Burglars On The Job: Streetlife and Residential Break-ins / Edition 1

by Richard T. Wright, Scott H. Decker, Gilbert Geis

Overview

Winner of the SSSP Crime and Delinquency Outstanding Scholarship Award (1995)

Through extensive and candid interviews, the authors of this ground-breaking work have studied burglars' decision-making processes within the context of their streetlife culture. In this volume they present their findings in the areas of motivation, target selection, methods of entering and searching a residence, and methods of selling stolen goods, concluding with a discussion of the theoretical implications of their research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781555532710
Publisher:	Northeastern University Press
Publication date:	02/15/1996
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.74(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Editorial Reviews

Richard Wright and Scott Decker . . . have made a milestone contribution to the understanding of residential burglary. . . If the enterprising spirit of this study were to be taken as a model for studying other forms of street crime, we would enjoy a major leap forward in criminological knowledge.”—Contemporary Sociology

From the Publisher

Unlike other studies of burglary that depend on a small sample of incarcerated informants, draws on extensive interviews with 105 active burglars in St. Louis, Missouri, all contacted without any help from authorities. They describe their motivations, target selection, the mechanisms of breaking in, search strategies, and methods for disposing of the goods. The authors, two criminologists and a social ecologist, contextualize the behavior within the street culture and conclude that most burglars burgle in order to support drugs or alcohol and rarely consider the risk or threat of sanctions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews