Burglars On The Job: Streetlife and Residential Break-ins

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

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Crime

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book about burglary. To differentiate from other books, the author conducted his research by interviewing ACTIVE burglars...not those who had been incarcerated. The highlights of the research include:

- Most burglars are young, male, and poor

- Burglars are not motivated, career oriented individuals. Their burglaries are conducted to fulfill an immediate need for cash, usually to support a drug habit

- The average burglar commits fewer than 10 burglaries per year. Only 7% of burglars commit more than 50 burglaries a year.

- 87% of burglars purchased drugs with the proceeds of their crime

- 90% of burglars knew their victims, at least in a peripheral manner

- 62% of burglars extensively survey their target before the crime

- Burglars are very scared of armed homeowners. Before breaking in, burglars will call on the phone or knock on the door to make sure no one is home. After getting in, the first action they take is to do a quick “sweep” of the house to make sure it is unoccupied.

- 65% of burglars reported they would not burglarize an alarmed house under any circumstances

- 93% of burglars tried to get in and out of the house as quickly as possible

- Burglars first went to the master bedroom looking in dressers closets and around beds for cash, jewelry and guns. After that, they went to the bathroom to steal prescription drugs from the medicine cabinet. Before they left the house, they checked the living room for small electrical appliances.

- Burglars generally avoided checking children’s rooms and basements

- 69% of burglars always worked with another person. An additional 8% occasionally worked with accomplices.


If you are interested in burglary or want to read additional quotes from burglars, check out this book. Otherwise, the synopsis above gives you most of the information you'll get out of this one.

[G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although primarily an academic study, "Burglars on the Job" is a fascinating bit of criminology from which we can all learn something. One of apparently few studies in which active burglars were interviewed about their crimes, the book describes the motivations, choices, and considerations burglars make at all stages of the process. The book can be a bit repetitive at times - each chapter ends with a summary and the conclusions are summarized again in the entire last chapter - but the choice quotes and glimpses into the lives of these professional burglars more than make up for it.

[Apsana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an academic study of active burglars, which remains a very rare occurrence even amongst criminologists today. The book remains surprisingly relevant even today, with the authors still being interviewed about their findings many years after publication. The writing, while academic, makes it one of the easier academic works to read, and the quotes peppered throughout offer a most interesting insight into the decision-making of burglars.

[Vanessa Braganza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything you've ever wanted to know about residential burglars...and many things you don't. The authors embarked upon an ambitious research project, but no way is this making it onto my reread list!

[Dora]

No. 2 from a list of 10 books to read on economics by the authors of Freakonomics

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit dry, a bit outdated, but remains an illuminating view into the mental word of burglary

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best written academic studies that I have seen. Very compelling.

[Donnie Edgemon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It turns out that this book is actually an academic paper. It reads pretty easily, though. I'm not sure why I thought I would be interested in a study of burglary.

[Mariapacana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful, if a bit dated (and geographically limited to burglars in St. Louis). Some points that I thought were useful:
- Burglaries generally occur in response to an immediate cash need
-