NCJ Number
40751
Date Published
1976
Length
278 pages
Annotation
THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE WHAT CHANGES, IF ANY, HAVE OCCURRED IN THE PROFESSION OF THEFT SINCE THE PERIOD 1905-1925, THE YEARS ON WHICH SUTHERLAND'S 1937 TREATISE, 'THE PROFESSIONAL THIEF', WAS BASED.
Abstract
THE RESEARCH EXAMINES THE DESCRIPTION OF CHIC CONWELL, THE PRINCIPAL INFORMANT FOR SUTHERLAND'S CASE STUDY, AND SUTHERLAND'S ANALYSIS IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHETHER IT IS A VALID CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PROFESSION OF THEFT TODAY. THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INVOLVED CRITIQUES OF 'THE PROFESSIONAL THIEF,' BY THREE INFORMANTS, A MIDDLE-AGE SHOPLIFTER, A BURGLAR, AND A SWINDLER AND MIDDLEMAN FOR STOLEN GOODS. ALTHOUGH CRITICAL ANALYSES WERE DONE ON A CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER BASIS FOR ALL SUBSTANTIVE MATTERS IN THE BOOK'S FIRST EIGHT CHAPTERS, THE RESEARCH FOCUS WAS LIMITED TO THE FIRST FOUR: 'THE PROFESSION,' 'THE MOB,' 'THE RACKETS,' AND 'THE FIX.' STUDY FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE CONWELL-SUTHERLAND MODEL DOES NOT FIT NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PROFESSION OF THEFT. MUCH OF THE 'LIGHTWEIGHT' CRIME TREATED AS PROFESSIONAL IN SUTHERLAND'S ANALYSIS WOULD TODAY BE REGARDED AS 'HUSTLING.' INSTEAD OF THE RELATIVELY PERMANENT 'MOBS' DESCRIBED BY CONWELL, THE WORK UNITS OF CONTEMPORARY THEFT ARE IMPERMANENT AND FLUID, ORGANIZED PRIMARILY ON THE BASIS OF SKILLS REQUIRED FOR A 'SCORE' AND HAVING NO 'BOSS.' INDIVIDUAL ETHIC SEEMS TO HAVE SUPPLANTED THE GROUP ETHIC NOTED BY CONWELL, HOWEVER, THE 'FIX' CONTINUES TO BE REGARDED BY THIEVES, LAYMEN, AND CRIMINOLOGISTS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF PROFESSIONAL THEFT. THE LINE OF DEMARCATION BETWEEN PROFESSIONAL AND NON-PROFESSIONAL THIEVES WAS SEEN TO BE AS SHARP AS EVER, ALTHOUGH THE PROFESSIONALIZATION PROCESS WAS FOUND TO BE MORE COMPATIBLE WITH 'LABELING THEORY' THAN WITH SUTHERLAND'S OWN THEORY OF DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION APPENDED MATERIALS INCLUDE THE CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER QUESTIONS ASKED OF THE RESEARCH INFORMANTS AND A NINE PAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY....ELW