ABSTRACT
Drug robbery is the quintessential offense beyond the law, but scholars often underestimate just how much normal crime actually is as well. Legal systems tend to evolve in complex societies, where diverse, heterogeneous populations require official methods of conflict resolution. Access to the law is widespread and reasonably democratic except, of course, for law violators. Offenders are beyond the law and lose legal protections in times of need. The extent to which drug robbery restricts the growth, expansion, or mere existence of drug markets is a matter of considerable interest. As social disorganization worsens, the decoupling of formal and informal social control will likely become irreparable and the predatory street crime this helps to inspire that much more intractable. Social control can be implicit or explicit, individualistic or institutional, informal or formal. Lasting improvement can be achieved only if policymakers harness the power of informal social control and use it synergistically with formal methods.
