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Criminological Characteristics of Offenders Guilty of Robbery (From Policing in Central and Eastern Europe: Comparing Firsthand Knowledge With Experience From the West, P 359-365, 1996, Milan Pagon, ed. -- See NCJ-170291)

NCJ Number
170324
Date Published
1996
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed the characteristics of 327 adult male inmates who were convicted of robbery in the Republic of Croatia, so as to develop profiles and determine their methods of committing robbery.
Abstract

Multivariant information analysis was used to determine whether there were correlations between offender characteristics and the robbery methods used. The study was conducted in 1994 and 1995. It identified two types of robbery offenders. One type consisted of offenders who used firearms and were more intelligent, better educated, and psychopathically structured than the other study subjects; they tended to work in groups or gangs. Given the post-war circumstances in the Republic of Croatia, a further increase in this type of robbery can be expected. The police can respond to this type of offender and form of robbery by forming special, regular, or ad hoc task forces for the investigation of this form of criminal activity. Another helpful component of a strategy against such offenders would be the centralization of information about this type of robbery throughout the country. Another type of robber identified consisted of those with low intelligence who relied on their own strength, knives, and other similar offensive weapons to obtain money; such robbers tended to commit violence against their victims even when it was not necessary to obtain the victim's money. These offenders tend to be situational delinquents whose criminal actions are difficult to predict. Improvement in the economic and social conditions of the country may help reduce this type of crime. 2 tables

Date Published: January 1, 1996