
Robert A RoksErasmus University Rotterdam | EUR · Department of Criminology
Robert A Roks
Doctor of Philosophy
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55
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Publications
Publications (55)
Undesirable online behavior
Since the emergence of the Internet in the 1970s, criminology has been focusing on what this digital revolution means for crime and the fight against it. In this regard, much scholarly attention in recent years has focused on cybercrime. This editorial of the special issue on undesirable behavior online can be seen as an...
‘They are just UK fans who started living what they are rapping instead of rapping what they are living.’ The multimedial performance of authenticity in the (online) Dutch drill culture
Since 2019, drill music has been linked to the rise of violent incidents among young people in the Netherlands. Drawing on studies in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The...
Violence in context – A mixed-methods study on violence against journalist
Previous research on violence against journalists in the Netherlands shows that 82 percent of journalists have had to deal with aggression and (violent) threats. In this article, we provide a rich insight into the phenomenon of violence against journalists based on a mixed-m...
‘Leaving the street game’ – a longitudinal ethnography (N=1) of gang desistance
This article centers on the process of (gang) desistance of Jermaine, a man with a substantial criminal record who has been part of the Dutch Crips gang for over a decade. From a phenomenological perspective, drawing on 15 years of longitudinal ethnographic research, Je...
The impact of organized crime measures remains largely unknown. Moreover, for practical and ethical reasons, the perspectives of the individuals who are subjected to organized crime policies are often not included in research. Based on semi-structured interviews with 24 current members of the Dutch Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC), this study fi...
Outlaw biker clubs have drawn considerable attention of law enforcement agencies across European countries. Despite law enforcement efforts, the popularity of the outlaw biker subculture has been on the rise recently. There is, however, still little understanding of how individuals become engaged in the outlaw biker subculture. Using unique data fr...
In addition to being the gateway to Europe, the port of Rotterdam’s logistical facilities and services are also abused by organized crime. Large drug seizures and corruption cases have made clear that the port of Rotterdam is a hub for the transit of cocaine. Based on qualitative research, consisting of 73 interviews with public and private actors,...
Based on 3 years of ethnographic research, this chapter departs from the depiction of the h200d—a local neighborhood in the city of The Hague and the home base of the Dutch Crips —as an “office.” Building on the “crime as work” perspective, this metaphor is used to examine the local embeddedness of the Dutch Crips and their criminal activities. Fir...
In this article, we aim to further our understanding of the social embeddedness of organized crime by exploring the (possible) ways the social environment adds to the shielding of organized crime or criminal activities by organized crime groups. We argue that the metaphor of ‘walls of silence’ provides a fruitful way to examine the shielding of org...
Too big for community policing officers, too small for the detectives. A forgotten group: young rising criminals
We are witnessing a remarkable trend in the youth crime in the Netherlands. A spectacular crime drop is accompanied by growing concerns about the serious nature of youth crimes and young people on a pathway to become hardened criminals a...
Alom klinken zorgen over de 'verjonging en verharding' van de jeugdcriminaliteit. Toch blijft vaak onduidelijk waar het dan precies over gaat. Zonder dat voor iedereen duidelijk is waar we het over hebben, hangen echter zowel de gedachtewisseling als praktijkinitiatieven in de lucht en is een goed onderbouwde aanpak, laat staan onderzoek naar een e...
Based on the results of two research projects from the Netherlands, this paper explores how street-oriented persons adapt and use digital technologies by focussing on the changing commission of instrumental, economically motivated, street crime. Our findings show how social media are used by street offenders to facilitate or improve parts of the cr...
As an important gateway to Europe, the Port of Rotterdam is known for its high-quality facilities and efficiency, but also attracts organised crime groups who use the transatlantic legal trade flows to traffic cocaine. Based on a qualitative study, consisting of 73 interviews with public and private actors, an analysis of 10 criminal investigations...
The Schelde City or Manhattan at the Maas? A comparative analysis of the Ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam regarding the import and distribution of cocaine into Europe
The ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp are among the main European ports of entry for the import and further distribution of cocaine. Earlier research underlines the interchangeability of t...
‘Don’t be fooled by abnormal prices’. An exploratory study on the ambiguity of trustworthiness of cocaine dealers on Telegram Messenger
In order to advance our understanding of digital drug markets on social media, this article examines the trustworthiness of cocaine dealers on Telegram Messenger. Based on an exploratory netnography, we illustrate...
Drug crime in the Low Countries. Estimating the size of the illicit drug economy and examining the links between the illicit drug industry and the licit world in the Netherlands and Belgium
As drug producing countries and logistical hubs, the Netherlands and Belgium are topping the worldwide charts in the field of international drug trafficking. Fo...
