Citation

Stephen E. Br. J. Criminol. 1989; 29(1): 21-34.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since the early 1970s, the incidence of armed robbery has been increasing at an accelerating rate in Nigerian cities. It is argued that widespread corruption at the most influential levels of national life encourages and provides the justification the armed robber needs to choose, judge, and condemn his victims; and that the type of socio-economic order shapes in large part the prevalence, magnitude, and seriousness of Nigeria's crime problem. In the same vein, the form, emphasis, and extent of success or failure of social control and crime prevention programmes are, in large part, functions of the operative order. The paper suggests that de-emphasising materialism as the prime value of society, together with the creation of a humane and disciplined society, may bring a reduction in armed robbery and related properly offences.