Social network analysis and counter-terrorism
Measures of centrality as an investigative tool
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12980210 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sam Mullins (University of Wollongong, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 115-136 |
| Publication date | 2012-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1943-4480 • E-ISSN: 1943-4472 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/19434472.2012.718792 |
| OpenAlex | W2111828149 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 7 |
This paper addresses the question of whether social network analysis (SNA) measures of centrality might be useful as an investigative tool. It is often asserted that SNA can help to identify key players in a network who should be targeted in order to disrupt organizational activities. This is explored here by first considering various practical obstacles, followed by an empirical test of how centrality measures perform against known behavior of an actual terrorist network. The analysis suggests that measures of centrality were at least superficially able to identify individuals in key network positions (facilitators and group leaders) and also tended to highlight particular cells at times of operational importance. However, SNA measures otherwise failed to identify hierarchies, and results were heavily dictated by group size and intra-connectivity, rather than genuinely reacting to operational behavior. Along with other shortcomings, these limitations mean that smaller or less well-connected groups and individuals are more likely to be overlooked, despite the fact that they can make significant contributions to both network functioning and disruption
Business · Centrality · Complex network · Computer security · Data science · Key (lock · Network analysis · Network science · Order (exchange · Political science · Social media · Social network (sociolinguistics · Social network analysis · Terrorism · World Wide Web · Complex Network Analysis Techniques · Computer Science · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Engineering · Law · Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence · Psychology
Mapping national and local political coalitions in Indonesia
Assessing the effects of changes in British counterterrorism policy on radical Islamist networks in the UK, 1999–2008
Social network analysis and small group ‘dark’ networks
Assessing variation in co-offending networks
Self-sustainment dynamics in armed groups systems
Identifying sets of key players in a social network
Some unique properties of eigenvector centrality
An exploratory, dynamic application of Social Network Analysis for modelling the development of Islamist terror‐cells in the West
A Social Network Analysis of Jemaah Islamiyah
The Architecture of Drug Trafficking
Power and Centrality
| Citations per year | 0.45 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2026 (12) |
| Highly cited | No |