A Typology of Street Robbery and Gang Organization: Insights from Qualitative Research in Scotland

Abstract

Based on in-depth interviews with 42 current and ex- street offenders, this study explores the relationship between street gang organisation and robbery. The type of robbery is affected by the level of organisation a gang is at. For recreational and territorial young street gangs, robbery is opportunistic, occurring in a diffuse manner, and conducted individually, even when the rest of the group are present as ‘backup’. For criminal gangs, robbery is different in that it is often planned in advance and the proceeds of crime are divided more evenly amongst group members. Serious Organised Crime gangs are typically more specialised, thus robbery may often be the gang in question’s main ‘occupation’. For organized crime groups, robbery most often occurs in the illegitimate market, but can be aimed at legitimate and highly profitable institutions. We make sense of these findings with reference to street capital theory, and present implications for future research and practice.