Download Rational Choice Theory in Criminology: Understanding Criminal Decision Making - Prof. Carl and more Study notes Criminology in PDF only on Docsity! Chapter Four:
Choice Theory: Because
They Want To
Locking your
doors won't
keep a burglar
out of your
home!
• Criminals plan activities, buy equipment, try to avoid detection, and attempt to put profits in a hidden bank account. • Because of these calculated actions, many criminologists suggest that the source of all criminal violations rests upon rational decision making. Rational Decision Making B. Crime is Both Offense- and Offender-Specific • Offense-specific - reacting to characteristics of the criminal act: Evaluating the target yield, existence of security devices, police patrol effectiveness, ease of selling stolen merchandise, presence of occupants, neighbors or guard dogs, escape routes, etc. • Offender-specific - reacting to personal factors: Possession of necessary skills, need for money or valuables, resources to commit the crime, fear of expected apprehension and punishment, option of alternative criminal acts, physical ability. Concepts of Rational Choice C. Structuring Criminality (personal factors and conditions are evaluated before choosing criminality) • Economic need/opportunity: Prostitution, drug trafficking • Evaluating personal traits and experience: Knowing their limitations, impulsiveness and self-control, good criminal opportunities. • Criminal expertise: development of techniques to avoid detection, learn business manner to deal with crime. Concepts of Rational Choice D. Structuring Crime: where occurs, or the characteristics of the target. • Choosing the place of crime – Criminals choose where to a commit crime. – Drug dealers evaluate sales area: the middle of a long block due to visual advantages. • Choosing targets – Burglars check if dwelling is occupied. – Burglars track behavior patterns of occupants. – Burglars prefer working between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. and in the afternoon when parents are working or transporting children to and from school. Concepts of Rational Choice – Edgework • Crime is a more attractive alternative than law-abiding behavior. – Due to the adrenaline rush that comes from the exhilarating, momentary integration of danger, risk, and skill. – Seductions of crime • Katz: There are immediate benefits to criminality and seductions precede the commission of crime and draw offenders into law violations. – Antisocial behavior gives adolescents the opportunity to exert control over their lives. Why Do People Commit Crime? – Situational Crime Prevention • Criminal acts will be avoided if: – potential targets are carefully guarded – the means to commit crime are controlled – potential offenders are carefully monitored Controlling Crime – Crime Prevention Strategies • Increase the effort needed to commit crime: locks, owners’ photo on credit cards, alarm systems • Increase the risk of committing crime: Crime discouragers (guardians) • Reduce rewards of crime: Marking property so it is difficult to sell, tracking systems (LoJack, GPS) • Induce guilt: shame: Lists of sex offenders • Reduce provocation: Anti-bullying programs in schools • Remove excuses: Electronic roadside speed displays Controlling Crime – Critique of General Deterrence • Rationality (some offenders suffer emotional disorders) • System effectiveness (the legal system is not very effective - only 10% of all serious crimes result in apprehension) • Some offenders – and some crimes – are more “deterrable” than others • Specific Deterrence – The view that criminal sanctions should be so powerful that offenders will never repeat their criminal acts. General Deterrence Incapacitation
— Incapacitation Effect
* Incarceration
¢ Recidivism
— Can Incapacitation Reduce Crime?
– Highly Visible Police Patrols – “Three Strikes and You’re Out” – Death Penalty Does Availability of the Death Penalty Discourage Murder? Policy Implications of Choice Theory
