Elisa Bellotti | The University of Manchester (original) (raw)
Papers by Elisa Bellotti
Connections
This brief article illustrates the features of ScriptNet, a software package that facilitates a v... more This brief article illustrates the features of ScriptNet, a software package that facilitates a visual analysis of the organisational aspects of criminal enterprise, together with a visual analysis of the network of people, organisations, places and resources that are in some way involved in the commissioning of these goal-oriented crimes. ScriptNet is an amalgamation of the terms ‘script’ and ‘network’ that in turn represent two analytical approaches to understanding criminal and social behaviours. Script refers to crime script analysis, an analytical technique that organises knowledge about the procedural aspects and procedural requirements of the crime commission process. Network derives from social network analysis, and specifically from the framework of multi-mode and multi-link networks, which maps individual and collective actors, together with resources they can access and places where they are located, and the various types of relationships that may link them. In this artic...
Social Network Analysis for Ego-Nets
Social Inclusion, 2021
In general, the literature about social support networks (SSNs) has been divided into two differe... more In general, the literature about social support networks (SSNs) has been divided into two different statements: On the one hand, social support is a safety net that helps the ego confront disadvantages in life. On the other hand, studies have shown how SSNs could act as sources of constraints for ego, especially in poverty. In this study, we looked into the SSNs of older people over time and found how those two paths co‐exist and depend on the socioeconomic status of ego. Then, this article aims to discover how cumulative social inequalities intersect with social networks in facilitating or hampering social support over time, impacting retirement experience. Specifically, we want to observe if and how the life trajectories of older people from different socioeconomic statuses affect how people build their SSNs in terms of structure and composition. This article presents a mixed‐method project that collected qualitative life history interviews from 30 older women and men in Santiago,...
In this chapter we try to explore the possibility that positive emotions emerging from relational... more In this chapter we try to explore the possibility that positive emotions emerging from relational contexts can contribute to foster sustainable consumption practices In order to do so the chapter follows with a discussion whether it is possible to consider consumption as a practice or as a bundle of elements revealing the emergence of a practice (section 2). Section 3 outlines the role of emotions in consumption practices, while section 4 presents the results of a research conducted in Italy in 2005 on such practices. In section 5 we discuss these results in the light of the potential role of positive emotions in fostering sustainable consumption
European Journal of Criminology, 2018
This paper analyses a series of subsequent and connected investigations by a domestic European re... more This paper analyses a series of subsequent and connected investigations by a domestic European regulator on the network of distribution of counterfeit alcohol across two jurisdictions. The analysis mixes script analysis, a narrative framework for enhancing the understanding of how crimes unfold and are organized, with multi-node multi-link social network analysis, to observe the social structure in which crime scripts take place. We focus our attention on the key players that occupy strategic positions within the network of the crime commission process, from where they overview and control the various phases (scenes) and perform brokerage activities across the scenes, and on strategies of concealment of illicit products beyond the facade of legitimate business. Our findings indicate that actors in charge of managing the proceeds of the criminal activity are also the ones better positioned to monitor the entire process. The overall structure of the criminal network shows a good level...
Crime, Law and Social Change, 2018
This article utilising the work of Pearson and Hobbs [1] defines the middle market in counterfeit... more This article utilising the work of Pearson and Hobbs [1] defines the middle market in counterfeit alcohol. Drugs markets have a resemblance to counterfeit alcohol markets in as much that they share the illicit nature of the product and the need to distribute the product at the 'street' level. Drawing on two case studies taken from a European regulator the article details the dynamics of the market, the enterprise actions of the actors and how law enforcement responses can, in certain circumstances, make the task of the distributors easier. The traditional notions of organised crime are challenged and organisation of counterfeit alcohol markets is viewed as being reliant upon those who have legitimate access to the market and are able to develop networks of commercial collaborators who by their position in the legitimate market are able to conceal their illicit actions.
