A New Paradigm of Organized Crime in the United States: Criminal Syndicates,Cyber‐gangs,and the Worldwide Web

This paper explores the creation and evolution of organized crime as a concept within the United States. The paper argues that traditional definitions are both incomplete and inaccurate due primarily to their reliance on La Cosa Nostra (i.e. Italian mafia) models and inflexibility. The author proposes the introduction of a new definition, and distinguishes between computer crime committed by organized crime groups and organized criminal activity in a technological environment. In addition, a distinction is made between organized crime and cyber‐gangs. Finally, the author discusses specific examples of computer crime committed by criminal syndicates.     

Cyber-Laundering: The Union Between New Electronic Payment Systems and Criminal Organizations

Cosa Nostra, ‘Ndrangheta, Camorra, Sacra Corona Unita, Stidda, Triad, Yacuza, Russian Mafia, American Cosa Nostra, Chinese Triads, Wo Hop To, Sun Yee On, 14 K, these are only some of the criminal organizations considered as the “magnates” (particularly with the meaning in power) of national and international crime and/or organized criminality. Together with the aforementioned criminal organizations, we may consider many other organizations, particularly those of the terroristic type which, although having different characteristic activities as opposed to the former, share the same modalities of financing and/or laundering of the gains deriving from the activities carried out. Studies and research, but mainly financial police operations, have often brought out the channels, systems and modalities, by means of which great amounts of money of criminal origin or destined to criminality are cleaned up and/or introduced into the financial circuits.      

Network closure and integration in the mid-20th century American mafia

Criminal networks are thought to be biased toward decentralization and security rather than integration and efficiency. This article examines this tradeoff in a large-scale national criminal network spanning more than 700 members of 24 distinct American mafia families operating in the mid-20th century. Producing a novel network image of the American mafia as a set of highly differentiated yet intertwined islands of criminal activity, the analysis uncovers a small-world structure that allowed both for strong intragroup closure and high intergroup connectivity. This balance reflected a division of network labor in which integrative bridging connections were disproportionately concentrated among a small number of criminals. Furthermore, the criminals who held such bridging ties tended to be either low- or high-status—but not of middling status—within their respective organizations.     

Communities in criminal networks: A case study

Criminal organizations tend to be clustered to reduce risks of detection and information leaks. Yet, the literature exploring the relevance of subgroups for their internal structure is so far very limited. The paper applies methods of community analysis to explore the structure of a criminal network representing the individuals’ co-participation in meetings. It draws from a case study on a large law enforcement operation (“Operazione Infinito”) tackling the ‘Ndrangheta, a mafia organization from Calabria, a southern Italian region. The results show that the network is indeed clustered and that communities are associated, in a non-trivial way, with the internal organization of the ‘Ndrangheta into different “locali” (similar to mafia families). Furthermore, the results of community analysis can improve the prediction of the “locale” membership of the criminals (up to two thirds of any random sample of nodes) and the leadership roles (above 90% precision in classifying nodes as either bosses or non-bosses). The implications of these findings on the interpretation of the structure and functioning of the criminal network are discussed.     

Nonprofit organizations as franchise operations

This article examines the structural relationship between national nonprofit organizations and their local affiliates. For a substantial number of nonprofits, the national-local relationship can be modeled as a franchise relationship. The author considers ways in which the franchise system serves to mitigate a number of the organizational and economic problems facing nonprofits. Finally, particular devices used by franchises are examined, focusing on the ways in which national organizations tax their local affiliates and the extent of territorial restrictions placed on local affiliates.     

The network dynamics of co-offending careers

Despite the long-standing acknowledgement that crime is a group phenomenon, little research treats co-offending as a dynamic network process. This study analyses the individual and network processes responsible for long-lasting criminal relationships using co-offending dyads from eight years of arrest records in Chicago. Results from proportional hazard models suggest that homophily with respect to age, race, gender, geographic proximity, and gang identity lead to sustained partnerships. Victimization increases the probability of continued co-offending, while the victimization of one’s associates dissuade continued collaboration. Supra-dyadic processes (centrality, transitivity) influence the likelihood of continued co-offending. Results are discussed regarding opportunities and turning points.     

