Acquisitive Crime

Acquisitive crime is a wide-ranging category in which the offender derives material gain by illegal means, usually from another person or organisation. This includes shoplifting, burglary, robbery, larceny, piracy, and fraud. Some of the motivations underpinning these crimes are similar of course, but it is the differences that are interesting, and how those differences manifest in the investigative processes of detection and prevention. As with many other types of crime, there is no simple underlying theoretical position that leads to an explanation for acquisitive, there is no one personality type associated with theft or armed robbery or piracy. This chapter examines some of the complex psychological explanations for people acquiring property and goods that do not belong to them, including evolutionary models, mental disorder, psychopathy, gender effects, cyberpsychology and individual vs social factors.