This article highlights some aspects of doing longitudinal ethnography in criminology. By zooming in and reflecting on some of the key moments and methodological choices made over the course of more than 15 years of fieldwork among members of a Dutch gang, this article illustrates that relations with informants have the potential to strengthen over...
Ondermijnende criminaliteit laat zich niet onderscheppen noch aanhouden
De bestuurlijke, strafrechtelijke en integrale aanpak van georganiseerde misdaad maken overuren maakt. Aan actie van de zijde van het huidige kabinet en aandacht in de verkiezingsprogramma’s is op dit terrein geen gebrek. Enorme plannen voor versterking van de aanpak van onderm...
Despite the proliferation of research examining gang violence, little is known about how gang members experience, make sense of, and respond to peer fatalities. Drawing from two ethnographies in the Netherlands and Canada, this paper interrogates how gang members experience their affiliates’ murder in different street milieus. We describe how gang...
Few musical genres have such a deep rooted connection to crime and violence as rap music. This chapter traces rap music’s checkered past by zooming in on a theme that runs throughout the history of the musical genre: rap’s longstanding and complex relation with authenticity which is reflected in the phrase “keeping it real.” As an aspect of the bro...
‘Champagne toasting, my whole libi is expensive now’: conspicuous consumption in Dutch rap music
This article examines expressions of conspicuous consumption on 19 recent releases by the most popular Dutch rap artists of 2018. In line with Veblen’s (1899/2017) notion of conspicuous consumption, our content analysis of these rap lyrics shows that Du...
Urban ethnographers studying gangs and troublesome youth groups have traditionally faced distinct ethical and methodological challenges in their work as compared to other researchers. For this reason, gang ethnographers have devoted considerable attention to documenting their research decisions, and have thereby attuned others to the various risks...
Fraud and scams on Telegram Messenger. Results from a netnographic study
In this article, the authors draw on a netnographic study conducted between May and July 2019 on phishing on Telegram Messenger. The results indicate that Telegram, just like cryptomarkets and online forums, seems to function as a criminal marketplace. In the groups analyzed t...
Recent research on street-involved populations has documented their online presence and has highlighted the effects of their online presentations on their lives in the real world. Given the increasing conflation between the online and offline world, contemporary urban ethnographers should pay increased attention to their participants’ online presen...
This article explores the intersections of street crimes and cybercrimes. Fourteen Dutch criminal investigations into networks that committed cybercrimes were analyzed to gain insight into offline and local dimensions of these activities. Firstly, we examined whether the networks in these cases are also involved in other criminal activities than cy...
Based on ethnographic fieldwork and a content analysis of secondary sources, the current study presents an in-depth case study of gang evolution. We chart the history and development of the Dutch Crips, from playgroup origins in the 1980s to criminal endeavors in the 1990s, to its rebirth as an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang in the 2000s. At each evolution...
This chapter provides an overview of what we know about organized forms of
cybercrime executed with a financial goal. First, criminal cooperation is covered.
We discuss recent insights into the structure, composition, and mechanisms of
origin and growth. Second, bottlenecks in the criminal business process and
criminal money flows are described. Ev...
In this explorative study we provide empirical insight into how organized crime offenders use IT to launder their money. Our empirical data consist of 30 large-scale criminal investigations into organized crime. These cases are part of the most recent, fifth data sweep of the Dutch Organized Crime Monitor (DOCM). We do not focus on cybercrime alone...
Een goed onderbouwde aanpak van de georganiseerde criminaliteit is alleen mogelijk wanneer er een gedegen inzicht bestaat in de aard van de georganiseerde criminaliteit zoals die zich in Nederland manifesteert. De Monitor Georganiseerde Criminaliteit biedt dat inzicht door zo veel mogelijk de kennis te benutten die wordt opgedaan tijdens omvangrijk...
A sound basis for preventive and repressive policies regarding organised crime re-quires empirical insight into the nature of organised crime in the Netherlands. The Dutch Organised Crime Monitor provides that insight by making use of the knowledge gained during large-scale police investigations.
This report is the result of the most recent, fifth...
Public-private partnerships in tackling drug crime in the port of Rotterdam
This article focuses on the challenges associated with public-private partnerships in tackling drug crime in the port of Rotterdam. The authors identified the actors involved in the fight against drug crime and, more generally, security in the port. The authors show how the...
The online adjustment dilemma: exploring the use of social media by far-right groups in the Netherlands
This article focuses on the ways the NVU, Pegida and Voorpost - three far-right groups from the Netherlands - make use of social media platforms in the year 2017. Our results show that these extreme right-wing groups use social media to spread th...