Perspectives on union corruption: Lessons from the databases

Most of the surprisingly small number of studies of union corruption done over the years have focused either on longitudinal analysis of particularly aggressive unions in their prime or on the relationship between union leaders and organized crime characters who have acquired middle names in quotes. Since the 1930s, these studies have usually been based on prosecutorial initiatives of federal or state agencies seeking to rein in Mafia, Cosa Nostra, or Outfit crime families for whom control of unions has been a major income source, not the unions, themselves. I use two new, recently available data sources that allow an overview of the whole spectrum of union corruption, that quantify it, and that differentiate certain aspects of it from the corruption found in other societal organizations. My analysis reveals that union corruption is both broadly practiced and multifaceted, with some forms having brutal ancient antecedents not yet completely lost while others are new and not yet completely developed. Only a few are broadly shared with businesses or other societal organizations. Overall, I identify 25 separate categories of significant union corruption and find that among these embezzlement remains the most common, but kickbacks and malfeasance with respect to pension plan management are of much greater financial concern. Peculation associated with gaining and maintaining high union office together with the bloated perks and emoluments that obtain thereto fuel internal corruption without diminishing the practice of extortion, bribery, conspiracy, selling labor peace, licensing loose contracts, selling job access, and other traditional external corrupt practices. All are a blight on organized labor.     

Overlapping crime: Stability and specialization of co-offending relationships

Dyadic analyses of relationships between criminals have mostly ignored the multiplex nature of criminal ties. This study attempts to provide a more complete assessment of co-offending networks by incorporating the different types of crime that relate individuals with each other. Drawing on a large dataset of arrests in Quebec between 2003 and 2009, we focus on co-offending stability and specialization and illustrate how co-offending networks based on different types of criminal activities overlap. We portray a pattern of co-offending, which extends debate of criminal specialization/versatility to the dyadic level. Our study illustrates the ways in which the frequency and spectrum of crime include a relational component. More generally, the article emphasizes the need to consider the semantics of network ties, and further, the association between different types of networks, which ultimately offers a reassessment of social structure.     

Social network analysis of Australian poly-drug trafficking networks: How do drug traffickers manage multiple illicit drugs?

International agencies report rising numbers of drug traffickers who deal in multiple drugs (poly-drug traffickers). This paper explores how product diversification is managed in three Australian poly-drug trafficking syndicates. Networks were constructed using judges’ sentencing comments and social network analysis applied to examine the degree of specialisation, resource flows and management structure (if any). Each syndicate had a clear management structure, but employed a different approach to diversifying including in-house production of multiple products (Syndicate 1) and outsourcing to other syndicates (Syndicate 3). This suggests traffickers will have multiple avenues for product diversification. This may create challenges for their policing.     

Time as a limited resource: Communication strategy in mobile phone networks

We used a large database of 9 billion calls from 20 million mobile users to examine the relationships between aggregated time spent on the phone, personal network size, tie strength and the way in which users distributed their limited time across their network (disparity). Compared to those with smaller networks, those with large networks did not devote proportionally more time to communication and had on average weaker ties (as measured by time spent communicating). Further, there were not substantially different levels of disparity between individuals, in that mobile users tend to distribute their time very unevenly across their network, with a large proportion of calls going to a small number of individuals. Together, these results suggest that there are time constraints which limit tie strength in large personal networks, and that even high levels of mobile communication do not fundamentally alter the disparity of time allocation across networks.     

