The Professional ThiefThis monograph by a professional thief—with the aid of Edwin H. Sutherland's expert comments and analyses—is a revealing sociological document that goes far to explain the genesis, development, and patterns of criminal behavior. "Chic Conwell," as the author was known in the underworld, gives a candid and forthright account of the highly organized society in which the professional thief lives. He tells how he learned to steal, survive, succeed, and ultimately to pay his debt to society and prepare himself for full and useful citizenship. The Professional Thief presents in amazing detail the hard, cold facts about the private lives and professional habits of pickpockets, shoplifters, and conmen, and brings into focus the essential psychological and sociological situations that beget and support professional crime. |
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Contents
The Mob | 27 |
Stealing as a Business | 140 |
The Social and Personal Life of the Thief | 154 |
The Thief and Society | 172 |
Interpretation | 197 |
Conclusion | 229 |
GLOSSARY | 235 |
| 247 | |
| 255 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
amateur arrested asked badger game bank beat beaten Big Store bill boost mobs booster boss burglar cannon mob Chicago clerks complainant coppers court crime danger developed differential association dollars Eddie Jackson erally Ernest Booth fall-dough feel fessional fixer friends gambling hangouts Hapgood's thief heel honest Hutchins Hapgood jewelry judge jury keep known Landesco larceny sense lawyer legitimate methods n.—A confidence game never newspapers Norfleet organized pay-off person picked pickpocket mob pinch pocket pocketbook police political prison profes profession of theft professional criminals professional thief prosecution prosecutor prospect protection racket regarding reported right grift saloon secured sentence shoplifter social society someone spot stealing steerer stolen stool pigeon store detective straighten sucker swindled talk techniques thieves thing tion underworld victim wrote Yellow Kid York York City
References to this book
Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points Through Life Robert J. Sampson,John H. Laub Limited preview - 1995 |
The Ethnographic Imagination: Textual Constructions of Reality Paul Atkinson No preview available - 1990 |
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Professional Thief Midway reprints Page 10 of Phoenix books in sociology Page 10 of Phoenix books University of Chicago sociological series |
| Author | Chic Conwell |
| Editor | Edwin Hardin Sutherland |
| Translated by | Edwin Hardin Sutherland |
| Edition | reprint, revised, annotated |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press, 1956 |
| ISBN | 0226780511, 9780226780511 |
| Length | 256 pages |
| Subjects | › Social Science / Criminology Social Science / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |