Bank robbers. Who are they? Where do they come from? What motivates individuals to commit these crimes? Behind the Bars: Experiences in Crime examines these questions in this intriguing study of the life situations, relationships, and value systems of people who commit serious crimes. Based on eight years of research with law enforcement officials, the media, and interviews with more than eighty Canadian and American bank robbers, Behind the Bars goes behind the facelessness of the crime itself and into the hearts and minds of the offenders. Meet an ex-police officer, drug addicts, compulsive gamblers, a senior citizen, two con-authors, an exotic dancer, family men, informants, and career criminals. Their strikingly candid stories will inspire a great range of emotions, but most of all they will provide greater understanding of criminal behaviour. Frederick J. Desroches humanizes the offender by shedding signficant light on the social and economic conditions of offenders; on the dynamics of criminal partnerships; and on the problems many of these men experience and bring on themselves. Desroches balances the passion of criminals' stories with thematic and theoretical overviews of specific issues to create an exciting account that will capture the attention and imagination of any reader who has ever wondered why criminals commit crimes.
Dr. Frederick J. Desroches has worked in a mental hospital, a prison, and at the Departments of Indian Affairs and the Solicitor General in Ottawa. He currently teaches in the Sociology and Legal Studies Department at St. Jerome's University, University of Waterloo.
* Introduction* Chapter One: Need and Greed - The Motivation to Bank Robbery* Senior Citizen* When Need Turns to Greed* Planning to Get Married* Exotic Dancer* Chapter Two: Learning from Others - The Tricks of the Trade* Young Offender * Native Indian* Papa was a Rolling Stone* Travelling Bandit* Chapter Three: From Bonnie and Clyde to Kojak: The Influence of the Mass Media* Fun with Dick and Jane* Bonnie and Clyde vs Kojak* Counting the Dough* The Relaxe Bandit* Lost Love* Chapter Four: Nothing to Lose - The Tragic* The Reluctant Robbers* John Wayne* Sad Sack Loser* The Hunchback of Notre Dame* That Wanderless Feeling* Death Wish* Outlaws on the Run* Chapter Five: Feeding the Need - The Addicts* Compulsive Gambler* I'm Getting Married in the Morning* Speed Freak* Drugs Debts* Heroin Addict* Chapter Six: Taking the Short-Cut - From Respectability to Crime* The Honest Crime* Mountie* The Middle Class Suburban Gang* Stockbroker* Chapter Seven: A Dangerous Breed - Career and Professional Criminals* I Was a Gunman* Street Smart* Filou* French Canadian* The Stopwatch Gang* Montreal Pro* Brinks* Flying Bandit* Chapter Eight: Violators of the Code - The Informants* The Swamp Gang* Informant* Jimmy the Rat* Chapter Nine: In the Arms of the Law - Encounters withthe Police* Mexican Standoff * In the Arms of the Law* Ambush* The Turk and the Man from Glad* One-Armed Bandit* Go Boy and Surveillance Squad* Chapter Ten: Deals and Appeals - Sentencing and the Courts* Lifer* Framed* Deal Making Time* Blind and Disabled* I Need Help not Prison* References
