Burglars: personality, place-attachment and spatial behaviour

The aim of this work is to explore the issue of burglars using qualitative approach. The theoretical foundation of this research comprises of theories concerning place-attachment, spatial behaviour, mental mapping and personality. The combination of these concepts provides a unique insight into the decision-making of offenders in terms of searching for targets, deciding where to burglar and taking the journey to get there. The methodological foundation of this research is based upon content analysis of semi-structured interviews, multidimensional analysis of the interviews as well as questionnaires, structural analysis of the mental maps and the interpretation of Cloninger¿s Temperament and Character Inventory-revised. Overall, this study goes beyond police statistics of burglars and aims to understand the choice of targets and implemented strategy from the burglars¿ point of view.