The sample of 310 armed robbers consisted of 78 prisoners in Washington in seven prisons, 125 prisoners in Maryland in five prisons, and 107 prisoners in Texas in eight prisons. Data were collected between May and July 1995, using a 40-item questionnaire designed to measure psychological, sociological, and structural characteristics of inmates. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, and standard analysis of variance was employed to compare differences between the two groups. Results showed the amount of money available from the robbery was of greater importance to violent robbers than it was to nonviolent robbers. Violent robbers were less concerned about the presence of armed or unarmed guards and about the number of clerks, customers, and other people present than nonviolent robbers. Violent robbers were more likely than nonviolent robbers to be high on drugs or alcohol. In addition, violent robbers committed their crimes despite being more likely to know than non-robbers what the sentence would be. Violent robbers were generally more willing to take higher risks than nonviolent robbers. 10 references, 11 footnotes, 3 tables, and 2 exhibits
Robbers Who Injure and Those Who Do Not (From Nature of Homicide: Trends and Changes - Proceedings of the 1996 Meeting of the Homicide Research Working Group, Santa Monica, California, P 164-175, 1996, Pamela K Lattimore and Cynthia A Nahabedian, eds. - See NCJ-166149)
NCJ Number
168584
Date Published
1996
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Findings in this paper are based on a sample of 310 armed robbers surveyed in 20 prisons in Maryland, Washington, and Texas during 1995; robbers who injured their victims were separated in the analysis from those who did not, and differences between the two groups were evaluated.
Abstract