANISMS AND HOMOPHILY*

Although violent offending and victimization share many features, they can affect adolescent social relationships in distinct ways. To understand these differences, we take a network approach to examine the mechanisms responsible for similarities (i.e., homophily) in violent offending and violent victimization among friends. Our goal is to determine whether the social network mechanisms that produce homophily for violent offending are similar to or different from those that produce homophily for violent victimization. By using stochastic actor‐oriented modeling and two waves of friendship network data for 1,948 respondents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examine homophily mechanisms of preference for similarity, avoidance, and influence with respect to youth violence and victimization. The results demonstrate that homophily observed for violent offending primarily reflects selection of similar others, whereas homophily observed for victimization reflects the tendency among alters to avoid victimized youth. These findings have important implications for future research and suggest that, among adolescents, violent offending and victimization homophily are the result of unique social processes.