NCJ Number
178122
Journal
International Journal of Risk, Security and Crime Prevention Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: October 1998 Pages: 269-279
Date Published
1998
Length
11 pages
Annotation
A sample of officially processed burglars (n=173 men and 13 women) in the United Kingdom was interviewed to determine whether the repeated victimization of the same people and places was a common strategy in their criminal careers, along with the reasons for this practice; implications for crime prevention are discussed.
Abstract
The interviews confirmed the expectation that repetition of crime against the same victim or target was a practice common among offenders who had at least one burglary on their criminal record. Repetition against the same target was characteristic of those most confirmed in a criminal career. Repetitive victimization crossed crime types, such that those offenders who repeated one crime type against the same target also tended to repeat other crime types against the same target. Reasons for repeating acquisitive crime against the same target were rational in the minds of the offenders, such as the predictability of the market for goods obtained from particular targets. Familiarity with target layouts and entries was also a reason for repeat victimization; for example, one interviewee noted that the layout of all gas stations in one chain of stations had safes and stock similarly located, so that the successful burglary of one station in the chain would be a model for the burglary of another station in the chain. Offenders' reasons for repeat victimization of a target suggest that changes and improvements in security measures for the target can make offender access more difficult, remove the predictability and familiarity factors, and increase the likelihood that the offender will be caught. 3 tables and 9 notes