Carpe Diem Antisocial Behaviors Street Robbery and Assault

In the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology editorials, violent crimes, such as murder and sex offenses, are frequently addres-sed, but not the topic of violence in relation to robbery and assault. In this last issue of 2009, Trevor Bennett and Fiona Brookman painstakingly discuss street crimes— robbery and aggravated assault—their possible motivations and theoretical explana-tions for them. Such crimes are often forgotten in the larger criminological agenda, where domestic violence, in its many manifestations, is given most of the attention. However, robberies, violent street crimes, and other assaults are frequent and at times shocking: In 2007, there were an estimated 445,125 robberies (147.6 robberies per 100,000 inhabitants) and 855,856 aggravated assaults (283.8 per 100,000 inhabit-ants) (U.S. Department of Justice–Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2008). According to the social disorganization theory, a weak system of social relations due to the dissolution of the family, joblessness, and poverty brings about— especially in large cities—residential instability and anonymity. This is often fol-lowed by the social emargination of young people, who live as “urban nomads ” and, because of a lack of a steady job, are prone to commit acts of robbery and assault