Global Perspectives

Career criminologists and the general public perceive armed robbery relative to other crimes as a “threat” (see Beirne and Messerschmidt 2000:281). Given that reliable figures and statistics on armed robbery, especially in Nigeria are hard to obtain, and are also viewed with scepticism, one important alternative method for assessing the severity and seriousness placed on the crime situation in any country may probably be the public’s concern about it. This is often expressed through the mass media. Indeed, news media remain an important means of transmitting public anxieties (Clinard and Abbott 1973:21). But public surveys are probably the best measure. Other measures of public’s concern about the seriousness of crime—armed robbery are the pressures for tough legislation, harsher punishment and general security apparatuses reform.

Perception on the seriousness of a crime is significant because, it is the basis upon which proscribed sanctions or sentencing under the criminal justice system are predicated. It also reflects on the fundamental aspect of human cultures. Among some cultures, certain offences are not view as serious, while in others they are. For example, adultery would be viewed differently in terms of perceived seriousness amongst most western countries and the traditional African societies. Seriousness of crime is also described as crucial to understanding of the social psychology of crime. People are more likely to estimate the relative frequencies of different crimes on the basis of their seriousness (Warr 1980).

Public sentiments unfortunately may, reflect a sudden expansion of awareness rather than a great increase in a particular phenomenon. But consistent and persistent complaints by the public, and expressed through the mass media about a problem, indicate some basis for a realistic concern. After all, the central goal of all governments is to ensure greater happiness, which is predicated on the guarantee of security to the majority of its citizens. Using the contents analyses technique, it confirms the importance and seriousness that the general public, including their Nigerian counterpart and the editors of news media, give to armed robbery situation.

All over the world, armed robbery constitutes one crime that is so much in fear of (real or imagined). Perceptions of the offence differ from a person to person, and society to society in relation to their perceived seriousness and severity. It however unarguably, represents one of the most feared crimes because of its “double tragedy”: taking away of one’s property, and causing bodily injury. For instance, in the U.S, a number of studies (Sellin and Wolfgang 1964; Rossi, Waite, Bose, and Berk 1974; Cullen, Link, and Polanzi 1982; Brown, Esbensen, and Geis 1991) to determine how the public rank the severity of crimes show that armed robbery ranked the 5^th in the list of 78 criminal offences. The study by Rossi et al. (1974) of Baltimore residents’ rate of 140 offences observed that armed robbery in the bank was considered to be the 9^th most serious offence. Wolfgang (1985) in another separate study to determine the perceived seriousness of offences, ranked “robbing at gun point and the victim dying in the process”, a classical case of high profile armed robbery as 2^nd amongst a carefully selected list of 37 offences.

In another related development, Brown et al. (1991:554) reports that in 1987, in the U.S, approximately 577,000 robberies were reported to the police. About twice as many (1,030,00) were recorded by interviews in the victim survey. This they argue demonstrates that robbery is the second most frequent violent and feared crime following assault.

Conklin (1972) in one of his best known studies of armed robbery, dubbed it the most “feared” crime; it entails a double element of fear: losing ones properties and, especially risking physical harm. He maintains that bank and armoured robberies received extensive media coverage, perhaps as the researcher of this study evince, because a large sum of money is involved, or they represent strategic position in the capitalist economy. This is also the perception hold by (Beirne and Messerchmidt 2000:281).

In one of the study conducted in U.S in 1980 (cited in Warr and Stafford 1983), armed robbery was one of the leading categories of crime and comes in numerous forms—ranging from the simple burglary, to the organised robbing of banks. So, this study ranked it as the most dreadful, and grouped it into what he referred to as “hit-and-run”. Warr and Stafford (1983) in their study of the perceived fear, risk and seriousness of 16 offences amongst the Seattle respondents, ranked “having something taken away from someone” (armed robbery) 7^th, surprisingly somehow, coming behind others such as having one’s home broken into; being murdered; threatened with knife, club or gun; and rape among others.

Pitfield and Naude (1999) studied public opinions on crime’s seriousness and sentencing among 22 selected crimes in South Africa. They found that armed robbery

with assault is ranked 6^th. They compared their findings with the South African UNICRI 1992 and 1995 surveys, which show for example, that the perceived seriousness and subsequent rating of robbery and assault or threat rose dramatically between 1992 UNICRI research and 1993.

At this juncture, the question is: what are the perceptions of the seriousness and severity of the offence amongst Nigerians public and scholars?