ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question whether it is useful in developing policies for the control of robbery to focus on how decisions about the robbery are made by the robbers themselves. It focuses on interviews with 113 northern California offenders charged with the robbery and convicted of robbery or an offense related to the robbery. The chapter purposes the interviews were conducted in 1971 and 1972 and were reanalyzed. Northern California had a very high robbery rate during the period of the interviews. The decision to rob begins with some kind of desire. As previously indicated, fewer than 60% of the robbers said they wanted money. Most of the robbers appear to have taken a highly casual approach to their crimes. Over half said they did no planning at all. Eighty percent of the offenders used some kind of weapon: 53% used guns, 19% knives, and 8% other weapons.
