Evaluating the Social Structure of a Local Heroin Market

描述(由申请人提供)：由NIDA资助的研究指出了将药物滥用作为个人在其环境中的行为进行研究的重要性。虽然吸毒者的直接环境受到了相当大的研究关注，但对间接环境影响的考虑较少。了解当地毒品市场的结构和吸毒者在这些市场内的活动有可能扩大预防干预措施。这项实验研究代表了一种新的分析视角，通过基于已经收集的人种学数据集对当地海洛因市场进行基于计算机的社会模拟，来理解药物滥用这一较少被探索但极其重要的方面。通过对一个海洛因交易市场的模拟，目的是证明该方法是可行的，并能产生有意义的结果。该项目的长期目标是利用所创建的模拟作为未来非法市场模拟的模板，最终导致开发出一种“模拟经济系统”。模拟当地海洛因市场将有助于研究人员和政策制定者了解吸毒者的自组织行为，并确定这些系统的结果。这项试验项目的具体目标是： 1.根据申请者之前收集的18个月关于当地海洛因交易市场的人种学数据，以及在该市场内运作的一个中等水平的海洛因交易组织，构建一个模拟该市场的计算机应用程序。 2.用计算机应用程序进行实验，并操纵其参数和组件。 3.严格记录仿真建模过程： A.指出作为研究毒品交易的方法的优点和缺点。 B.建议如何设计未来的研究以促进模拟其他与药物有关的行为。 4.传播模拟结果、项目信息和编程说明，以鼓励和促进在非法药物使用行为研究中使用该技术的进一步研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research funded by NIDA points to the importance of studying drug abuse as the behavior of individuals in their environments. Although direct settings of drug abusers have received considerable research attention, less consideration has been given to indirect environmental influences. Understanding the structure of local drug markets and drug user's activities within these markets has potential for expanding prevention interventions. This experimental research represents a novel analytic perspective for understanding this less explored, yet extremely important, dimension of drug abuse with a computer-based social simulation of a local heroin market based on an already collected ethnographic data set. By simulating one heroin dealing market, the objective is to demonstrate that methods are feasible and can produce meaningful results. The long term goal of this project is to utilize the simulation created as a template for future illegal market simulations eventually leading to the development of a "simulated economic system." Simulating a local heroin market will be useful to researchers and policymakers to understand the self-organizing behaviors of drug users and identify the outcomes of these systems. The specific aims of this experimental project are to: 1. Construct a computer application that simulates a local heroin dealing market based on 18 months of ethnographic data previously collected by the applicant about this market, as well as a mid-level heroin dealing organization that operated within it. 2. Experiment with the computer application and manipulate its parameters and components. 3. Rigorously document the simulation modeling procedure: a. To note the strengths and weaknesses as a method for research on drug dealing. b. Recommend how future research can be designed to facilitate simulating other drug related behaviors. 4. Disseminate simulation results, project information, and programming notes to encourage and facilitate further research using this technology in the study of illegal drug use behaviors.