Burglary and the Ideal Victim

In the latter quarter of the twentieth century, successive UK governments made burglary the focal point of policies aimed at harm reduction and crime prevention. This paper uses an adaptation of Christie's construction of the ideal victim is a useful way of explaining this. Three dimensions are distinguished: the ideal crime; the ideal victim; and the ideal offender. It is argued that burglary was the ideal crime, the burglary victim was the ideal victim, and the burglar constituted the ideal offender. More recently, a shift in government priorities has resulted in burglary no longer being accorded the same emphasis by policy makers. This is explained in terms of it no longer being considered the ideal crime. At the same time, burglary victims have been replaced by other victims considered more deserving, and other offenders who more starkly epitomise the evil outsider. While a change of direction may bring additional help for victims previously ignored, it is regrettable that the burglary victim may be returning to obscurity.