Criminological Theory and Burglary
Jessica Roden w0443856
Criminology 412
Burglars on the Job
Scarce research is available on active offenders due to their unwillingness to corporate with researchers and past and convicted offenders may have changed their perspectives after being convicted or left their lifestyle of crime. The most reliable data on these offenses and their perpetrators may come from active burglars themselves. Richard T. Wright and Scott Decker’s book, Burglars on the Job seeks to explain the reasons why burglars commit the crimes they do. They have taken their research to another level by gaining the trust of active offenders in the St. Louis area and gaining inside knowledge of these criminals’ daily lives and their crimes. This paper will address anomie and bond theories and how it relates to the offenders in this study and the socialization of these subjects into criminality and the street culture in which they live.
Conventional Goals? According to Robert Merton’s anomie theory, people are not born criminals; they conform to the environment in which they live. Conventional means of reaching a goal are often more readily available to some than others in our society. Merton suggests that crime is a result of this bias due to the anomic culture in America. Our society places great emphasis on the “American Dream” but conventional means of reaching this goal are denied to some unfortunate individuals, placing strain on them. The burglars in Wright and Decker’s book have conventional goals, but lack the capacity to achieve them by conventional means. Burglar #30 Mark Smith says, “I didn’t have the luxury of laying back in no damn pinstriped suit. I’m poor and I’m raggedy and I need some food and I need some shoes… So I got to have some money some kind of way. If it’s got to be the wrong way, then so be it.”(pg.37) This burglar has the conventional goal of buying food and shoes but, as anomie theory suggest, does not have the conventional means of getting what he wants,
Criminology 412
Burglars on the Job
Scarce research is available on active offenders due to their unwillingness to corporate with researchers and past and convicted offenders may have changed their perspectives after being convicted or left their lifestyle of crime. The most reliable data on these offenses and their perpetrators may come from active burglars themselves. Richard T. Wright and Scott Decker’s book, Burglars on the Job seeks to explain the reasons why burglars commit the crimes they do. They have taken their research to another level by gaining the trust of active offenders in the St. Louis area and gaining inside knowledge of these criminals’ daily lives and their crimes. This paper will address anomie and bond theories and how it relates to the offenders in this study and the socialization of these subjects into criminality and the street culture in which they live.
Conventional Goals? According to Robert Merton’s anomie theory, people are not born criminals; they conform to the environment in which they live. Conventional means of reaching a goal are often more readily available to some than others in our society. Merton suggests that crime is a result of this bias due to the anomic culture in America. Our society places great emphasis on the “American Dream” but conventional means of reaching this goal are denied to some unfortunate individuals, placing strain on them. The burglars in Wright and Decker’s book have conventional goals, but lack the capacity to achieve them by conventional means. Burglar #30 Mark Smith says, “I didn’t have the luxury of laying back in no damn pinstriped suit. I’m poor and I’m raggedy and I need some food and I need some shoes… So I got to have some money some kind of way. If it’s got to be the wrong way, then so be it.”(pg.37) This burglar has the conventional goal of buying food and shoes but, as anomie theory suggest, does not have the conventional means of getting what he wants,