NCJ Number
157858
Date Published
1983
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Robbery activity among criminally active heroin users while at liberty in the community was analyzed, with emphasis on the characteristics of the robberies and the drug use and robbery patterns of heroin users who robbed at high or low rates or were nonrobbers.
Abstract
Data came from the New York City study of the economic behavior of street opiate users. Staff established a storefront in Harlem in an endemic heroin-use area and recruited criminally active street opiate users for four weekly interviews. The 201 participants provided a total of 11,417 person-days of data about their activities. Results revealed that 75 percent were male, 55 percent were black, 44 percent were Hispanic, 40 percent were age 30 and under, and 63 percent were high school dropouts. Sixty-three percent reported using heroin daily in the year prior to interview; participants reported a median of 10 years since first heroin use. Eight-four percent reported one or more arrests, and 62 percent had been incarcerated. Although most were opportunistic, robbery was an economic option that was either rejected or chosen infrequently by most. The robbery patterns among the 5 percent that committed frequent robberies indicated discrete clusters of activity. Most robberies were committed by lone unarmed perpetrators against lone victims in public places. Robbers earned very little from their crimes. Some participants worked in the drug business instead of committing predatory crimes. Findings indicated that patterns of heroin use do not explain the clustering of robbery activity. Tables and 34 reference notes