Carlo Morselli - Böcker

What do an illegal drug importer, a stolen car exporter, a Hells Angels member, an accountant, and an airplane hijacker have in common? Like most people, they all operate in social networks – and at times, they come together in criminal networks which, though tightly structured and controlled, undergo constant change. Inside Criminal Networks takes a social network perspective to a variety of illegal enterprises, focusing on these organizations’ "flexible order" and the collective coping and adjustment strategies of offenders when key members or opportunities are lost. Rich with communication data, electronic surveillance material, and other law-enforcement investigative sources, case studies pursue a number of analytical paths into the partnerships, pecking orders, and situations in flux (e.g., street gang presence within drug distribution), and identify central challenges to research (e.g., are these failed networks if members are arrested?). Flexibility is revealed as a driving force as the book examines: Operational structures and dynamics - Roles of key and peripheral players - The tentative balance between efficiency and security - Criminal network positions and individual traits - Uses of legitimate actors in illegal settings - Adaptation when networks are disrupted. Compellingly written and meticulously presented, Inside Criminal Networks offers rare up-close insights to readers in the criminology and organized crime research fields, and to social network theorists and analysts.

This innovative collection of original essays showcases the use of social networks in the analysis and understanding of various forms of crime. More than any other past research endeavor, the seventeen chapters in this book apply to criminology the many conceptual and methodological options from social network analysis. Crime and Networks is the only book of its kind that looks at the use of networks in understanding crime, and can be used for advanced undergraduate and beginner’s graduate level courses in criminal justice and criminology.

This innovative collection of original essays showcases the use of social networks in the analysis and understanding of various forms of crime. More than any other past research endeavor, the seventeen chapters in this book apply to criminology the many conceptual and methodological options from social network analysis. Crime and Networks is the only book of its kind that looks at the use of networks in understanding crime, and can be used for advanced undergraduate and beginner’s graduate level courses in criminal justice and criminology.

Success in criminal enterprise largely depends on how offenders go about committing their crimes. An offender's search for increasing financial returns and decreasing costs is mediated by the structure of his pool of useful and trustworthy contacts. In Contacts, Opportunities, and Criminal Enterprise, Carlo Morselli examines how business-oriented criminals who have personal networks designed to promote high numbers of diverse contacts achieve and maintain competitive advantages in their earning activities and overall criminal careers.Based on two case studies of criminal careers in international cannabis smuggling and Cosa Nosta racketeering, the book proposes a social network framework to study the underlying social relationships influencing achievement in crime. Morselli further utilizes this relational approach to illustrate how survival and long-term endurance in criminal enterprise is achieved, and how criminals' networks of contacts and opportunities can insulate them from potentially career-damaging forces – law enforcement, fellow criminals, etc. Contacts, Opportunities, and Criminal Enterprise is a much-needed assessment of criminal activity.