Hot Goods in Happy Hands: Occasional User Accounts and Motivations for Buying Stolen Goods.

Using qualitative data collected from an empirical study that focused on theft-related activity in a U.K. high crime area, the motivations and purchase patterns of occasional buyers of stolen goods are considered. In doing so, it is argued that as an illegitimate activity, the stolen goods market not only survives, but actually thrives—even in the face of numerous attempts by legal officials to shut it down. Its success is largely due to unique pull factors, including offering items of need or desire at significantly low prices. However, this article argues that this type of illegal human behavior is varied in terms of offender profile, given that it is shaped by elements of the social, political, and economic environment and that crime reduction initiatives would do well to remember this. On this basis, a number of recommendations for crime reduction policy and practice are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]