Armed burglary: a marker for extreme instrumental violence
| Pages | 3-12 |
| Published date | 06 February 2017 |
| Date | 06 February 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-08-2016-0023 |
| Author | Matt DeLisi,Eric Beauregard,Hayden Mosley |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Criminal psychology,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Deviant behaviour,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice |
Armed burglary: a marker for extreme
instrumental violence
Matt DeLisi, Eric Beauregard and Hayden Mosley
Abstract
Purpose –Most burglaries are property offenses yet some offenders perpetrate burglary for the purpose of
violent instrumental crimes. Sexual burglars are distinct from non-sexual burglars because the former seek to
rape or sexually abuse victims within the homes they burgle whereas the latter seek theft and material gain.
It is unclear to what degree burglars who are armed with firearms or knives represent a type of sexual burglar,
or perhaps a more severe type of offender who enters homes not merely to rape a victim, but to perhaps
murder them as well. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach –Drawing on data from 790 felons in Florida, t-test and negative binomial
regression models were used to compare armed burglars to offenders who were not convicted of arm edb urglary.
Findings –Compared to offenders not convicted of armed burglary, armed burglars were involved in
significantly more instrumental crimes of violence including first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed rape,
armed robbery and assault with intent to murder. Armed burglary may be a marker of extreme instrumental
violent offending and warrants further study.
Originality/value –To the authors’knowledge, this is among the first studies of armed burglary offenders
and adds understanding to the heterogeneity of burglary offenders and their criminal careers.
Keywords Sexual offending, Career criminal, Criminal career, Armed burglary, Crime typology,
Instrumental violence, Offender typology
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Also known as housebreaking, home boosting, breaking and entering, or “B&E,”burglary is the
unlawful entry into a residence or commercial building for the purpose of committing a felony or
some other crime, usually theft. The costs of burglary are estimated in the billions of dollars
annually and studies using diverse sources of data have reported that on average, burglary
accounts for at least 5 percent of the total direct, indirect, and intangible costs associated with
crime (Wickramasekera et al., 2015). The psychological toll of burglary victimization is substantial
(Beaton et al., 2000; Chung et al., 2014; Maguire, 1980).
At the individual level, burglary is a regular feature of the criminal career, and is often one form of
offendingthat reflects immersion in a criminallifestyle (e.g. criminal activity,chronic unemployment,
and substance use) (DeLisi, 2005). The “typical”burglaryoffender is a young offender(often with co-
offenders)who enters businessesand/or homes forthe purpose of stealing objectsto sell, pawn, or
trade for drugs, to steal cash and other valuable commodities, or to steal drugs, money, and
weapons from other known offenders (Cromwell et al.,1991;Nee,2015;Pope,1980;Shover,
1991). Burglars are generally versatile offenders but that their offending is disproportionately
comprised of property crimes such as burglary, theft, fencing, possessing and selling stolen
property, and drug violations (Cromwell et al., 1991; Fox and Farrington, 2012, 2016a, b;
Nee, 2015; Nee and Meenaghan, 2006; Pope, 1980; Schneider, 2005; Shover, 1972, 1991;
Vaughn et al., 2008; Wright and Decker, 1994; Youngs and Canter, 2014).
Despite being a property crime, some burglaries also involve serious interpersonal violence.
For instance, Catalano (2010) found that a household member was home in 28 percent of the
Received 20 August 2016
Revised 29 August 2016
Accepted 29 August 2016
Matt DeLisi is a Professor and
Coordinator of Criminal Justice
Studies at the Department of
Sociology, Iowa State
University, Ames, Iowa, USA.
Eric Beauregard is a Professor
at the School of Criminology
and Director, Centre for
Research on Sexual Violence,
Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby, Canada.
Hayden Mosley is based at
Kent State University, Kent,
Ohio, USA.
DOI 10.1108/JCP-08-2016-0023 VOL. 7 NO. 1 2017, pp. 3-12, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2009-3829
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JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY
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