Burglars: Personality and Spatial Behaviour

Mgr. Veronika A. Polisenska, MSc.

Burglary

Professional Opportunist

(Bennet & Wright, 1984; Nee & Taylor, 1988; Barker, 2000)

Largely non-violent crime in which environmental influences play a significant role

Geography of burglary Ranges and zones

Minimum and maximum range Safety zone Awareness space

Brantingham and Brantingham (1981)

Spatial patterns Uniform Distance bias Bimodal Directional

Rengert and Wasilchick (1985)

Mental maps How people

understand environment relate to the environment make spatial decisions

(Kaplan, 1973; Cadwallader, 1976; Garling et al., 1985; Kitchin, 1994)

Direction Linear Spread

Region Specific Large

Divisions

Personality Cloninger’s Temperament and

Character Inventory (TCI) Battery of tests Designed to assess differences between

people 7 dimensions of temperament and character

Temperament is defined as automatic

emotional responses to experience that are partly heritable and stable throughout life.

The temperament dimensions

Novelty seeking high - excitable, exploratory, curious, easily bored and

easily angered, disorderly low - slow tempered, indifferent, stoical, systematic

Harm Avoidance high - cautious, careful, timid, nervous and passive, however, take greater care in anticipating danger low - carefree, daring and courageous, confident in danger

Reward Dependence high - loving, warm, sensitive, sociable, they seek social contact. low - practical, toughminded, socially insensitive, they do not strife to please others

Research Sample 27 burglars At least once imprisoned for burglary 4 prisons of minimum and medium security Age 20 - 56 (mean = 31.3)

Questionnaire regarding family and criminal history

Semi-structured interview accompanied with drawing of sketches of mental maps

Cloninger test

Typology of burglars Content analysis of interviews

Source of the decision External Internal

Flexible Loner

Explorer Opportunist

Action Mental Physical

Cloninger 4 types of offenders’ personalities

Flexible offenders 11 offenders Middle values in all three temperament char. Main theme - influence of external sources Weak influence

a tip or specialisation in very specific items, such as garages or tools

puts quite an effort into looking for targets as well as preparation

Strong influence of the situation, such as unlocked doors or open

window of friends, who needed help

Spatial behavior Shows journeys to different places Away from home Large environment Along familiar route or no preference in direction Little or no planning is involved

Loners 8 offenders Low values in reward dependence Main theme - fulfilment of practical needs. Immediate fulfilment

least effort to gain what they aim for, for ex. money, food.

Sufficient fulfilment for ex. enough of money for 6 months

Spatial behaviour Specific place - burgle within their

home area using opportunities presented by that environment

Large region - travel farther distances and place large emphasis on preparation and choice of target

Explorers 5 offenders High on novelty seeking The main theme: occupation (mental) and

maintaining standards Like to overcome obstacles Detailed process of choosing targets Professionals

Spatial behaviour: far distances from their homes as they prefer the

uncertainties of unknown areas can spend several days on the road or in one city

Opportunists 3 offenders The opposites of explorers High on novelty seeking and low on reward

dependence Main theme: occupation (physical) and

experience novelty Burgle almost everyday

Spatial behaviour exploratory trips specific process of exploring burgle everyday very often under the influence of alcohol little or no planning is involved

Conclusion The current research shows that

the personality influences the spatial behaviour of burglars

The personality influences burglary with regards to sources of decision to burglar and action while burgling

4 types of burglars with specific spatial behaviors

Thank you

This presentation was supported by Hlavka foundation