The Foreground Dynamics of Street Robbery in Britain

Research into the situational dynamics of street robbery in the United States has identified a commitment to street culture, and participation in the self-indulgent activities promoted by that culture, as primary etiological mechanisms operating in the phenomenological foreground of such offences. Little research, however, has been undertaken on the extent to which British street robberies evolve out of similar cultural dynamics. This paper, based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 27 offenders serving sentences for robbery in England or Wales, explores the cultural values and pursuits that mediate their crimes. Our aim is to understand the socio-cultural context in which British street robbers contemplate and carry out their offences.