Expertise, Emotion and Specialization in the Development of Persistent Burglary

Amy Meenaghan; Claire Nee; Jean Louis Van Gelder; Zarah Vernham; Marco Otte

doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azz078

Expertise, Emotion and Specialization in the Development of Persistent Burglary

Amy Meenaghan^*, Claire Nee, Jean Louis Van Gelder, Zarah Vernham, Marco Otte

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

This article describes a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted among 70 experienced residential burglars regarding the reasons for getting involved in and maintaining criminal behaviour. Themes emerging reflected an interaction between skill-development and affect, which played a key role in the initiation and continuation of burglary-related behaviour. Early participation in burglary seemed to be strongly influenced by the desire for excitement. Over time this diminished and was replaced by habitual engagement in burglary. With respect to the actual commission of offences, automatic decision-making appeared to be characteristic of the entire decision-chain, from initial thoughts to the commission of the burglary. Implications of the interaction between affect, cognition and expertise on diversification, specialization and desistance from crime are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	742-761
Number of pages	20
Journal	British Journal of Criminology
Volume	60
Issue number	3
Early online date	21 Feb 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azz078 https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azz078
Publication status	Published - 2020

Keywords

automaticity
burglary
emotion
expertise
specialization

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Copy link address

Cite this

@article{42b18d7beefc45608d2b781c92c8a182,

title = "Expertise, Emotion and Specialization in the Development of Persistent Burglary",

abstract = "This article describes a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted among 70 experienced residential burglars regarding the reasons for getting involved in and maintaining criminal behaviour. Themes emerging reflected an interaction between skill-development and affect, which played a key role in the initiation and continuation of burglary-related behaviour. Early participation in burglary seemed to be strongly influenced by the desire for excitement. Over time this diminished and was replaced by habitual engagement in burglary. With respect to the actual commission of offences, automatic decision-making appeared to be characteristic of the entire decision-chain, from initial thoughts to the commission of the burglary. Implications of the interaction between affect, cognition and expertise on diversification, specialization and desistance from crime are discussed.",

keywords = "automaticity, burglary, emotion, expertise, specialization",

author = "Amy Meenaghan and Claire Nee and {Van Gelder}, {Jean Louis} and Zarah Vernham and Marco Otte",

year = "2020",

doi = "https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azz078",

language = "English",

volume = "60",

pages = "742--761",

journal = "British Journal of Criminology",

issn = "0007-0955",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Expertise, Emotion and Specialization in the Development of Persistent Burglary

AU - Meenaghan, Amy

AU - Nee, Claire

AU - Van Gelder, Jean Louis

AU - Vernham, Zarah

AU - Otte, Marco

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - This article describes a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted among 70 experienced residential burglars regarding the reasons for getting involved in and maintaining criminal behaviour. Themes emerging reflected an interaction between skill-development and affect, which played a key role in the initiation and continuation of burglary-related behaviour. Early participation in burglary seemed to be strongly influenced by the desire for excitement. Over time this diminished and was replaced by habitual engagement in burglary. With respect to the actual commission of offences, automatic decision-making appeared to be characteristic of the entire decision-chain, from initial thoughts to the commission of the burglary. Implications of the interaction between affect, cognition and expertise on diversification, specialization and desistance from crime are discussed.

AB - This article describes a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted among 70 experienced residential burglars regarding the reasons for getting involved in and maintaining criminal behaviour. Themes emerging reflected an interaction between skill-development and affect, which played a key role in the initiation and continuation of burglary-related behaviour. Early participation in burglary seemed to be strongly influenced by the desire for excitement. Over time this diminished and was replaced by habitual engagement in burglary. With respect to the actual commission of offences, automatic decision-making appeared to be characteristic of the entire decision-chain, from initial thoughts to the commission of the burglary. Implications of the interaction between affect, cognition and expertise on diversification, specialization and desistance from crime are discussed.

KW - automaticity

KW - burglary

KW - emotion

KW - expertise

KW - specialization

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084230546&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85084230546&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azz078

DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azz078

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85084230546

SN - 0007-0955

VL - 60

SP - 742

EP - 761

JO - British Journal of Criminology

JF - British Journal of Criminology

IS - 3

ER -

Expertise, Emotion and Specialization in the Development of Persistent Burglary

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this