Sunbelt XXXI International Network for Social Network ... - INSNA

Unequal Access To Urban People As A Form Of Social Capital: Findings From A Study Of Friendship Networks Among Chinese College StudentsTang, Zhenyu; Feld, Scott L.Friendship networksSocial Capital, Homophily, Friendship Formation, China, college students, inequalityWED.PM1Employment opportunities in China are highly concentrated in large urban areas, and control over those opportunities is therefore concentrated in people inthose urban areas. Living in large urban areas oneself and having access to other urban people therefore provide indirect access to the greater benefits ofthose large urban places. In particular, college students from large urban areas start with better access than their fellow students. Ties to other students fromlarge urban areas can be a further resource. This study examines factors affecting college students’ ties to others from large urban places. We collected andanalyzed data on about 200 students from Peking University (PKU). We find substantial homophily such that students from large urban areas have morefriends from similar places. We found that common foci of activity and preferences for homophily could not account for much of this pattern. We foundrelatively small differences in choices of foci of activity, and widely shared preferences for associating with urban friends. However, we found that a surprisingnumber of college students maintained friendships in college with people they knew before college, largely from the same types of backgrounds as themselves.And, we suggest that the required reciprocity of friendship combined with the largely shared preference for associating with urban friends means that whileeveryone wants urban friends, urban people are more accepted as friends by other urban students. We conclude with further considerations about the difficultproblem of attempting to provide equal access to social capital.Unique Features Of Corrupt Police NetworksLauchs, Mark; Keast, RobynCriminals, Gangs, Terrorists, and NetworksStructure Variation, Dark NetworksSAT.PM1Not all networks create organisational structures. Recent work has demonstrated that corrupt police networks operate within the shadows of a hostorganisation ‐ the Police Force (Lauchs, Keast and Yousefpour forthcoming). Since they operate under the radar, corrupt police networks are argued to be lowdensity, centrality and path distance; a decentralised but non‐linear group formed around their roles, but not command structure, within the police agency.This paper compares and contrasts the structural properties and operational practices of generalised criminal networks those with that of a corrupt policenetwork. It draws on data from the Fitzgerald Inquiry into Queensland Police Misconduct and related publications. A preliminary descriptive theory of corruptpolice or blue line networks will be generated.