Trends in Organized Crime, 2017
This article presents a script analysis of the distribution of counterfeit alcohols across two Eu... more This article presents a script analysis of the distribution of counterfeit alcohols across two European jurisdictions. Based on an analysis of case file data from a European regulator and interviews with investigators, the article deconstructs the organisation of the distribution of the alcohol across jurisdictions into five scenes (collection, logistics, delivery, disposal, proceeds/finance) and analyses the actual (or likely permutations of) behaviours within each scene. The analysis also identifies underlying and routine activities and processes connecting each scene at the intersections of licit and illicit markets and networks as we see the 'integration', 'incorporation', 'de-integration' and 'allocation' of the illicit product at various stages and under particular conditions. Furthermore, the article analyses the required resources, equipment and relations of the distribution in addition to examining the actors involved by utilising a social network analysis to link specific actors to specific roles in specific scenes. Likely deception points in the script are presented in order to inform the intervention and disruption strategies of the regulator. Our core argument is that in this case, distribution is most Trends Organ Crim
Scientometrics, 2016
In sociology of science much attention is dedicated to the study of scientific networks, especial... more In sociology of science much attention is dedicated to the study of scientific networks, especially to co-authorship and citations in publications. Other trends of research have investigated the advantages, limits, performances and difficulties of interdisciplinary research, which is increasingly advocated by the main lines of public research funding. This paper explores the dynamics of interdisciplinary research in Italy over 10 years of scientific collaboration on research projects. Instead of looking at the output of research, i.e. publications, we analyse the original research proposals that have been funded by the Ministry of University and Research for a specific line of funding, the Research Projects of National Interest. In particular, we want to see how much interdisciplinary research has been conducted during the period under analysis and how changes in the overall amount of public funding might have affected disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration. We also want to cluster the similarities and differences of the amount of disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration across scientific disciplines, and see if it changes over time. Finally, we want to see if interdisciplinary projects receive an increasing share of funding compared to their disciplinary bounded counterparts. Our results indicate that while interdisciplinary research diminishes along the years, potentially responding to the contraction of public funding, research that cut across disciplinary boundaries overall receives more funding than research confined within disciplinary boundaries. Furthermore, the clustering procedure do not indicate clear and stable distinction between disciplines, but similar patterns of disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration are shown by discipline with common epistemological frameworks, which share compatible epistemologies of
Rassegna Italiana Di Sociologia, 2008
The paper presents the results of a pilot research on friendship networks of single people. The r... more The paper presents the results of a pilot research on friendship networks of single people. The research has been undertaken using social network analysis tools (egonetworks) and qualitative interviews, on a non-representative sample of 23 heterosexual singles of Milan, aged between 25 and 35, 12 male and 11 female. Framed within the theory of community, we formulated some questions that are explored and confirmed through the analysis: the role of friendship in single youths' everyday life, which seems to substitute the traditional family as a source of emotional, social, material and economical support and the possibility that friendship is not always intended as a source of support, and people can name friends even if they do not provide any kind of support. Four different kind of friendship networks have been found: the small groups, the company, the core/periphery structure, and the contextualised components. In the discussion section, empirical findings are analysed focusing on different strategies of friendship, and special attention is given to the gender issue.
In La Cultura Come Capitale Bologna Il Mulino 2009 P 73 94, 2009
Sociological Research Online, 2016
One of the most powerful aspects of social network data is the fact that they can reproduce socia... more One of the most powerful aspects of social network data is the fact that they can reproduce social relationships in a formal and comparable way. Relational matrices abstract from the hustle and bustle of everyday interaction, and systematise information in terms of presence or absence of ties expressing them in a directed or undirected, binary or valued form. While the formal approach represents an advantage of social network analysis, as it allows bracketing off the idiosyncratic and subjective content of social structures, the mathematization of the complex nature of social relationships has also been criticised for the lack of engagement with the subjective meaning and context of relationships. Such stream of critique has called for an increase of use of qualitative methods in social network research. The first goal of the paper is to address these critiques by rebalancing the argument and showing how social network analysis has always engaged with both formal and contextual aspe...