Bring publics back into networked public relations research: A dual-projection approach for network ecology

This essay critiques the absence of publics in networked public relations research, and proposes the dual-projection approach as a solution to simplify and analyze the multi-mode public relations network ecology (Yang & Taylor, 2015). Compared to most previous studies that employ organization-centric networks where ties stand for hyperlinks, collaborations, or coalitions, the new approach projects organization-public relationships and public-public relationships onto interorganizational ties. By doing so, it (1) brings publics back into networked public relations research; (2) presents organizations and publics—the two most important subjects of public relations research—equally in the same network, (3) drives literature further away from a dyadic view of relationship management, and (4) constitutes one of the first techniques that can analyze direct and timely consequences of organziation-public relationships in the network ecology. To demonstrate the new approach, the network of publics overlap is introduced and applied to US-based LGBTQ advocacy groups. The essay also discusses the theoretical inquiries needed to further dual-projection networks, and invites scholars to create novel ways to incorporate publics into their network studies using dual projection.     

Affinity Paths and information diffusion in social networks

Widespread interest in the diffusion of information through social networks has produced a large number of Social Dynamics models. A majority of them use theoretical hypothesis to explain their diffusion mechanisms while the few empirically based ones average out their measures over many messages of different contents. Our empirical research tracking the step-by-step email propagation of an invariable viral marketing message delves into the content impact and has discovered new and striking features. The topology and dynamics of the propagation cascades display patterns not inherited from the email networks carrying the message. Their disconnected, low transitivity, tree-like cascades present positive correlation between their nodes probability to forward the message and the average number of neighbors they target and show increased participants’ involvement as the propagation paths length grows. Such patterns not described before, nor replicated by any of the existing models of information diffusion, can be explained if participants make their pass-along decisions based uniquely on local knowledge of their network neighbors affinity with the message content. We prove the plausibility of such mechanism through a stylized, agent-based model that replicates the Affinity Paths observed in real information diffusion cascades.     

THE ROLE OF REGULATORY ARBITRAGE IN U.S. BANKS' INTERNATIONAL FLOWS: BANK‐LEVEL EVIDENCE

I study the prevalence and profitability of regulatory arbitrage in U.S. banks' foreign activities. I analyze a publicly available bank‐level data set on bilateral lending flows to 75 countries over 2003–2013. U.S. banks' affiliates lend less to borrowers in host countries with stricter bank capital regulations, and are less likely to maintain affiliates in such countries. Banks substitute from (host‐regulated) affiliate toward (U.S.‐regulated) cross‐border lending in hosts with strict bank capital rules. This is particularly so for low‐capitalized banks with lower foreign ownership shares. Banks that reduce their exposure to stricter host capital rules are more profitable in foreign activities. (JEL F3, F4, G2)     

Paternal dimensions and complexities: Understanding the relationships between parental dyads and fathers’ involvement among Black fathers with criminal records

ABSTRACT

The benefits of fathers’ involvement in their children’s lives are well documented. However, the effect of incarceration, especially among Black families, has contributed to disbanded family bonds. Spells of incarceration disrupt family relationships and having a criminal record, results in formerly incarcerated men being jobless and unable to financially contribute to their families. Fatherhood encompasses more than being the sole household income earner and father involvement is complex, particularly, within contemporary family structures (Jones & Mosher, 2013). Incarceration, especially, among Black fathers has been associated with family dissolution and reduced financial wellbeing (Oliver, 2001; Roberts, 2004; Western & Wildemann, 2009).This study analyzed factors associated with fathers’ involvement with their children among Black fathers with criminal records. Fathers’ involvement was conceptualized using Lamb, Pleck, and Levine’s (1985) Threefold Typology, which included fathers’ level of engagement, accessibility, and responsibility with their children. These three components of father involvement were the dependent variables. This study utilized secondary analysis of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) or “Fragile Families” study. Among Black fathers with criminal records, this study explored relationships among fathers’ involvement, sociodemographic characteristics, and parental dyads. This study found variations among factors associated with three dimensions of father involvement.     

Calling social capital: An analysis of the determinants of success on the TV quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

This paper analyzes the determinants of successful participation of candidates on the well known television quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”. Our study includes a survey of 660 contestants who participated in the German version of the show between 1999 and 2007. We are particularly interested in two hypotheses. The first hypothesis refers to the assumed advantage of social capital. Contestants on the show have the option of calling a friend (the phone-a-friend lifeline) whom they select from their personal networks. The person chosen to be the phone-a-friend lifeline should be especially helpful if the contestant has a large network of able contacts from which to choose. Second, according to human capital theory the participants’ education should increase the chances of success and should lead on average to higher payoffs. Since contestants on the show can answer questions correctly mainly on the basis of their knowledge and since other characteristics of the candidates are irrelevant, estimates of the human capital effect are not affected by other possible causes suggested by signaling theory. Thus, our analysis is an assessment of the effects of social capital and human capital on the show.     

