Mugging (sometimes called personal robbery or street robbery) is a form of robbery and street crime that occurs in public places, often urban areas at night. It involves a confrontation with a threat of violence. Muggers steal money or personal property, which is worth less than the payouts of commercial robbery but involves less time and planning. They may be motivated by money, cultural capital, or the thrill of the act. The risk of property loss, injury, or psychological trauma causes people to fear becoming victims of mugging.

The concept of mugging originated in 1940s United States, when blackouts of World War II enabled committing crimes in the dark. It soon became the subject of anti-Black racism. In the United Kingdom, a media wave about mugging occurred in the 1970s, before which the concept had not been applied to British crimes. Police departments created "anti-mugging" units. The crime was often committed by West Indian youths, and there were widespread racial stereotypes associating it with Black people. Some leftist criminologists said that the media inaccurately reported a crime wave of mugging, including Stuart Hall, who called it a moral panic. Political debate of mugging in the country peaked in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Brazilian media reported a mass mugging phenomenon known as arrastão, a term later used in Portugal.

The word mug had several definitions in the nineteenth century. The noun mugger had been used since the eighteenth century to refer to earthenware sellers before a semantic shift toward referring to thieves. The Dictionary of Americanisms documented the thief-related usage of the word among inmates at Confederate prisons in the American Civil War. The modern usage—referring to robbery against an individual, often by a group—originated in the 1940s among criminals and police. The noun mugging and the verb mug entered British English from American English, becoming a buzzword in late 1972 and early 1973.

Mugging is a common term for personal robbery, though personal robbery also encompasses forms of theft such as carjacking. Other terms for personal robbery include snatch theft and street robbery, as it is an example of a street crime. The terms mugging, street robbery, and street crime are often interchangeable, though usage varies.

Mugging is a form of robbery. Mugging itself is generally not a criminal offense; perpetrators of the act commit the crime of robbery, though mugging is a more specific concept. Unlike other forms of robbery, mugging is a personal offense. It typically involves less planning and smaller payouts than commercial robbery, and it is usually committed by inexperienced criminals who rely on fear.

Mugging often involves an attack on a victim walking alone at night. Perpetrators steal money or valuable personal property such as cell phones. Actual or threatened violence is a major aspect of mugging, which often uses weapons such as knives. The level of violence can vary, with some muggings resulting in injury or death. The level of violence and the emotional response contribute to a victim's level of crisis. Victims often face loss of property, injury, or fear, and they may gain psychological trauma. The possibility of such outcomes results in a widespread fear of mugging.

Motives for mugging include need for money, desire to increase social status, and the thrill of the act. The latter two motives are common among younger people, while the need for money often motivates habitual drug users to commit street robbery. Though mugging takes more time than other crimes and brings little money, perpetrators are motivated by a feeling of power. Compared to commercial robbery, street robbery is a more reliable source of money due to its speed, simplicity, and low punishment rate; this is motivating for people who lack legitimate sources of money. Muggers are often motivated by peer pressure, which normalizes the behavior. People involved in street gangs gain cultural capital from it.

Street robbery usually occurs in urban areas. It is often associated with night, though it frequently occurs at other times of day. Muggers usually work within small, familiar areas, such as the surroundings of their homes. Street robberies occur within a few city blocks of places that are likely to have cash, like stores, bars, illegal businesses, or ATMs. Incidents are often clustered at points within cities such as bus stops. Many incidents occur in places with activity in the night-time economy; such cases frequently involve alcohol intoxication or violence. Street robbers sometimes target other criminals opportunistically; such cases are less commonly reported to police.