Multilevel Network Analysis for the Social Sciences, 2015
In this chapter we model the multilevel structure of scientific work, looking at social networks ... more In this chapter we model the multilevel structure of scientific work, looking at social networks of collaborations between scientists, and at how these networks are embedded in disciplinary and organizational levels. Once the relational structure of scientific collaboration is described, we look at the role that it plays in scholars’ successes. We adopt the linked-design approach to analyse the local system of public funding to academic disciplines in Italy using bipartite networks across disciplinary areas. We thus analyse the mechanisms that lie beyond the structure of research project collaborations in Italian academia. We find that individual attributes (being a national coordinator, a full professor, and having being promoted) play a role in getting funded. It is however the position of being a broker across otherwise unconnected research groups that makes a difference in the total amount of funding received by a scientist over the years under analysis, in some cases combined with egonet closure. These results confirm the importance of looking at individual network properties when analyzing scientific collaborations. Leadership is a characteristic that seems to be related both to career achievements (becoming a full professor) and to the capability of attracting multiple research groups for scientific collaborations.
International Journal of Consumer Studies, 2015
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bellotti E, Panzone L. Media effects ... more This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bellotti E, Panzone L. Media effects on sustainable food consumption. How newspaper coverage relates to supermarket expenditures.International Journal of Consumer Studies 2016, 40(2), 186-200 which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12242. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
Studi di sociologia
The article explores the most common concepts in the theory of youth. Based on recent internation... more The article explores the most common concepts in the theory of youth. Based on recent international literature, it shows how the concept of age, social class, deviant behaviour, life style are social constructions often used to analize youth, while a more interdisciplinary and intercultural analysis of the phenomenon is needed. Youth cannot be reduced in general definitions, for the increasing importance of individualization and individual biography. Consumer culture and life style are useful concepts if they are considered as a language people use to express themselves, a symbolic code with which young people negotiate self image depending on the context they relate to. The importance of image can be viewed also in peer groups, although in some cases the style is not anymore the key of access (like mohican hairstyle for punk) but becomes an individual choice, without the role of marks of belonging.
Connections
This brief article illustrates the features of ScriptNet, a software package that facilitates a v... more This brief article illustrates the features of ScriptNet, a software package that facilitates a visual analysis of the organisational aspects of criminal enterprise, together with a visual analysis of the network of people, organisations, places and resources that are in some way involved in the commissioning of these goal-oriented crimes. ScriptNet is an amalgamation of the terms ‘script’ and ‘network’ that in turn represent two analytical approaches to understanding criminal and social behaviours. Script refers to crime script analysis, an analytical technique that organises knowledge about the procedural aspects and procedural requirements of the crime commission process. Network derives from social network analysis, and specifically from the framework of multi-mode and multi-link networks, which maps individual and collective actors, together with resources they can access and places where they are located, and the various types of relationships that may link them. In this artic...
Social Network Analysis for Ego-Nets
Social Inclusion, 2021
In general, the literature about social support networks (SSNs) has been divided into two differe... more In general, the literature about social support networks (SSNs) has been divided into two different statements: On the one hand, social support is a safety net that helps the ego confront disadvantages in life. On the other hand, studies have shown how SSNs could act as sources of constraints for ego, especially in poverty. In this study, we looked into the SSNs of older people over time and found how those two paths co‐exist and depend on the socioeconomic status of ego. Then, this article aims to discover how cumulative social inequalities intersect with social networks in facilitating or hampering social support over time, impacting retirement experience. Specifically, we want to observe if and how the life trajectories of older people from different socioeconomic statuses affect how people build their SSNs in terms of structure and composition. This article presents a mixed‐method project that collected qualitative life history interviews from 30 older women and men in Santiago,...
In this chapter we try to explore the possibility that positive emotions emerging from relational... more In this chapter we try to explore the possibility that positive emotions emerging from relational contexts can contribute to foster sustainable consumption practices In order to do so the chapter follows with a discussion whether it is possible to consider consumption as a practice or as a bundle of elements revealing the emergence of a practice (section 2). Section 3 outlines the role of emotions in consumption practices, while section 4 presents the results of a research conducted in Italy in 2005 on such practices. In section 5 we discuss these results in the light of the potential role of positive emotions in fostering sustainable consumption
European Journal of Criminology, 2018
This paper analyses a series of subsequent and connected investigations by a domestic European re... more This paper analyses a series of subsequent and connected investigations by a domestic European regulator on the network of distribution of counterfeit alcohol across two jurisdictions. The analysis mixes script analysis, a narrative framework for enhancing the understanding of how crimes unfold and are organized, with multi-node multi-link social network analysis, to observe the social structure in which crime scripts take place. We focus our attention on the key players that occupy strategic positions within the network of the crime commission process, from where they overview and control the various phases (scenes) and perform brokerage activities across the scenes, and on strategies of concealment of illicit products beyond the facade of legitimate business. Our findings indicate that actors in charge of managing the proceeds of the criminal activity are also the ones better positioned to monitor the entire process. The overall structure of the criminal network shows a good level...
