Breaking and Entering: An Ethnographic Analysis of Burglary (Studies in Crime, Law, and Criminal Justice) Book

How do burglars go about their business? What do they fail to do before, during and after a crime? How do they perceive the criminal justice system and its sanctions? Breaking and Entering answers these questions and others concerned with the decision-making processes which burglars employ. It discusses in full how decisions are varied depending on the number of people involved in the crime and to what extent drug abuse influences the prevalence and incidence of property crime. The book presents a balanced study which takes into account the way in which rational processes are used weighing up the risks and calculating the potential gain as opposed to environmental factors which may determine target selection and method.The study was carried out by questioning thirty burglars and following their movements as they performed reconstructed crimes. This ethnographic method has resultd in a detailed account of the `criminal mind'; it explores the minutiae of `fencing' stolen goods and an assessment of the extent to which the criminal justice system deters, or perhaps encourages, the initiating or continuing of a criminal career. It is a book which will be of interest to police officers and probation personnel as well as academics and students in criminology and sociology.Read More