Offender Profiling Series
Profiling
Property Crimes
Edited by David Canter & Laurence Alison (2000)
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Property Crimes
Profiling Property Crimes
Simon Merry & Louise Harsent
Intruders, Pilferers, Raiders and Invaders:
The Interpersonal Dimension of Burglary
The authors discuss whether house burglary, commonly
considered a property crime, may be better regarded as an interpersonal
interaction. The basis for this argument is the evidence that shows the
psychological effect burglary has on the victim. They discuss the home
as an 'extension of the self' and the psychological effect intrusion upon
the home has on the victim. The authors move on to discuss their own research
investigating two proposed facets of craft and personal narrative. Thirty-four
crime scene behaviours were analysed using a SSA on 60 crimes. The authors
identify four themes: Intruders, Pilferers, Raiders and Invaders each
displaying its own level of craft and narrative. They conclude that there
is evidence for discussing burglary in terms of an interpersonal interaction,
that the four themes found each display had different qualities of interaction
and hence hold a different significance for the victim.
Simon Merry completed
a BA degree in Social Science with the Open University before obtaining
his MSc in Investigative Psychology at the University of Liverpool. He
is a Superintendent with Dorset Police and is a part-time PhD student
conducting further research into the crime of house burglary. Both authors
have been responsible for transferring academic research into the operational
policing sphere.
Louise Harsent gained a 1st Class BSc (Hons) degree in Experimental Psychology at Sussex, followed by the MSc in Investigative Psychology at Liverpool, concentrating on the issues of behavioural consistency and crime linking raised by the research presented in the chapter. After 3 years as a Divisional Analyst with Sussex Police she is now a research officer at the Probation Studies Unit, Centre for Criminological Research at Oxford University.