Crime, Law and Social Change, 2018
This article utilising the work of Pearson and Hobbs [1] defines the middle market in counterfeit... more This article utilising the work of Pearson and Hobbs [1] defines the middle market in counterfeit alcohol. Drugs markets have a resemblance to counterfeit alcohol markets in as much that they share the illicit nature of the product and the need to distribute the product at the 'street' level. Drawing on two case studies taken from a European regulator the article details the dynamics of the market, the enterprise actions of the actors and how law enforcement responses can, in certain circumstances, make the task of the distributors easier. The traditional notions of organised crime are challenged and organisation of counterfeit alcohol markets is viewed as being reliant upon those who have legitimate access to the market and are able to develop networks of commercial collaborators who by their position in the legitimate market are able to conceal their illicit actions.
Trends in Organized Crime, 2017
This article presents a script analysis of the distribution of counterfeit alcohols across two Eu... more This article presents a script analysis of the distribution of counterfeit alcohols across two European jurisdictions. Based on an analysis of case file data from a European regulator and interviews with investigators, the article deconstructs the organisation of the distribution of the alcohol across jurisdictions into five scenes (collection, logistics, delivery, disposal, proceeds/finance) and analyses the actual (or likely permutations of) behaviours within each scene. The analysis also identifies underlying and routine activities and processes connecting each scene at the intersections of licit and illicit markets and networks as we see the 'integration', 'incorporation', 'de-integration' and 'allocation' of the illicit product at various stages and under particular conditions. Furthermore, the article analyses the required resources, equipment and relations of the distribution in addition to examining the actors involved by utilising a social network analysis to link specific actors to specific roles in specific scenes. Likely deception points in the script are presented in order to inform the intervention and disruption strategies of the regulator. Our core argument is that in this case, distribution is most Trends Organ Crim
Scientometrics, 2016
In sociology of science much attention is dedicated to the study of scientific networks, especial... more In sociology of science much attention is dedicated to the study of scientific networks, especially to co-authorship and citations in publications. Other trends of research have investigated the advantages, limits, performances and difficulties of interdisciplinary research, which is increasingly advocated by the main lines of public research funding. This paper explores the dynamics of interdisciplinary research in Italy over 10 years of scientific collaboration on research projects. Instead of looking at the output of research, i.e. publications, we analyse the original research proposals that have been funded by the Ministry of University and Research for a specific line of funding, the Research Projects of National Interest. In particular, we want to see how much interdisciplinary research has been conducted during the period under analysis and how changes in the overall amount of public funding might have affected disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration. We also want to cluster the similarities and differences of the amount of disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration across scientific disciplines, and see if it changes over time. Finally, we want to see if interdisciplinary projects receive an increasing share of funding compared to their disciplinary bounded counterparts. Our results indicate that while interdisciplinary research diminishes along the years, potentially responding to the contraction of public funding, research that cut across disciplinary boundaries overall receives more funding than research confined within disciplinary boundaries. Furthermore, the clustering procedure do not indicate clear and stable distinction between disciplines, but similar patterns of disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration are shown by discipline with common epistemological frameworks, which share compatible epistemologies of
Rassegna Italiana Di Sociologia, 2008
The paper presents the results of a pilot research on friendship networks of single people. The r... more The paper presents the results of a pilot research on friendship networks of single people. The research has been undertaken using social network analysis tools (egonetworks) and qualitative interviews, on a non-representative sample of 23 heterosexual singles of Milan, aged between 25 and 35, 12 male and 11 female. Framed within the theory of community, we formulated some questions that are explored and confirmed through the analysis: the role of friendship in single youths' everyday life, which seems to substitute the traditional family as a source of emotional, social, material and economical support and the possibility that friendship is not always intended as a source of support, and people can name friends even if they do not provide any kind of support. Four different kind of friendship networks have been found: the small groups, the company, the core/periphery structure, and the contextualised components. In the discussion section, empirical findings are analysed focusing on different strategies of friendship, and special attention is given to the gender issue.