This article presents the results of empirical analyses of the use of information technology (IT) by organized crime groups. In particular, it explores how the use of IT affects the processes of origin and growth of criminal networks. The empirical data presented in this article consist of 30 large scale criminal investigations into organized crime...
Criminal money flows and IT. On innovative modi operandi, old certainties, and new bottlenecks
In this article we analyze how organized crime offenders use IT to handle their money flows. How and to what extent do offenders use IT-facilitated possibilities, such as bitcoin, to launder their money? The empirical data consist of thirty large-scale po...
Het doel van deze studie is het vergroten van het inzicht in hoe daders binnen de georganiseerde criminaliteit ICT gebruiken en welke invloed dat gebruik heeft op hun criminele bedrijfsprocessen. We richten ons daarbij niet uitsluitend op cyber-crime, maar verkennen juist het gebruik van ICT én de consequenties daarvan voor een breder scala van soo...
This study provides empirical insight into how organised crime uses IT and how it affects criminal operations. We do not focus on cybercrime alone. Instead, we explore the use of IT and its consequences in a broad range of types of organised crime, i.e. from 'traditional 'types of organised crime such as offline drug smuggling to cybercrime. This r...
#HOUHETSTRAAT: street culture on social media?
Research on street culture in the Netherlands constitutes an area of relative paucity. Moreover, even less is known about the virtualisation of street culture. In this article, we draw on the social media accounts of a network of delinquent youngsters from Spangen, a neighbourhood in the Dutch city of...
Criminal groups: an introduction
Criminal groups have traditionally been the focus of criminological research because of the collective dimension of many criminal activities or deviance. However, what constitutes a ‘criminal group’ or how specific criminal groups, like gangs, should be defined, remains open for discussion in the scientific literatu...
The assassination of a Solid Soldier? ‘Not-knowing-for-sure’ and ‘realness’ around the death of Sin
During an ethnographic research on the Rollin 200 Crips, a Dutch ‘gang’, Sin – one of the author’s informants – was shot and killed in Amsterdam. In this article, the author focuses on the ways in which the Rollin 200 Crips interpreted and made sense...
Since the early 1990s, there have been reports in the Netherlands of groups of youngsters calling themselves Crips and Bloods. In this article, I will focus on the case of the Dutch Rollin 200 Crips from the city of The Hague, drawing on three years of fieldwork (2011–2013) in a small neighbourhood that this Dutch ‘gang’ claims as their ‘h200d’. Th...
Building on the growing body of research on gang desistance and disengagement, this article focusses on the departure of 20 members of the Dutch Rollin 200 Crips during three years of ethnographic fieldwork (2011–2013) in a small neighborhood in the Dutch city of The Hague. In this article, I retrace the process of gang disengagement from the onset...
Crips and Bloods were reported in the Netherlands in the early 1990s, especially in the city of The Hague. A study based on police and justice files described young immigrant males that copied the American gangs introduced to them via films and popular music (Crips in drievoud; Een dossieronderzoek naar drie jeugdbendes, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,...
In the h200d: A contemporary ethnography of a Dutch youth gang
This article draws on three years of ethnographic research into the embeddedness of crime and identity of the Rollin 200 Crips, a Dutch ‘gang’ from the city of The Hague. During the course of this fieldwork the possibilities of social media were explored. Posts and pictures on social me...
Op basis van etnografisch onderzoek in Den Haag wordt beschreven dat 'niet snitchen' geen morele straatcode is, maar eerder een manier vormt waarop jongeren op straat bezig zijn met het construeren en communiceren van hun identiteit, in oppositie tegen hun natuurlijke vijand: de politie.
Word on the street? The performance of ‘street credibility’
This article deals with the performance of ‘street credibility’. A dramaturgical analysis of the lyrics and videos of 15 rap artist from The Hague sheds light on the various ways they try to achieve a credible street reputation as rappers. In their frontstage presentation they highlight th...
@Malinowski, do you have ping?
@Malinowski, do you have ping?
Due to the fact that lives of respondents increasingly take place online, ‘being there’ and participating in everyday life has changed. Based on ongoing research, this article examines new and additional possibilities provided by technological developments in the field of digital communi...
In deze rapportage gaan de auteurs in op de belemmeringen en eventuele ruimte binnen de relevante wet- en regelgeving met betrekking tot het huisvesten van verschillende categorieën vreemdelingen zonder verblijfsdocumenten door woningbouwcorporaties en bestaande initiatieven op dit terrein. Om deze vragen te kunnen beantwoorden, is een literatuurst...