The study was based on semistructured in-depth interviews with 37 active street robbers. The sample included 14 women and a comparative sample of 23 men, matched approximately by age and age at first robbery. Respondents were recruited on the streets through the use of "snowball" sampling in impoverished urban neighborhoods in St. Louis. The most notable finding from the study was the incongruity between motivations and execution of robbery. Although a comparison of women's and men's motivations to commit robbery showed gender similarities, when women and men actually committed robbery, their enactments of the crime were strikingly different. These differences highlight the clear gender hierarchy that exists on the streets. Although some women were able to carve out a niche for themselves in this setting and even establish partnerships with men, they were participating in a male-dominated environment, and their actions reflected an understanding of this. To successfully accomplish robberies, women must take into account the gendered nature of their environment. One way they did this was by targeting other females. When women robbed men, they did so by flirting and appearing sexually interested in them. Unlike women's robberies of other women, when women robbed men they tended not to use physical force but did use guns. 11 notes and 18 references