Social Network Analysis of Organized Criminal Groups

This entry discusses the state of the art in the application of network analysis methods to the study of organized criminal groups. It provides an overview of the development of the field from both the academic and law enforcement perspective and discusses the current approaches in the literature. Particular attention is given to methodological issues (data sources, type of network analysis) and to the discussion of the limitations of the application of social network analysis to criminal organizations. In the light of the current state of the art, the entry also discusses the recurrent claim that network analysis may help the law enforcement agencies to more efficiently disrupt criminal networks. Finally, it attempts to identify the future trends in the application of network methods in the study of organized crime, while suggesting some promising paths from both a research and policy perspective