Economic inequality and the monetary reward in a robbery

Abstract

The relationship between economic inequality and violent crime is usually equated with rational choice or strain theory, although adjudicating between these two distinct perspectives is exceedingly burdensome because their respective predictions are analogous. Multilevel data for 66 cities located across the U.S. are analyzed to evaluate whether economic inequality influences the financial reward (cash/property) derived from a robbery. While rational choice theory proffers that economic inequality increases the monetary reward in a robbery because of the greater availability of lucrative targets to victimize, strain theory makes no such prediction. Results cast doubt on rational choice theory because economic inequality fails to predict the financial reward acquired in a robbery. However, an offender’s monetary reward in cities plagued by economic inequality is observed to be more substantive when a firearm is employed during the commission of a robbery. This latter finding suggests that robbers may be employing firearms in cities plagued by economic inequality to victimize potentially wealthy targets who are likely better protected.