NCJ Number
106490
Date Published
1986
Length
226 pages
Annotation
Interviews with 259 convicted bank robbers in West Germany were used to analyze the factors motivating robbery, the obstacles the robber perceives when planning a robbery, and the influences of those obstacles on the robber's decisionmaking.
Abstract
The first phase of the research described the classic bank robbery in terms of the social background and motivations of the robber and the planning, implementation, and getaway of the robbery for which the offender was convicted. Offenders tended to be unemployed as well as younger and less educated than the population average. Only 75 percent of the robberies were planned. They felt extremely nervous during the planning. They usually used a car for the getaway. The study's second phase was experimental. The researchers tested for the way the following independent variable influence the robbers' behavior: the bank size, the surveillance equipment, the floor plan, and escape possibilities. They showed photographs depicting only one variable to the subjects, who commented on the bank's suitability for a robbery. Surveillance equipment was not a deterrent. The offenders did not take security devices into account during planning or later. Data tables; figures; 104 references; and appendix presenting figures, photographs, and more data tables.