Social bonds and male juvenile delinquency while on probation: An exploratory test in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong probation system is considered as the least researched component within the criminal justice system. Therefore, limited information is known about the Hong Kong probation system and offenders who are serving their probation order, especially in the juvenile population. This study is among the first to examine the differential effects of social bonds (Hirschi, 1969), measured during their probation period, on theft and violent delinquency in a saturated sample of 94 juvenile male probationers (aged 14 to 20 years) in Hong Kong. As expected, findings indicate that poor parental bonding and negative belief in the legal system are likely to increase the propensity to commit theft and violent delinquency, respectively, including the probation period. However, though not uncommon, the increase level of involvement in organizational activities is likely to result in the increase of propensity to commit violent crime, even during the probation period. This study further offers the implications for social services that target the juvenile offenders in terms of fostering a healthy parent-child bonding and a clear understanding of the criminal justice system via the enhancement of the police-youth relationship. Limitations and future research directions are also outlined.     

Social Support as a Potential Moderator of Adolescent Delinquent Behaviors

The issue of juvenile delinquency continues to concern both policy makers and parents. Engaging in negative behaviors or activities that are not socially acceptable can have serious implications for adolescents' physical, emotional, and social development. Therefore, it is important that human service practitioners working with adolescents understand those factors that influence their delinquent behavior in order to develop effective interventions. This paper reports the findings of a study of self-reported delinquent activity among a sample of 779 adolescents who attended middle schools in a large urban city in the southwest United States. The study examines the relationships between delinquent behavior, social support, and a variety of other psychosocial factors. The implications of those relationships for human service practice and research are discussed.     

An agent-based model of network effects on tax compliance and evasion

Agent-based models are flexible analytical tools suitable for exploring and understanding complex systems such as tax compliance and evasion. The agent-based model created in this research builds upon two other agent-based models of tax evasion, the Korobow et al., 2007, Hokamp and Pickhardt, 2010 models. The model utilizes their rules for taxpayer behavior and apprehension of tax evaders in order to test the effects of network topologies in the propagation of evasive behavior. Findings include that network structures have a significant impact on the dynamics of tax compliance, demonstrating that taxpayers are more likely to declare all their income in networks with higher levels of centrality across the agents, especially when faced with large penalties proportional to their incomes. These results suggest that network structures should be chosen selectively when modeling tax compliance, as different topologies yield different results. Additionally, this research analyzed the special case of a power law distribution and found that targeting highly interconnected individuals resulted in a lower mean gross tax rate than targeting disconnected individuals, due to the penalties inflating the mean gross tax rate in the latter case.     

Class inequalities in access to social capital in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires

this paper analyzes social class inequalities in access to social capital. Quantitative methodology was used with data from the PI-Clases “Reproduction and social mobility in family trajectories and life courses” survey, conducted in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires in 2015 (n = 1065). Social capital measures where derived from the Position Generator (Lin, 2001) to identify the volume, status and range of the respondent’s networks. Results show that there are class inequalities in access to social capital in terms of the number of contacts, mean status of contacts, range of contact’s status and highest status of contacts. Also, the working class is more heterogeneous in its access to social capital, suggesting it has a sector that has network ties with people from the middle class and a sector with lower social capital. The observed trend is of gradational differences between class strata, with more marked inequalities between the service, intermediate and working class, but with fluid class boundaries without social segregation. Also, social capital is conditioned by intergenerational mobility trajectory, showing a trend of elasticity in the class composition of social relationships. The upwardly mobile can increase their access to social capital but don’t reach the same level as the intergenerationally stable, while the downwardly mobile retain some social capital from their class origins.