While most people may think of smash and grab type crimes when they hear the term burglar, the truth is that there are some burglars who are highly skilled, and know how to get what they want without leaving a trace. These types of burglars are professionals. They make their livings from stealing, and know where to look for high value items that they can get their hands on. Today we'll be looking at the traits of a good burglar, how somebody develops into a good burglar, and how their "careers" compare to more traditional ones.
A good burglar needs a wide set of basic skills, and usually one specialty skill that they dedicate their time to honing. In general, a good burglar needs to be alert. A professional will be aware of their surroundings at all times so as to avoid detection. A professional must also have sufficient critical thinking and planning skills. This is what separates professionals most from amateurs. A professional will scope out targets and compare the perceived risk/reward, and make a specific plan to break in and get what they want out before doing anything. A good burglar must also have good communication skills, for a multitude of reasons. This is a trait that most people may not think of, but it is actually crucial. First of all, since these burglars make a living off of stealing, they will need somebody to buy their stolen goods either knowingly or unknowingly. Either way, they will need good communication skills to either keep good relations with their fences or convince their fences to buy off of them. Good burglars will also work in groups. This is where the specialized skills come in, as one may be great at scoping out sites and planning a route, while another may specialize in bypassing security systems, another in moving heavy objects quickly, etc. Because they work in teams, they need to have good communication skills and integrity. Finally, a good burglar needs to know how to avoid a sentence. The best burglars know how to avoid the police knowing that they're there, the response time for when the police do find out, and how to get out without leaving any links to themselves. In the event that they do get caught, they know their way around the legal system well enough to ensure the least severe sentence for themselves.
The theory that describes the process of becoming a good burglar best has got to be differential association. Because good burglars start out with no burgling skills and need to know how to work in a group, it makes perfect sense that good burglars will have learned from and worked with more experienced burglars in their early careers. This has often been observed to be the case. This is exactly what differential association describes, which is crime being learned through interaction with antisocial peers.
Finally, let's compare the career path of a professional burglar to more acceptable professions such as lawyers and doctors. Generally professionals in standard fields will have considerably more formal education than professional burglars. While doctors and lawyers are spending their time at university, burglars are spending time in the field learning from other burglars. In general, the basic skills that professional thieves and standard professionals use are actually quite similar. Most jobs will need the same problem solving and communication / group work skills that make for successful professional burglars. Where they differ substantially is in their purpose. Most career paths are designed for helping others in some way. Engineers help by supplying structures, doctors look after health, lawyers ensure protection under the law, police ensure security, etc. Burglary is different because it only helps the burglar and their ring while actively hindering victims and law enforcement. There are more similarities between burglars and standard professionals than most people would likely expect, but they are still fundamentally different.
IN CONCLUSION: A good burglar will know how to work with others to avoid getting caught while securing the highest value items and selling them off. They will have learned from other burglars, likely family or friends, and will almost certainly have started from a young age. They are similar to more standard professionals in the set of basic skills that they use, but differ fundamentally in their intent.
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