ABSTRACT
The distinguishing psychological feature is that the target of the crime is not a person, as such, but something physical. Crimes that focus on getting someone else's property do take many different forms. Breaking into a house and stealing something is, perhaps, the most 'traditional' of these, but many types of frauds also need to be considered. Taking anything that belongs to someone else is classed as acquisitive or property crime. In most legal systems, a distinction is made between taking something without violence or the threat of it, such as burglary or shop lifting and robbery, or mugging, where violence or intimidation are part of the crime. Burglary is usually very disturbing for victims and often has significance far beyond the value of the property stolen. However, research would suggest that burglars, as with fraudsters, do not always offend out of any desperate financial need or abject poverty.
