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Criminal Experience and Perceptions of Risk: What Auto Thieves Fear When Stealing Cars

NCJ Number
234972
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2011 Pages: 62-79
Author(s)
Heith Copes; Richard Tewksbury
Date Published
March 2011
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study explored how previous criminal experiences are used by car thieves to assess the costs and benefits of crime.
Abstract
In the past two decades criminologists have devoted considerable attention to modeling the decisionmaking process of offenders. This literature suggests that while there is a general pattern to these decisions, experience with crime likely affects the way offenders assess the costs and benefits of crime. Using interviews with 42 auto thieves the authors examine how experience shapes auto thieves' perceptions of the risks of stealing cars. The authors found that experience influences the ways offenders perceive the fears associated with auto theft. Specifically, experienced offenders were most concerned with being confronted (and possibly injured) by owners, while novice offenders were most concerned with being sanctioned by family members. (Published Abstract)

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