Social Network Analysis

Social network analysis (SNA) is an analytical tool used in the social and behavioral sciences that examines the relationships (or ties) between a given set of actors. Actors can be individuals, groups, or organizations, for example. Relationships can be of any type, and each type can define a different network. SNA has been applied to a range of crime and terror networks (often referred to as “dark” networks). It is argued that SNA can provide substantial insight into the ways in which crime and terror groups operate and behave and contribute to the development of effective strategies designed to disrupt such groups. For example, some argue that SNA is able to identify vulnerabilities within dark networks, such as an individual who is the only point ...