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Armed Robbers In Action: Stickups and Street Culture
One of the most feared crimes among urban dwellers, armed robbery poses a serious risk of injury or death, and presents daunting challenges for law enforcement. Yet little is known about the complex factors that motivate assailants who use a weapon to take property by force or threat of force.Armed Robbers in Action is not like previous studies that focus on the often distorted accounts of incarcerated offenders. Richard T. Wright and Scott H. Decker conducted dangerous, life-threatening field research on the streets of St. Louis to obtain more forthright responses from robbers about their motives and methods. They also visited several crime scenes to examine how situational and spatial features of the setting contributed to the offense. Quoting extensively from their conversations with the offenders, the authors consider the circumstances underlying the decision to commit an armed robbery, explore how and why targets are chosen, and detail the various tactics used in a hold-up.By analyzing the criminals' candid perspectives on their actions and their social environment, the authors provide a fuller understanding of armed robbery. They conclude with an insightful discussion of the implications of their findings for crime prevention policy.
128 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 17, 2023
(Insert the Christmas song — WAR IS OVER!!!!)
July 7, 2017
Pretty decent book on what goes thru the mind of a criminal who commits armed robbery. It is a bit dated (written in 1997) and I would love an updated version that factors in concealed carry statistics and cashless businesses.
August 29, 2019
I had to read this book as a required text for one of my classes this semester. This book gives a very unique view into the mind of an active armed robber and why and how they commit their crimes. I think that this book has tons of incredible insights that many sociologists and criminologists could benefit from.
May 26, 2016
Short review: Remarkable and insightful research
Long review:
The setting for this remarkable ethnographic study is St Louis Missouri, which was and still is a city that is racially partitioned and socially segregated. At the time of the study (1994), the city had 6,025 incidents of armed robbery and this was undoubtably a conservative figure, since the majority of victims are fellow criminals, who are unlikely to report the theft of their marijuana or crack cocaine. Regardless, the statistics showed that robbery rates increased as one moved from the predominantly white south to the predominately black north of the city. Incredibly the authors through paid intermediaries were able to sample and interview 86 active armed robbers, who they interviewed each for an hour plus. The aim was to focus "specifically on their thoughts and actions during the commission of their crimes" (8). As the crime rates were highly skewed racially, so too was the author's sample nearly all of which were exclusively black (except 3). The sample was remarkable, as the authors managed to interview women as well as men, (72 men, 14 women). Another element of data was having ten of the armed robbers showing the authors of the study the place where their last armed robbery took place and retracing the steps. I will throughout this provide choice quotations under headings to showcase specific elements from this under appreciated classic. While this does not cover all of my notes, it covers some of the key elements regarding the construction of the study and some of the results.
There was a criteria for inclusion in the sample:
"To be eligible, offenders had to be currently active armed robbers; that is, they had to have committed an armed rob- bery within the past month” (22). The operational criteria was not adhered to, "subjects who clearly (1) saw themselves as being currently active and (2) were regarded as such by other offenders sometimes were included.” because many were vague about the precise date of their last offence. Used four distinct sampling groups: "e initiated the sampling process through four different street contacts in an attempt to reduce the chances of tapping into just one criminal network of like- minded offenders.” (23)
Interviewing style: using insider language
As a result of the author's earlier fieldwork with burglars, they had become familiar with the distinc-tive terminology and phrasing of street talk. The authors instinctively were 'wise' (Goffman 1963) to the group. They "used that knowledge to ask questions that were sensitive to how the armed robbers spoke among themselves and thereby reduced the likelihood of embarrassing breakdowns in communication. In speaking to the offenders, however, we did not try to be one of them." As Hagedorn (1990:253) has cautioned, such attempts are doomed to failure: "Trying to act like an insider . . . is phony, and the data reported inevitably will be phony." The authors strove to create a comfortable interview situation built on a foundation of shared meanings. (26)
Had the police agree to stay out of the research:
"Therefore, prior to beginning our heldwork, we negotiated a written agreement with the chief of the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Depart- ment that his officers would not interfere in the conduct of the research. We carried a copy of this agreement with us at all times in the field but never had occasion to use it. (27)
Keeping safe:
Even so, we were sufficiently worried about a couple of the subjects that we insisted on frisking them for weapons before letting them get into our car. It is better to be safe than sorry when working in volatile research settings, as Sluka (1990: 124) has noted: "One need not be paranoid about the dangers involved in doing research in violent social contexts, but a good dose of realistic appreciation goes a long way. And, all in all, it is no doubt better to be a bit paranoid about such things than it is to be a bit complacent about them.” (27)
Impression management to avoid being seen as a police confederate:
"To deal with this problem, we employed simple impression management techniques designed to allay suspicions about our motives (see, e.g., Ber- reman 1972; Sluka 1990). Whenever interviewees seemed to be uncomfortable with a line of questioning, we backed off and turned the conversation to other matters. We also were quick to respond to any fear expressed that we might be working for the police by denying that this was the case, showing them our university identification cards, and point- ing out that many other offenders had talked to us without incident.” (28)
Use of snowballing:
"In our burglary study, we had initiated referral chains by using a specially recruited fieldworker who was well known and respected by several groups of black street criminals oper- ating in and around Saint Louis. This person, an ex-offender who had retired from crime after being shot and paralyzed in a gangland-style execution attempt, earlier had supported himself for many years as a highly skilled thief. He had been arrested just a few times and never been convicted. As a thief, he had acquired a solid reputation among his fellow criminals for both toughness and integrity. Trading on his reputation, our contact man relied mostly on tips provided by streetwise acquaintances to gain introductions to currently active resi- dential burglars. Through this street-based networking, the fieldworker widened his circle of criminal contacts. Because he scrupu- lously honored his promise to protect the confidentiality of those who took part in the burglary project, he retained his reputation for trustworthiness. Fortunately, we were able to call on his services again to help us find active armed robbers.(18)" They paid their sample 50 dollars each and ten dollars for each referral.
Gender differences
"Although recent research has concluded that males and females generally approach their offenses in similar fashion (see, e.g., Decker et al. 1993; Sommers and Baskin 1993), it remains unclear whether such a conclusion is warranted for men and women actively involved in serious criminal violence. Common sense suggests that violent crime is where possible differences between male and female of- fenders should be most pronounced."
Long term criminality
"Better than two-thirds of the sample (71 percent) admitted to ten or more lifetime armed robberies. (In cases where subjects estimated their total number of stickups in terms of a range, such as five to ten, we used the lower figure in our calculations.)"
Of the eighty-six offenders in our sample, twenty-eight (33 percent) had no arrests for robbery, and twenty-three (26 percent) had one or more arrests, but no convictions for the offense. Put another way, roughly six out of every ten offenders we interviewed would not have been included in a study of incarcerated robbers."(14)
Going to the scene
"For those who agreed to take us to the scene of a recent stickup, we could check some of what they said dur- ing the interview through direct observation of the setting. Beyond this, sometimes we were able to compare descriptions of the same robbery incident offered by two or more co- offenders. Even though the co offenders were interviewed separately, often weeks apart, their accounts generally corre- spooned closely" (8)
Verisimilitude
"Numerous opportunities arose during our research to verify that interviewees truly were armed robbers and that what they told us about their stickups was true. The most dramatic of these opportunities involved an offender who claimed that he was using a knife to commit his robberies because no one would lend him a gun. He said that knives were not good weapons for robbery and that he was increasingly fearful that someone would manage to overpower him and take his knife. He was killed that night when an intended robbery victim grabbed his weapon and stabbed him in the chest" (9)
"One respondent was interviewed while on the run from the police; he had mistakenly been released from the Saint Louis City Workhouse, where he was serving time for a parole violation after an armed robbery conviction. A num- ber of interviewees were arrested on robbery charges some- time after we had spoken to them. Taken together, such inci- dents convinced us that we were dealing with serious armed robbers." (9)
"We asked the offenders to tell us as much as they could about their "typical" approach to committing armed rob- beries, concentrating as far as possible on their most recent offense. Throughout their recitals, we prompted them with questions regarding such things as motivation, victim selec- tion, securing compliance, and escaping from the scene. We were careful to insure that, for each of these component parts, the offenders were describing a situation that was typical for them. Our aim was to get a thorough overview of the way in which they normally carried out their armed robberies. "(9)
