Burglars On The Job: Streetlife and Residential Break-ins

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments THROUGHOUT THE CONDUCT of the study on which this book is based, we received help and advice from many people. Howard Becker guided us through a maze of qualitative data software packages, pointing out the relative advantages and disadvantages of each for the kind of work we had in mind. In introducing us to "GOFER," he made a match that seems likely to last a lifetime. George McCall participated in the development of our interview and observational research instruments and assisted us in pretesting these materials. R. Gil Kerlikowske, Carl Klockars, and Al Reiss oversaw the entire data collection process, even going so far as to venture into the field with us one night in near-blizzard conditions. Allison Redfem (now Rooney) and Laurie Mitchell undertook the daunting task of managing the day-to-day administrative and organizational duties inherent in a project of this magnitude. Dietrich Smith, a.k.a. "Street Daddy/7 was by our side every step of the way. For keeping us safe, we owe him a special debt of gratitude. As anyone who has carried out field-based research knows, the real work begins when it comes time to write up the results . Here too we were fortunate in being able to fall back on the counsel of wise and patient friends. Gil Geis and Linda Jeffery each read the entire manuscript, making many helpful editorial suggestions along the way. Trevor Bennett and Neal Shover also read and commented on much of what we wrote; both of them kept the pressure on us to draw out the wider implications of our findings for explanations of offender decision making. Others who provided us with encouragement ( xiii 1 Acknowledgments and constructive criticism as the writing progressed include Eric Baumer, JoAnn Decker, Rhonda Dodd, Theo Harman, Dick Hobbs, Terry Jones, Janet Lauritsen, Michael Stein, Rick Rosenfeld, Nigel Walker, and D. J. West. Portions of this book were drafted during a year-long research leave spent in Cambridge and Durham, two of the most beautiful cities in the United Kingdom. We wish to thank Anthony Bottoms, Director of the Institute of Criminology, Cambridge University, for providing an office and access to one of the world's great criminology libraries during the Michaelmas Term, 1991. We also are grateful to Richard Brown, Head of the Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Durham, for his kindness in making available office space for the Epiphany and Lent Terms, 1992. Further, we want to thank James Barber, Master of Hatfield College, Durham, for food, shelter, and the warm hospitality for which the college is renowned. Our project was funded by Grant No. 89-IJ-CX-0046 from the National Institute of Justice. A happy by-product of this fact was that Winnie Reed acted as our program manager. She was unswervingly supportive and fair-minded throughout the entire course of the research; working with her really was a pleasure. We are required to state that the points of view or opinions expressed in this book are ours and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. But we hope that they are impressed with our effort. RICHARD T. WRIGHT SCOTT H. DECKER XIV Burglars on the fob ...