NCJ Number
46865
Journal
HUMAN BEHAVIOR Dated: (DECEMBER 1977) Pages: 42-45
Date Published
1977
Length
4 pages
Annotation
LOOTING PATTERNS AND POSSIBLE MOTIVATIONS DURING THE JULY 1977 ELECTRICAL BLACKOUT IN NEW YORK CITY BASED ON DEMOGRAPHIC AND ARREST STATISTICS COMPILED BY THE NEW YORK CITY CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY ARE DISCUSSED.
Abstract
THE AGENCY CONDUCTED PREARRAIGNMENT INTERVIEWS WITH 2,706 DEFENDANTS ARRESTED DURING THE BLACKOUT LOOTING. ABOUT 84 PERCENT OF THESE WERE ARRESTED ON THE FIRST NIGHT OF THE BLACKOUT. THREE OUT OF FIVE SUSPECTS WERE AGE 25 OR UNDER, AND ROUGHLY THE SAME PROPORTION OF THE SUSPECTS HAD A NET INCOME UNDER $150.00 PER WEEK. THE MAJORITY OF LOOTERS WERE BLACK OR HISPANIC, BUT A LOWER PERCENTAGE THAN USUAL WERE FEMALE. IN ADDITION, COURT REACTION TO DEFENDANTS WAS MUCH MORE SEVERE. NORMALLY 50 PERCENT OF ALL ARRESTS ARE DISPOSED OF BY ACQUITTAL, DISMISSAL, OR PLEA BARGAINING, WHILE ONLY 8 PERCENT OF BLACKOUT SUSPECTS WERE SO HANDLED. WHILE USUALLY ONLY 30 PERCENT OF ALL BURGLARY SUSPECTS ARE GIVEN PRISON SENTENCES, 70 PERCENT OF THE LOOTERS ENDED UP IN JAIL. THERE ARE INDICATIONS THE THE POLICE DID NOT ARRIVE AT THE SCENE OF LOOTING UNTIL RELATIVELY LATE, AND IT IS POSSIBLE THAT IN SOME AREAS LOOTING WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURED IF THERE HAD BEEN EARLY AND VISIBLE ENFORCEMENT OF NEGATIVE SANCTIONS. IN OTHER AREAS, HOWEVER, NO LOOTING OCCURRED DESPITE VERY SIMILAR SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS. IN GENERAL, FIELD STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT WHILE LOOTING IN CIVIL DISTURBANCES IS VERY COMMON, LOOTING IN NATURAL DISASTERS IS RARE AND IS USUALLY THE THE WORK OF OPPORTUNISTS FROM OUTSIDE THE AREA AFFECTED. ALTHOUGH A NATURAL DISASTER-TYPE CONDITION, THE LOOTING AND BURNING PATTERNS DURING THE BLACKOUT WERE VERY SIMILAR TO THOSE THAT ACCOMPANIED THE CIVIL DISTURBANCES OF THE 1960'S. IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT LOOTING BEHAVIORS HAVE BECOME SO FIRMLY ESTABLISHED IN THE GHETTO AREAS OF SOME CITIES THAT THEY CAN NOW ALSO BE INITIATED BY A DISASTER. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE WIDESPREAD LOOTING MAY FOR SOME HAVE BEEN A PROTEST AGAINST THE AMERICAN NOTION OF PROPERTY, FOR OTHERS IT MAY HAVE SIMPLY BEEN SOMETHING TO DO, WHILE FOR YET OTHERS IT WAS SIMPLY A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR THEFT. ANOTHER THEORY IS THAT DURING A CATASTROPHE IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR SEEMS JUSTIFIED AND AS ONE INHIBITION IS DROPPED, A FRAMEWORK FOR THE RELEASE OF FURTHER INHIBITIONS IS OFFERED. FOR INSTANCE, A BROKEN WINDOW LEADS TO THEFT FOLLOWED BY ARSON, AND LACKING THE APPLICATION OF STRONG EXTERNAL CONTROLS, ARSON IS FOLLOWED BY HOMICIDE. SOCIETY HOWEVER CAN NOT TOLERATE SUCH IMPETUOUS BEHAVIORS, AND IT IS PREDICTED THAT FUTURE LOOTING BEHAVIORS WILL BE MET WITH INCREASINGLY SEVERE SANCTIONS. (JAP)