In La Cultura Come Capitale Bologna Il Mulino 2009 P 73 94, 2009
Sociological Research Online, 2016
One of the most powerful aspects of social network data is the fact that they can reproduce socia... more One of the most powerful aspects of social network data is the fact that they can reproduce social relationships in a formal and comparable way. Relational matrices abstract from the hustle and bustle of everyday interaction, and systematise information in terms of presence or absence of ties expressing them in a directed or undirected, binary or valued form. While the formal approach represents an advantage of social network analysis, as it allows bracketing off the idiosyncratic and subjective content of social structures, the mathematization of the complex nature of social relationships has also been criticised for the lack of engagement with the subjective meaning and context of relationships. Such stream of critique has called for an increase of use of qualitative methods in social network research. The first goal of the paper is to address these critiques by rebalancing the argument and showing how social network analysis has always engaged with both formal and contextual aspe...
Multilevel Network Analysis for the Social Sciences, 2015
In this chapter we model the multilevel structure of scientific work, looking at social networks ... more In this chapter we model the multilevel structure of scientific work, looking at social networks of collaborations between scientists, and at how these networks are embedded in disciplinary and organizational levels. Once the relational structure of scientific collaboration is described, we look at the role that it plays in scholars’ successes. We adopt the linked-design approach to analyse the local system of public funding to academic disciplines in Italy using bipartite networks across disciplinary areas. We thus analyse the mechanisms that lie beyond the structure of research project collaborations in Italian academia. We find that individual attributes (being a national coordinator, a full professor, and having being promoted) play a role in getting funded. It is however the position of being a broker across otherwise unconnected research groups that makes a difference in the total amount of funding received by a scientist over the years under analysis, in some cases combined with egonet closure. These results confirm the importance of looking at individual network properties when analyzing scientific collaborations. Leadership is a characteristic that seems to be related both to career achievements (becoming a full professor) and to the capability of attracting multiple research groups for scientific collaborations.
International Journal of Consumer Studies, 2015
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bellotti E, Panzone L. Media effects ... more This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bellotti E, Panzone L. Media effects on sustainable food consumption. How newspaper coverage relates to supermarket expenditures.International Journal of Consumer Studies 2016, 40(2), 186-200 which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12242. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
Studi di sociologia
The article explores the most common concepts in the theory of youth. Based on recent internation... more The article explores the most common concepts in the theory of youth. Based on recent international literature, it shows how the concept of age, social class, deviant behaviour, life style are social constructions often used to analize youth, while a more interdisciplinary and intercultural analysis of the phenomenon is needed. Youth cannot be reduced in general definitions, for the increasing importance of individualization and individual biography. Consumer culture and life style are useful concepts if they are considered as a language people use to express themselves, a symbolic code with which young people negotiate self image depending on the context they relate to. The importance of image can be viewed also in peer groups, although in some cases the style is not anymore the key of access (like mohican hairstyle for punk) but becomes an individual choice, without the role of marks of belonging.
How do we interact with people in our everyday life? Who are the people we are connected to? What... more How do we interact with people in our everyday life? Who are the people we are connected to? What are the consequences of overlapping social circles and how people deal with the potential emerging conflicts? What are the structural and cultural mechanisms that regulate social worlds? Network science is a scientific approach to the study of network dependencies and associations which tries to answer these and many other questions. This book explores the underlying mechanisms that regulate social life as they are produced, reproduced, modified, and abandoned in the spatial and temporal patterns of interactions. The mixed methods approach, that combines formal network analysis with qualitative materials and statistical tools, shows the importance of contextualising structural mechanisms in their social and cultural environment, and allows overcoming the traditional methodological boundaries that shape the field of social sciences.
Introduzione La scienza occidentale sta subendo trasformazioni radicali, che ne stan-no cambiando... more Introduzione La scienza occidentale sta subendo trasformazioni radicali, che ne stan-no cambiando ampiamente l'aspetto esteriore e profondamente la natura in-tima. Non si tratta di un semplice mutamento degli assetti istituzionali, co-me fosse un passaggio di leadership da una ...