Residential Burglary in the United States: Life-Style and Demographic Factors Associated With the Probability of Victimization

Abstract

This study both ascertains the characteristics of individuals and their life styles that are differentially related to risk of residential burglary and tests a hypothesis that accounts for certain discrepant findings reported in previous studies of burglary victimization. Using Goodman's log-linear technique to analyze (1975-76) Na tional Crime Survey data, we find that 2,133 of 54,343 households in the sample were burglarized in a twelve-month reference period. The following types of persons headed households with greater than average odds of burglary victimization: (1) central city residents, (2) the young, (3) persons with incomes higher or lower than average, (4) nonwhites, and (5) persons whose homes are unoccupied relatively often. The types of persons heading households least likely to be burglarized were the following: (1) older citizens, (2) persons residing outside the central city, (3) citizens in middle-income categories, and (4) persons whose homes are occupied relatively often. In general, the data support Hindelang's hypothesis that differences in the findings of previous burglary studies on variations in the burglary rate for whites across income categories may be due to different sampling procedures.