Territoriality, defensible space and residential burglary: An environmental analysis

Abstract

Previous research on territoriality suggests that territorial intrusion is associated with particular territorial demarcations. In the present study the use of territorial displays involving symbolic barriers, actual barriers, detectability, traces and social climate is related to the territorial intrusion of residential burglary. The five classes of territorial displays were assessed for a total of 306 burglarized houses on burglarized blocks, non-burglarized houses on burglarized blocks, and non-burglarized houses on non-burglarized blocks. After the data were reduced through factor analysis, multiple regression analysis revealed that burglarized houses differed from non-burglarized houses on non-burglarized blocks on four of the five classes of territorial displays. In general, burglarized houses had salient public territorial qualities: cues of openness and unoccupied appearance. In contrast, the non-burglarized houses had salient secondary or primary territorial qualities: territorial markers communicating privacy and individuality. In addition, non-burglarized houses had greater visual contact with neighboring houses.