"Additionally, we took ten of the robbers to the site of a recent holdup for which they had not been apprehended and asked them to reconstruct the crime. Visiting crime scenes with the offenders allowed us to explore more fully with them how situational and spatial features of the setting contributed to the offenses. Here, too, we questioned the robbers closely about the extent to which various elements of the crimes de- scribed were typical. Thus we were able to develop a picture of the ways in which the offenders in our sample typically went about committing armed robberies. It is that information that makes up the bulk of this book". (9)
Criminals are different outside of prison
Prisioners will act/respond differently to questions of their criminality as they are insulated from the “pressures and temptations” of life on the streets. Thus criminals active on the street can be said to have different interpretations of their criminality
"No matter how much inmates are assured otherwise, many will continue to believe that what they say to researchers will get back to the authorities and influence their chances for early release. Consequently, inmates are inclined to put the best possible spin on their previous criminal activities. Further, the experi- ence of being apprehended and punished can alter how pris- oners retroactively perceive the actions that brought about their downfall. By definition inmates are failed criminals”
Similarly, there have been numerous street-based studies of gang members (e.g., Decker and Van Winkle 1996; Hagedorn 1988; Moore 1991; Padilla 1992; Sanders 1994), many of whom were in- volved in serious delinquency."
Recruitment issues
"The most serious recruitment problem that arose during our fieldwork concerned Offender No. 81. He agreed to talk to us, despite his deep suspicion of our motives, only after being assured repeatedly by the project fieldworker that we were not working for the police. During our interview, it be- came clear that he was a well-connected armed robber and could serve as a valuable source of referrals. When asked if he would be willing to introduce us to his associates, he ex- pressed some reluctance but, after considerable reassurance that we were trustworthy, finally consented. As figure 1 indi- cates, however, this never happened; he was arrested and charged with armed robbery within hours of speaking to us. We had no hand whatsoever in his apprehension. Nevertheless, several of our street contacts report that he continues to believe that we were responsible for his arrest. "(22)
Reasons for criminality
Key terms:
Survival, Status, Situational opportunity, Hedonism, Taking part in Street culture, Alternative status symbols
"Eighty of the eighty-one offenders in our sample who spoke directly to the issue of motivation said that they did stickups primarily because they needed money. (33) Armed robbery for them was a matter of day-to-day survival" (33)
"Some offenders occasionally committed an armed robbery even though they had enough money to meet their immedite needs. By and large, the robberies that fell into this cate- gory were not for the purpose of improving the offenders' cash flow situation, but rather were the result of opportuni- ties that seemed too good to pass up." (34)
"Typically, the armed robbers we spoke to did not save the cash de- rived through armed robbery; they used most or all of it to perpetuate a life of what we call "desperate partying.” (35)
"Forty of the fifty-nine offenders who told us what they did with the proceeds of their stickups said they used most of the cash to initiate or sustain various forms of illicit action, including gambling, drug use, and heavy drinking." (35)
I do the people that drive they fancy cars and they be on they phones, they be high-catting, you know, like they got all this . . . them the ones I get. (Ne-Ne—No. 31) [37]
Instant gratification:
"There is no reputational mileage to be gained through deferred gratification."(37)
Street culture
"Why do the offenders find the open-ended pursuit of illicit action so seductive in the first place? The answer lies in their strong attachment to street culture. Street culture revolves around "the enjoyment of 'good times' with minimal concern for obligations and commitments that are external to the . . . immediate social setting" (Shover and Honaker 1992:283). [37]
No safety net
Few alternative sources of social support realistically were available to them, and many spent more time on the street corner than anywhere else. As one put it: "Basically, my whole life revolves around the street." During our interviews, we asked thirty-two of the offenders to tell us about their living arrangements; twenty-two said that they seldom slept at the same address for more than a few nights in a row, preferring to move from place to place as the mood struck them. (38)- so they are itinerants
Keeping up appearances, buying high status items
"Of the fifty-nine offenders who identified their use of the money derived from armed robberies, fifteen reported that they purchased "status enhancing" items. Foremost among these was clothing; all fifteen said that, among other things, they always bought some clothes with the proceeds of their crimes. These offenders were not buying clothes simply to protect themselves from the elements, but rather to project a desired image; they sought to create a look of cool transcen- dence that suggested that they were members of the aristocracy of the streets." [40]
