NCJ Number
157090
Date Published
1995
Length
299 pages
Annotation
This volume reviews research and theory on robbery, with emphasis on Canada's experience.
Abstract
The discussion is based partly on research conducted during the past decade with the assistance of most major police agencies in Canada, the Canadian Penitentiary Services, and 80 convicted bank robbers. The text examines the characteristics of robbery, the social background and motivation of offenders, the interaction of robbers and their victims, and the criminal justice system's response to this crime. Individual sections focus on the reporting of holdups, the laws surrounding robberies, the planning of a holdup, financial gains, the urban context of robbery, typologies of robbery and offenders, rational choice theory, and the influence of the mass media and other criminals. Other sections consider the role of drug abuse and unemployment, the use of weapons and violence as techniques for handling victims, the selection of targets, the potential trauma and physical injury victims face, prevention techniques, and police responses. Figures, photograph, glossary, index, and approximately 250 references