ABSTRACT
Illicit drug markets represent a context in which law is unavailable as a matter of course. Inasmuch as retaliation is subsequently inhibited, drug robbers enjoy an added measure of protection. The potential for retaliation exists in every crime, though some offenses—like drug robbery—clearly are more conducive to it than others. Though the process of retaliation management may give the appearance of compartmentalized behavior, it probably is not so clear-cut. Retaliation becomes the only way to bring the swiftness, certainty, and severity of punishment back into deterrence. The threat of retaliation motivates widespread arming. The task of hypervigilance was complicated by the drug robbers' nomadic ways. Offenders in general, and drug robbers in particular, often lack such stakes and therefore the "ability" to experience much of either emotion. Fatalism coupled with heavy drinking, hard-drug use, and fiscal desperation only amplify these tendencies.