Alternative status symbols
"One offender, for instance, told us that he had committed ten armed robberies in the past month because he needed to pay his private attorney; he was awaiting trial on an aggravated assault charge and did not want to take his chances with a public defender. Another of- fender reported that he was doing stickups to "reestablish" himself after serving a lengthy prison seritence for armed robbery."(44)
Long review:
The setting for this remarkable ethnographic study is St Louis Missouri, which was and still is a city that is racially partitioned and socially segregated. At the time of the study (1994), the city had 6,025 incidents of armed robbery and this was undoubtably a conservative figure, since the majority of victims are fellow criminals, who are unlikely to report the theft of their marijuana or crack cocaine. Regardless, the statistics showed that robbery rates increased as one moved from the predominantly white south to the predominately black north of the city. Incredibly the authors through paid intermediaries were able to sample and interview 86 active armed robbers, who they interviewed each for an hour plus. The aim was to focus "specifically on their thoughts and actions during the commission of their crimes" (8). As the crime rates were highly skewed racially, so too was the author's sample nearly all of which were exclusively black (except 3). The sample was remarkable, as the authors managed to interview women as well as men, (72 men, 14 women). Another element of data was having ten of the armed robbers showing the authors of the study the place where their last armed robbery took place and retracing the steps. I will throughout this provide choice quotations under headings to showcase specific elements from this under appreciated classic. While this does not cover all of my notes, it covers some of the key elements regarding the construction of the study and some of the results.
There was a criteria for inclusion in the sample:
"To be eligible, offenders had to be currently active armed robbers; that is, they had to have committed an armed rob- bery within the past month” (22). The operational criteria was not adhered to, "subjects who clearly (1) saw themselves as being currently active and (2) were regarded as such by other offenders sometimes were included.” because many were vague about the precise date of their last offence. Used four distinct sampling groups: "e initiated the sampling process through four different street contacts in an attempt to reduce the chances of tapping into just one criminal network of like- minded offenders.” (23)
Interviewing style: using insider language
As a result of the author's earlier fieldwork with burglars, they had become familiar with the distinc-tive terminology and phrasing of street talk. The authors instinctively were 'wise' (Goffman 1963) to the group. They "used that knowledge to ask questions that were sensitive to how the armed robbers spoke among themselves and thereby reduced the likelihood of embarrassing breakdowns in communication. In speaking to the offenders, however, we did not try to be one of them." As Hagedorn (1990:253) has cautioned, such attempts are doomed to failure: "Trying to act like an insider . . . is phony, and the data reported inevitably will be phony." The authors strove to create a comfortable interview situation built on a foundation of shared meanings. (26)
Had the police agree to stay out of the research:
"Therefore, prior to beginning our heldwork, we negotiated a written agreement with the chief of the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Depart- ment that his officers would not interfere in the conduct of the research. We carried a copy of this agreement with us at all times in the field but never had occasion to use it. (27)
Keeping safe:
Even so, we were sufficiently worried about a couple of the subjects that we insisted on frisking them for weapons before letting them get into our car. It is better to be safe than sorry when working in volatile research settings, as Sluka (1990: 124) has noted: "One need not be paranoid about the dangers involved in doing research in violent social contexts, but a good dose of realistic appreciation goes a long way. And, all in all, it is no doubt better to be a bit paranoid about such things than it is to be a bit complacent about them.” (27)
Impression management to avoid being seen as a police confederate:
"To deal with this problem, we employed simple impression management techniques designed to allay suspicions about our motives (see, e.g., Ber- reman 1972; Sluka 1990). Whenever interviewees seemed to be uncomfortable with a line of questioning, we backed off and turned the conversation to other matters. We also were quick to respond to any fear expressed that we might be working for the police by denying that this was the case, showing them our university identification cards, and point- ing out that many other offenders had talked to us without incident.” (28)
Use of snowballing:
