NCJ Number
164455
Journal
Psychology, Crime & Law Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (1994) Pages: 107-116
Date Published
1994
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Information was extracted from police files in Nottinghamshire, England, about 345 burglars and 310 violent offenders involved in cases where no one (victim, witness, or police) knew their identity at the time of the offense.
Abstract
The investigation focused on assessing differences between burglars and violent offenders, and data for the March-November 1991 period were analyzed. Police information about offender characteristics was obtained from a form completed at the time of arrest. Although most offenders were male, significantly more females were found among violent offenders than among burglars. Burglars tended to be unemployed or at school and overwhelmingly committed their offenses for material gain. Violent offenders tended to be under the influence of alcohol and commonly committed their offenses due to anger or provocation. While a great deal of versatility in offending was observed, some specialization was also evident, since half of the burglars had a previous conviction for burglary and half of the violent offenders had a previous conviction for violence. Overall, 90 percent of burglars and 80 percent of violent offenders had a previous conviction of some kind. Use of the data to develop typologies of burglars and violent offenders is considered. 24 references and 3 tables