Opportunities and Decisions

Interactional Dynamics in Robbery and Burglary Groups

Bibliographic Data

ID9681100
AuthorsAndy Hochstetler (0000-0003-2158-2620, Iowa State University, corresponding author)
Year2001
Volume39
Issue3
Pages737-764
Publication date2001-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCriminology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0011-1384 • E-ISSN: 1745-9125
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1745-9125.2001.tb00939.x
OpenAlexW2064252574
LanguageEN
Citations received51
References cited58

Street offenders more often than not are co‐offenders. The theoretical importance of understanding how co‐offending shapes conduct has been recognized for decades but is often ignored by investigators. Drawing from interviews with 50 male robbers and burglars who committed their crimes with others, this paper examines how interactional dynamics modify both the perception of criminal opportunities and criminal decision making. Offenders construct opportunity by improvising situational interpretations, communicating expectations and negotiating shared meanings. As opposed to many prevailing notions of criminal decision making, decisions in groups are incremental, con‐textually situated, and affected significantly by variation in members’influence. The findings, therefore, highlight shortcomings of decision‐making investigations that obscure marked variation in choice by focusing narrowly on individual assessments of risks and utilities

Construct (python library · Criminology · Dynamics (music · Improvisation · Negotiation · Perception · Situated · Situational ethics · Social science · Sociology · Typology · Variation (astronomy · Computer Science · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Psychology · Social Psychology

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