"In our burglary study, we had initiated referral chains by using a specially recruited fieldworker who was well known and respected by several groups of black street criminals oper- ating in and around Saint Louis. This person, an ex-offender who had retired from crime after being shot and paralyzed in a gangland-style execution attempt, earlier had supported himself for many years as a highly skilled thief. He had been arrested just a few times and never been convicted. As a thief, he had acquired a solid reputation among his fellow criminals for both toughness and integrity. Trading on his reputation, our contact man relied mostly on tips provided by streetwise acquaintances to gain introductions to currently active resi- dential burglars. Through this street-based networking, the fieldworker widened his circle of criminal contacts. Because he scrupu- lously honored his promise to protect the confidentiality of those who took part in the burglary project, he retained his reputation for trustworthiness. Fortunately, we were able to call on his services again to help us find active armed robbers.(18)" They paid their sample 50 dollars each and ten dollars for each referral.
Gender differences
"Although recent research has concluded that males and females generally approach their offenses in similar fashion (see, e.g., Decker et al. 1993; Sommers and Baskin 1993), it remains unclear whether such a conclusion is warranted for men and women actively involved in serious criminal violence. Common sense suggests that violent crime is where possible differences between male and female of- fenders should be most pronounced."
Long term criminality
"Better than two-thirds of the sample (71 percent) admitted to ten or more lifetime armed robberies. (In cases where subjects estimated their total number of stickups in terms of a range, such as five to ten, we used the lower figure in our calculations.)"
Of the eighty-six offenders in our sample, twenty-eight (33 percent) had no arrests for robbery, and twenty-three (26 percent) had one or more arrests, but no convictions for the offense. Put another way, roughly six out of every ten offenders we interviewed would not have been included in a study of incarcerated robbers."(14)
Going to the scene
"For those who agreed to take us to the scene of a recent stickup, we could check some of what they said dur- ing the interview through direct observation of the setting. Beyond this, sometimes we were able to compare descriptions of the same robbery incident offered by two or more co- offenders. Even though the co offenders were interviewed separately, often weeks apart, their accounts generally corre- spooned closely" (8)
Verisimilitude
"Numerous opportunities arose during our research to verify that interviewees truly were armed robbers and that what they told us about their stickups was true. The most dramatic of these opportunities involved an offender who claimed that he was using a knife to commit his robberies because no one would lend him a gun. He said that knives were not good weapons for robbery and that he was increasingly fearful that someone would manage to overpower him and take his knife. He was killed that night when an intended robbery victim grabbed his weapon and stabbed him in the chest" (9)
"One respondent was interviewed while on the run from the police; he had mistakenly been released from the Saint Louis City Workhouse, where he was serving time for a parole violation after an armed robbery conviction. A num- ber of interviewees were arrested on robbery charges some- time after we had spoken to them. Taken together, such inci- dents convinced us that we were dealing with serious armed robbers." (9)
"We asked the offenders to tell us as much as they could about their "typical" approach to committing armed rob- beries, concentrating as far as possible on their most recent offense. Throughout their recitals, we prompted them with questions regarding such things as motivation, victim selec- tion, securing compliance, and escaping from the scene. We were careful to insure that, for each of these component parts, the offenders were describing a situation that was typical for them. Our aim was to get a thorough overview of the way in which they normally carried out their armed robberies. "(9)
"Additionally, we took ten of the robbers to the site of a recent holdup for which they had not been apprehended and asked them to reconstruct the crime. Visiting crime scenes with the offenders allowed us to explore more fully with them how situational and spatial features of the setting contributed to the offenses. Here, too, we questioned the robbers closely about the extent to which various elements of the crimes de- scribed were typical. Thus we were able to develop a picture of the ways in which the offenders in our sample typically went about committing armed robberies. It is that information that makes up the bulk of this book". (9)
Criminals are different outside of prison
Prisioners will act/respond differently to questions of their criminality as they are insulated from the “pressures and temptations” of life on the streets. Thus criminals active on the street can be said to have different interpretations of their criminality
"No matter how much inmates are assured otherwise, many will continue to believe that what they say to researchers will get back to the authorities and influence their chances for early release. Consequently, inmates are inclined to put the best possible spin on their previous criminal activities. Further, the experi- ence of being apprehended and punished can alter how pris- oners retroactively perceive the actions that brought about their downfall. By definition inmates are failed criminals”
Similarly, there have been numerous street-based studies of gang members (e.g., Decker and Van Winkle 1996; Hagedorn 1988; Moore 1991; Padilla 1992; Sanders 1994), many of whom were in- volved in serious delinquency."
