According to rational choice theory, the decision to commit a crime is not spontaneous, but rather coherent and rational. The theory states that criminal decision is natured by human emotions and thinking. Moreover, it is influenced by some factors such as individual characters and capabilities, environmental features and social relationships. Therefore, criminals risk breaking the law after taking into account both personal and situational factors (Siegel, 2016). In this regard, there are different types of crime that law-violators engage in, which include and not limited to burglary, homicide, robbery, assault, kidnapping among other crime. This paper focuses on burglary, the reasons for committing it, how locations and victims are selected, the possible ways of preventing this crime from happening, and finally a conclusion.
As stated by Siegel (2016), burglary in criminal law refers to unlawful act to make entry into a building with the intention of committing a crime inside, majorly theft. Other crimes may include the intention to rape, kill or arson. An example of burglary is when a person gets access to a building in a neighborhood, in the absentia of the neighbors, with an intention to steal property. In an attempt to justify burglary crime, offenders usually give many reasons. Siegel (2016) asserts that the offenders' urgent need for money, unemployment that leads to idleness, influence by peer pressure from friends, influence by other criminal acts such as drug trafficking, possession of burglary skills and availability of resources such as a gun are among the possible reasons offenders give for committing burglary.
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Before a burglary crime is committed, offenders structure the crime, that is, they have to select the victims, time and locations. For instance, on time selection, burglars prefer mid-mornings and mid-afternoons during weekdays when parents are at work or taking children to school. Saturdays are avoided because many families are within their homesteads (Siegel, 2016). Similarly, choice of location is also considered. Most burglars prefer neighborhoods where they are familiar with the environment, while others prefer to move to distant places if they perceive the payoff to be greater or when the new location law enforcement is not serious. They tend to avoid protected homes with security officers, alarms or locks. Also, when selecting targets, buglers avoid stand-alone buildings where police can quickly surround them. Cash business such supermarkets, bars and restaurants are their most preferred targets. Besides, knowledge of market and goods with high demand is important when selecting a target. All the efforts to structure a crime by burglars is geared towards escaping from the arms of law (Siegel, 2016).
Lastly, burglary is a crime committed by people in a society and if not prevented, may be a cause of rotten societal culture. As such, measures are put in place as an effort to deter this crime from happening. As explained by Siegel (2016), the measures include; increasing efforts needed to commit burglary through the use of technology, for instance, techniques to harden targets such as alarm gates, using unbreakable glasses to make storefronts and tracking systems to assist police in locating and returning stolen items. Besides, reducing opportunities for crime by creating employment and implementing tough criminal law among other measures may be impactful. From the above discussion, it is evident that burglary crime is influenced by some factors and rational decisions made by offenders. Therefore, prevention of burglary is a good step towards enhancing the good image in society. Thus, it should be a collective societal responsibility to instill good morals in youths through counselling to minimize burglary resulting from peer pressure.
Reference
Siegel, L. (2016). Criminology: Theories, Patterns and Typologies (13th ed.). Boston; U.S.A: Cengage Learning.
