University of Groningen
Criminal networks: actors, mechanisms, and structures
Diviak, Tomas
DOI:
10.33612/diss.117225427
IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below.
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Publication date: 2020
Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database
Citation for published version (APA):
Diviak, T. (2020). Criminal networks: actors, mechanisms, and structures. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. https://doi.org/10.33612/diss.117225427
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criminele netwerk. Ten tweede blijkt het sluiten van triaden (transitiviteit) een belangrijk mechanisme in de studies binnen dit proefschrift. Dit mechanisme is de neiging van individuen tot het sluiten van indirecte relaties (“de vriend van mijn vriend is mijn vriend”). In elk van de hoofdstukken vier, vijf en zes wordt ondersteuning gevonden voor dit mechanisme. Daarmee is bewijs geleverd voor dit mechanisme in zowel cross-sectionele – als longitudinale netwerkdata. Ten slotte is er in dit proefschrift op diverse plaatsen aandacht voor de kern-periferie structuur van netwerken. In een dergelijk netwerk, hierboven beschreven, is een duidelijk onderscheid tussen twee soorten actoren: kern- en periferie actoren. Deze structuur is gevonden in zowel hoofdstuk drie als zes.
Tezamen toont dit proefschrift het belang van netwerkmechanismen voor de positie van individuele actoren binnen criminele netwerken, en de structuur en ontwikkeling van criminele netwerken.
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Acknowledgments
In the spirit of structural individualism, I have to acknowledge that this dissertation was by far not the sole product of my individual action. It would not have been the same if I was not a part of a dense network of people, who helped me and inspired me. This network is composed of different subgroups, with whose members I did some good work and had good fun.
The first subgroup is the department in Prague, where my whole journey started. There, I want to especially thank my supervisor, Jiří Buriánek, and also to my friends and colleagues for all the help, interesting talks, and heart-warming moments. Thank you, Matouš, Jára, Eva, and Zuzka!
I cannot even imagine what would my studies and research be like if it were not for the Groningen subgroup. There is no way how to adequately thank my supervisors, Tom Snijders and Jan Kornelis Dijkstra. They were a great team complementing each other and I can safely say that over the course of my work with them, they had become my role models. I also want to thank all the members of the statistics and networks cluster, whose criticism, openness, and friendliness helped me a lot in becoming a better researcher. I was also blessed with the best yeargroup and officemates I could have asked for – it was a pleasure to push on the boundaries of knowledge with them. Last but certainly not least, I want to thank Robert, whose expertise, nerdiness, and hospitality are out of this world.
Another subgroup I wish to thank a lot is the MelNet family. I will always cherish my memories from “down under” and I will be building on everything I learned about networks and Australian fauna during those six months I spent in Melbourne.
A small, yet very important is the subgroup at the WODC in The Hague. I am greatly thankful for being allowed to work there. Casper, thanks a lot for brokering this opportunity.
Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to my family. They supported me throughout all my studies and journeys, always positive and kind, even if I was frequently not there for those important occasions. Mám vás moc rád a až s postupem času mi dochází, jak moc. Especially my mother was unrelenting in her support. I want to also thank my partner Ren for simply being who she is and being the best at that.
There still may be some unexplained variance in me being able to finish this dissertation. On this note, I have to be fair and admit that sometimes, I just had the right amount of luck.
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About the author
Tomáš Diviák was born on 29th March 1991 in Litoměřice, the Czech Republic (then
Czechoslovakia), where he also attended primary school followed by a grammar school, which he graduated in 2010 with honours. He studied sociology during both bachelor master’s studies at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague, graduating cum laude at both levels and receiving J. Palach prize for his bachelor thesis (2014) and E. Beneš prize for his master’s thesis (2015). During his studies, he underwent several research visits – to Mitchell Centre for SNA at the University of Manchester (2015), to department of sociology at the University of Groningen (2016), and to MelNet group at Swinburne University in Melbourne (2017). The visit in Groningen resulted in combining doctoral studies in Prague and in Groningen into a double-degree regime.
His current research focuses mainly on social network analysis, most prominently statistical models for networks, and analytical sociology. He is interested in the application of SNA, mainly to criminal networks, but also to political, organizational, or historical networks. He is one of the founders of informal association of network researchers in the Czech Republic called Czech Network for Social Network Analysis.
Besides sociology and network analysis (and science in general), he enjoys reading science fiction & fantasy books, lifting heavy weights, listening to heavy metal music, taking long walks, and playing various card games.
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