Recruitment issues
"The most serious recruitment problem that arose during our fieldwork concerned Offender No. 81. He agreed to talk to us, despite his deep suspicion of our motives, only after being assured repeatedly by the project fieldworker that we were not working for the police. During our interview, it be- came clear that he was a well-connected armed robber and could serve as a valuable source of referrals. When asked if he would be willing to introduce us to his associates, he ex- pressed some reluctance but, after considerable reassurance that we were trustworthy, finally consented. As figure 1 indi- cates, however, this never happened; he was arrested and charged with armed robbery within hours of speaking to us. We had no hand whatsoever in his apprehension. Nevertheless, several of our street contacts report that he continues to believe that we were responsible for his arrest. "(22)
Reasons for criminality
Key terms:
Survival, Status, Situational opportunity, Hedonism, Taking part in Street culture, Alternative status symbols
"Eighty of the eighty-one offenders in our sample who spoke directly to the issue of motivation said that they did stickups primarily because they needed money. (33) Armed robbery for them was a matter of day-to-day survival" (33)
"Some offenders occasionally committed an armed robbery even though they had enough money to meet their immedite needs. By and large, the robberies that fell into this cate- gory were not for the purpose of improving the offenders' cash flow situation, but rather were the result of opportuni- ties that seemed too good to pass up." (34)
"Typically, the armed robbers we spoke to did not save the cash de- rived through armed robbery; they used most or all of it to perpetuate a life of what we call "desperate partying.” (35)
"Forty of the fifty-nine offenders who told us what they did with the proceeds of their stickups said they used most of the cash to initiate or sustain various forms of illicit action, including gambling, drug use, and heavy drinking." (35)
I do the people that drive they fancy cars and they be on they phones, they be high-catting, you know, like they got all this . . . them the ones I get. (Ne-Ne—No. 31) [37]
Instant gratification:
"There is no reputational mileage to be gained through deferred gratification."(37)
Street culture
"Why do the offenders find the open-ended pursuit of illicit action so seductive in the first place? The answer lies in their strong attachment to street culture. Street culture revolves around "the enjoyment of 'good times' with minimal concern for obligations and commitments that are external to the . . . immediate social setting" (Shover and Honaker 1992:283). [37]
No safety net
Few alternative sources of social support realistically were available to them, and many spent more time on the street corner than anywhere else. As one put it: "Basically, my whole life revolves around the street." During our interviews, we asked thirty-two of the offenders to tell us about their living arrangements; twenty-two said that they seldom slept at the same address for more than a few nights in a row, preferring to move from place to place as the mood struck them. (38)- so they are itinerants
Keeping up appearances, buying high status items
"Of the fifty-nine offenders who identified their use of the money derived from armed robberies, fifteen reported that they purchased "status enhancing" items. Foremost among these was clothing; all fifteen said that, among other things, they always bought some clothes with the proceeds of their crimes. These offenders were not buying clothes simply to protect themselves from the elements, but rather to project a desired image; they sought to create a look of cool transcen- dence that suggested that they were members of the aristocracy of the streets." [40]
Alternative status symbols
"One offender, for instance, told us that he had committed ten armed robberies in the past month because he needed to pay his private attorney; he was awaiting trial on an aggravated assault charge and did not want to take his chances with a public defender. Another of- fender reported that he was doing stickups to "reestablish" himself after serving a lengthy prison seritence for armed robbery."(44)
October 13, 2025
The authors interviewed self confessed armed robbers in St. Louis to learn their motivations and tactics of armed robbery. Note that they did this on the street, not in prison or jails.
