Another major effect of burglary is emotional reaction, the most common type of emotional reaction to burglary is anger. According to the British Crime Survey (1998) 66% of males and 64% of females said they were angry about being burgled. This anger occurs because the individual is annoyed that someone has entered their property without consent and stolen their goods which they have worked hard to pay for. The second most common emotional reaction is shock 33% of males and 39% of females experienced shock after a burglary. Other common emotional effects are fear, this is fear that the burglars will return to steal the property that has been replaced by the insurance claim. The highest levels of fear occur in households where the owner is elderly or where there is a lack of security as some people do not have the income to be able to afford effective security measures. It has been proven that when elderly people are burgled in some cases it can even cause an early death due to the amount of shock and emotional upset. It was noticed that elderly victims became more nervous and twitchy after burglar and often became housebound and needed to spend more time with family. Difficulty sleeping and being upset are also effects of burglary. Overall burglary has many emotional effects that effect both men and women from all social classes.
Burglary and its impacts mentioned above can be prevented or managed effectively so that it is reduced. Firstly some of the most effected areas are terraced houses, houses with little or no security measures, houses where the owner is young or has little income, and also houses in areas where there is high unemployment and low social status. Responses to combat burglary are target hardening. This is to have security devices installed on property that make it harder to make it harder for a thief. This could be in the form of a burglar alarm. Although this does not prevent a person breaking into the property it has been proven to reduce the likelihood of being burgled because it increases the chance of the burglar being noticed and even caught. Installing stronger locks on a property decreases the chance of someone being able to break in. The British Crime Survey has shown that the most common place of entry of a property is a door, usually the back door as this is out of sight. Making sure windows are closed before leaving the property decreases the chance of being burgled. Overall the installation of any security device will significantly decrease the likelihood of burglary.
Another way of managing the hazard of burglary has been the neighbourhood watch scheme, this is a national scheme and the basic idea is that members of the community are aware of the hazard and look out for their surrounding neighbours property and report anything suspicious to the police. The groups will also have a regular meeting to discuss the problem and suggest any possible ways of combating it. It has been proven that installing a burglar alarm is one of the most inexpensive and effective ways to secure a property against burglary.
Another way of combating or reducing burglary rates is Secured By Design. This is police initiative that was introduced in the early 1990’s based on the idea of defensible space. The basic principal is that architects and planners can influence the frequency of burglary and crime. Some of the features of SBD are high perimeter fencing, additional street lighting, adequate parking space, strengthened glass and window frames and many more. New housing which meets the criteria mentioned above laid down by the scheme can be accredited with the Secured By Design standard and this can even be a selling point. Coal pit Mews, Bately is an example of an SBD housing development. SBD has been proven to be an effective scheme in the reduction of burglary. Research has revealed that there were 26% fewer crime events per dwelling in the SBD sample of 660.
Finally marking property with a pen which can be read under ultraviolet light is an effective way of increasing the chance that stolen property may be returned to the owner if recovered by the police. Simple common mistakes are also a cause of burglary which can easily be prevented such as having large amounts of cash on display or within the property, leaving car keys on display and leaving doors unlocked. These can easily be avoided and will prevent a sneak-in burglar from easily removing expensive property such as cars.
Overall burglary is a common problem which can be managed and even prevented by spending a small amount of money on security devices such as a burglar alarm and strong door locks. Increasing awareness of the problem also decreases burglary numbers.
