Territoriality, environmental cues and residential burglary
Date
1986
Authors
MacDonald, Julia Emerald
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The relationship between territorial cues and residential burglary was examined using concepts from Newman's (1972) defensible space theory, and Brown and Altman's (19 83) conceptual model for crime site selection. The goals of this thesis were to (a) determine if burglars agree among themselves on their evaluations of potential crime sites, (b) test the hypothesis that surveillable residences that communicate an image of long term care and commitment on the part of the occupant, are unlikely to be selected as burglary targets, and (c) determine which specific environmental cues combine to form an impression of a surveillable, well-maintained and protected home.
Fifty photographs of residential homes were evaluated with a modified version of an instrument designed by Brown and Altman (1983) to assess five categories of environmental cues believed to be important to the choice of a crime site. These cue categories are (a) surveillability from the road, (b) opportunity for occupants to survey the property, (c) traces of the presence of residents (d) clearly differentiated property boundaries (e) personalization and evidence of care and attention. Forty-three offenders ( 20 youth, 23 adults) who were previously convicted of residential breaking and entering sorted the photographs along a seven point continuum ranging from likely to unlikely targets.
Correlational and regression analyses were used to identify which specific environmental cues, and which cue categories, are associated with ratings of vulnerability. Homes that were easily surveyed were rated as the least vulnerable targets. In contrast to previous research (Brown & Altman, 1983), homes displaying territorial markings and personalizations were associated with high ratings of vulnerability. Results indicate that the influence of perceived pay-off should be integrated into future research.