Given this was written nearly thirty years ago, it may be nothing more than a snapshot in time, but I suspect much of the truths they discovered still apply to day when it comes to violence. Limitations to the study to consider are that this is an investigation into one particular street culture, and the dynamics of criminal behavior might change over time or be significantly different in other areas. That said, there may be common threads throughout this particular criminal subculture that span history and human behavior. Violence and intimidation are, well, violence and intimidation.
This was an interesting book.
Given this was written nearly thirty years ago, it may be nothing more than a snapshot in time, but I suspect much of the truths they discovered still apply to day when it comes to violence. Limitations to the study to consider are that this is an investigation into one particular street culture, and the dynamics of criminal behavior might change over time or be significantly different in other areas. That said, there may be common threads throughout this particular criminal subculture that span history and human behavior. Violence and intimidation are, well, violence and intimidation.
This was an interesting book.
January 15, 2023
This book was really interesting. The quotes from research subjects were full of unique insight and offered a perspective that would be hard to get elsewhere. I really enjoyed reading about the researchers, the study and the participants.
June 29, 2023
A must read if you are worried about being robbed on the street.
September 1, 2014
An interesting attempt to get into the mind of armed robbers by interviewing them on in the ghettos of St. Louis. To me, the method was easily as intriguing as their findings,
As the author's write:
"The physical dangers that we confronted in doing the research for this book were nothing compared to the emotional toll exacted on us by the nature of our work. Even now, nearly two years after leaving the field, we continue to ask ourselves whether it was ethical to study active armed robbers in a real-world setting. There is no easy answer to that question, though we would think twice before undertaking a similar project in the future. By studying armed robbers in their 'natural habitat,' we clearly learned some things about their decision making that could not be discovered by interviewing prisoners. But almost everyone, conservatives and liberals alike, would agree that such offenders represent a serious social menace and belong behind bars. No matter how laudable the research goal, one quickly grows weary of paying armed robbers to provide information about their stickups and then watching them walk away to rob again."
As the author's write:
"The physical dangers that we confronted in doing the research for this book were nothing compared to the emotional toll exacted on us by the nature of our work. Even now, nearly two years after leaving the field, we continue to ask ourselves whether it was ethical to study active armed robbers in a real-world setting. There is no easy answer to that question, though we would think twice before undertaking a similar project in the future. By studying armed robbers in their 'natural habitat,' we clearly learned some things about their decision making that could not be discovered by interviewing prisoners. But almost everyone, conservatives and liberals alike, would agree that such offenders represent a serious social menace and belong behind bars. No matter how laudable the research goal, one quickly grows weary of paying armed robbers to provide information about their stickups and then watching them walk away to rob again."
December 28, 2013
A fascinating academic study of armed robbers in their natural habitat. For my purposes, though, it was a little light on case studies. Entertainment and color were not, of course, among the authors' intentions, so I can't fault them. The fact that they were able to get to so many armed robbers who were active in the streets is to their credit. And they come to some interesting conclusions about how to deal with this menace to society. Not harsher sentences, not rehabilitation programs, not more surveillance cameras, not more anti-crime architectural features. It seems the best deterrent to armed robbery is a cashless society. These guys just want quick cash for a quick dope fix.
January 4, 2017
An illuminating read on armed robbers and criminal activity.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews