NCJ Number
243505
Journal
Global Crime Volume: 14 Issue: 2-3 Dated: May - August 2013 Pages: 216-237
Date Published
May 2013
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study revisits the notorious Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) scandal involving the production and distribution of an undetectable anabolic-androgenic steroid to professional athletes from late 1990s until 2003.
Abstract
The current study revisits the notorious Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) scandal involving the production and distribution of an undetectable anabolic-androgenic steroid to professional athletes from late 1990s until 2003. Multiple sources are reviewed to re-create the social structure of BALCO and examine whether it formed a close-knit community or instead multiple communities defined around a specific sport or discipline. Results from a community fragmentation analysis suggest that six communities could be identified as distinct in the BALCO network of 97 individuals - three structured around athletic interests (baseball, football and boxing), one around BALCO's chemist, another around the eventual whistle-blower, and a 'broker' community, labeled the network's core. The network's core functioned as the best intermediate between communities because of the diversity of actors involved and the presence of BALCO's founder (Conte), who was brokering ties all over the network, though such a structure ultimately resulted in complete demise of the BALCO network. Abstract published by arrangement with Taylor and Francis.