DELINQUENCY AND THE STRUCTURE OF ADOLESCENT PEER GROUPS*

Gangs and group‐level processes were once central phenomena for criminological theory and research. By the mid‐1970s, however, gang research primarily was displaced by studies of individual behavior using randomized self‐report surveys, a shift that also removed groups from the theoretical foreground. In this project, we return to the group level to test competing theoretical claims about delinquent group structure. We use network‐based clustering methods to identify 897 friendship groups in two ninth‐grade cohorts of 27 Pennsylvania and Iowa schools. We then relate group‐level measures of delinquency and drinking to network measures of group size, friendship reciprocity, transitivity, structural cohesion, stability, average popularity, and network centrality. We find significant negative correlations between group delinquency and all of our network measures, suggesting that delinquent groups are less solidary and less central to school networks than nondelinquent groups. Additional analyses, on the one hand, reveal that these correlations are explained primarily by other group characteristics, such as gender composition and socioeconomic status. Drinking behaviors, on the other hand, show net positive associations with most of the network measures, suggesting that drinking groups have a higher status and are more internally cohesive than nondrinking groups. Our findings shed light on a long‐standing criminological debate by suggesting that any structural differences between delinquent and nondelinquent groups are likely attributable to other characteristics coincidental with delinquency. In contrast, drinking groups seem to provide peer contexts of greater social capital and cohesion.     

Bayesian networks and the value of the evidence for the forensic two-trace transfer problem*

Forensic scientists face increasingly complex inference problems for evaluating likelihood ratios (LRs) for an appropriate pair of propositions. Up to now, scientists and statisticians have derived LR formulae using an algebraic approach. However, this approach reaches its limits when addressing cases with an increasing number of variables and dependence relationships between these variables. In this study, we suggest using a graphical approach, based on the construction of Bayesian networks (BNs). We first construct a BN that captures the problem, and then deduce the expression for calculating the LR from this model to compare it with existing LR formulae. We illustrate this idea by applying it to the evaluation of an activity level LR in the context of the two-trace transfer problem. Our approach allows us to relax assumptions made in previous LR developments, produce a new LR formula for the two-trace transfer problem and generalize this scenario to n traces.     

Privacy and social networks

This article discusses the complex relationship between social networks and the EU Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC). After a concise introduction to the general privacy impact of social networks, it discusses how the Directive applies to users and operators of social networks and social network applications. Particular attention is drawn to the scope of the Directive (including the “household” exception), the obligations imposed on data controllers, the interpretation of the Directive by Working Party 29, as well as the difficulties that are encountered when applying the aging Directive to the technological reality of today’s social networks.     

Networks and illicit associations in corrupt exchanges: representing a gelatinous system in Italy

This paper examines the role of illicit networks and associations in a corrupt exchange in contemporary Italy with the aim of better understanding the mechanisms of corruption. A social network analysis was conducted to explore the Big Events affair and the scandal concerning the School of Carabinieri officers in Florence. Much attention is focused on the actors, structures and informal norms that characterise the corrupt exchange with the aim of comprehending how the network sustains such exchange. Our goal is to identify the most powerful nodes and actors by determining their authority in the network, understanding the role of illicit associations (cricche) in sustaining the exchange and identifying the actors who control the informal norms.     

社区网络与社区治安——关于北京社区治安状况的一个实证研究

文章从邻里交往、志愿精神及邻里互助等三个方面选取了“社区网络”的15个指标进行测量。研究结果表明,A社区的社区网络密度高,社区的治安状况好,社区成员对社区治安状况的评价也较好;B社区的社区网络密度低,社区的治安状况不佳,社区成员对社区治安状况的评价不好。     

The parable of the poisoned pork: Network governance and the 2008 Irish pork dioxin contamination

The 2008 contamination of Irish pork with dioxins was one of the most significant recent food safety incidents in the European Union (EU). While the contamination posed no real risk to public health, it tested the efficacy of EU food safety regulation and governance which has been considerably overhauled in the past decade. The exchange of risk information through networks of regulators is an important element of the EU food safety risk management framework. Networks are a much‐lauded form of new governance, though they are not without their problems. In this paper, we address the question of why governance networks can fail. We examine this issues using the case study of the 2008 Irish dioxin contamination and explore the reason for the failure to make more substantial use of networks in the governance of that incident. We hypothesize that the reason for such failure may be found in three inherent tensions which exist in the design and management of networks, namely flexibility/stability, inclusiveness/efficiency, and internal/external legitimacy. The paper concludes that by ensuring the external legitimacy of the EU's Rapid Alert System for Feed and Food (RASFF) through increased transparency of communications, the design of RASFF has stifled its internal legitimacy with regard to certain types of important information exchanges.     

Criminal network security: An agent‐based approach to evaluating network resilience*

Criminal networks are frequently at risk of disruption through arrest and interorganizational violence. Difficulties in designing empirical studies of criminal network recovery, however, have problematized research into network responses to disruption. In this study, we evaluate criminal network resilience by examining network recovery from disruption in an array of different criminal networks and across different disruption strategies. We use an agent‐based model to evaluate how criminal networks recover from disruption. Our results reveal the vulnerabilities and time to recovery of numerous criminal organizations, and through them, we identify which disruption strategies are most effective at damaging various criminal networks.     

论服务器标准的局限

在我国信息网络传播权的侵权判定中,服务器标准虽然基本是司法实践的"主流",但它却未必始终符合国际条约和我国著作权法的规定。从发展的角度看,服务器标准只是对应着早期互联网的一种侵权界定标准,已不能涵盖所有的技术可能性或作品提供行为。在当前互联网技术环境下,把作品等客体提供于开放的服务器只是构成向公众提供作品行为的充分条件,而非必要条件,更非充分必要条件。固守服务器标准可能导致信息网络传播权法律适用背离技术中立原则,偏离立法目标,产生法律适用困境。司法裁判者应抛弃服务器标准,采用符合法律规定和更为合理的侵权界定标准。