RESIDENTIAL BURGLARS JUDGE RISK - THE ROLE OF TERRITORIALITY

A group of 72 incarcerated burglars were shown ten pictures of homes, half burglarized and half non-burglarized, and asked to rate them on a number of risk factors as well as judge their burglary status. Although burglars cannot accurately identify burglarized houses, their judgments of house vulnerability are systematically related to territorial cues and other features of house appearances. Across all ten homes, houses judged as occupied, difficult to enter, with neighbors who would react, and with residents showing territorial concern are perceived as non-burglarized. In a smaller scale house by house analysis, burglars' perceptions that neighbors would react to their presence clearly and frequently predicted non-burglarized judgments. An individual difference analysis revealed that most burglars factored territorial concerns, neighbor reactivity, and difficult entry into their judgments that a house was not burglarized. A second smaller group of burglars related risk more to estimated profits. The study demonstrates the utility of examining how different groups use territorial indicators to judge risk and reveals how territorially relevant social inferences, based upon territorial appearances, is a useful indicator. © 1993 Academic Press Ltd.