Transcript CRIM_-_Lesson_4_-_Classical_Approach_and_Rational_Choice

Lesson 4 – Classical
Approach and Rational
Choice
Robert Wonser
Introduction to Criminology
Crime and Delinquency
1
Breaking Bad and Rational
Choice
• (Jesse) Yo, I've been out there all night slinging
crystal. You think it's cake moving a pound of
meth one teenth at a time?
• (Walter) So why are you selling it in such small
quantities? Why don't you just sell the whole
pound at once?
• (Jesse) To who? What do I look like, Scarface?
• (Walter) This is unacceptable. I am breaking the
law here. This return is too little for the risk. I thought
you'd be ready for another pound today.
• (Jesse) You may know a lot about chemistry, man,
but you don't know jack about 2slinging dope.
Understanding Theories of
Crime
• Why are some individuals more likely to
commit crime?
• Why are some categories/kinds of
people more likely than others to
commit crime?
• Why is crime more common in some
locations than in other locations?
3
Classical School of Criminology
• Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
• Father of modern criminology
• Wrote On Crimes and Punishments in
1764
• Decried the criminal justice system in
Europe
• Utilitarianism
• Believed in free will and rational choice
• Pleasure principle guides behavior
• People seek to maximize pleasure while
simultaneously avoiding4 pain
Beccaria and Crime
• To control behavior, the criminal justice
system need to perform effectively
• To deter individuals from engaging in
crime, punishment should be
• Certain
• Swift
• Severe
5
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
• The other philosopher of the
Classical School
• Hedonistic calculus - a method
of working out the sum total of
pleasure and pain produced by
an act, and thus the total value
of its consequences.
6
Positivism
• The classical school ignored the forces
outside and inside an individual that
could lead to crime
• Auguste Comte suggested forces
beyond a person’s control determine
human behavior
7
Neoclassical Perspectives
• All theories under this banner view
criminals as rational
• There are three (3) theories in this area:
• Rational choice theory
• Deterrence theory
• Routine activities
8
Rational Choice Theory
• Assumes that potential offenders weigh
the costs/risks and benefits/rewards of
engaging in crime
• Modern inspiration comes from
economic models of rational decisionmaking
9
If you found the ipod who would
you call and why?
10
Rational: Event Decisions
• Preparing to commit a crime
• Selecting a target
• Committing the crime
• Escaping
• Aftermath of the crime
11
Related Concepts
• Committing crime for first time (initiation)
• Ceasing to commit crime (desistance)
• Situational factors
• Opportunity
12
Limitations of Rational Choice
Theory
• Exaggerates the rationality of offenders
• Violent crimes are often emotional
crimes
• The presence of drugs/alcohol in the
offender’s system
13
Deterrence Theory
• Assumes that potential and actual legal
punishment can deter crime
14
Types of Deterrence
• Types of Deterrence
• Marginal: The effect of increasing the
severity, certainty, and/or swiftness of
legal punishment
• General: Members of public decide
not to break the law because they
fear punishment
• Specific: Offenders already punished
decide not to commit another crime
15
General Deterrence
• Fear of criminal penalties convinces
potential law violator that pains of
crime outweigh its benefits.
• Perception and Deterrence
• The perception that punishment will be
forthcoming influences criminality.
• Some individuals and classes of
offenders are more deterrable than
others.
16
General Deterrence
• Punishment and Deterrence;
three factors:
• Certainty of Punishment
• Police and Certainty of
Punishment
• Severity of Punishment
• Swiftness of Punishment
• Interrelationship of factors
17
General Deterrence
• Evaluating General Deterrence
• Rationality
• System effectiveness
• Criminals discount punishments
• Some offenders – and some
crimes – are more
“deterrable” than others.
18
Specific Deterrence
• The view that criminal sanctions should be so
powerful that offenders will never repeat their
criminal acts.
• Incarceration may delay recidivism.
• Harshest treatment may increase rather than
reduce crime.
• Punishment may breed defiance rather than deterrence
• Harshest punishments may case psychological problems
• Neighborhoods may feel victimized
19
Deterrence Research
• General deterrent effects of legal
sanctions are small/nonexistent
• Specific deterrent effects of legal
sanctions are small/nonexistent
20
Routine Activities Theory
• Crime occurs when three things
converge in time/space
• Motivated offender
• Suitable target
• Lack of capable guardian
21
Evaluating Routine Activities
• The theory is very popular
• Explains crime
• Among different groups of people
• In different locations
• Accounts for changes in crime rates
over time
22
Why Do People Commit Crime?
• Situational Crime Prevention
• Seeks to reduce or eliminate particular
crimes in specific settings
• Criminal acts will be avoided if:
• Potential targets are carefully guarded
• The means to commit crime are
controlled
• Potential offenders are carefully
monitored
• Defensible space
23
• Efforts in specific locations that aim to “reduce
exposure to motivated offenders, decrease
target suitability, and increase capable
guardianship”
• Examples:
Installing/increased lighting and camera
surveillance on city streets and in public parks
Providing/installing better security systems for
motor vehicles, commercial buildings, and
homes
Hot-spot policing
24
Controlling Crime
• Crime Prevention Strategies
• Increase the effort needed to commit
crime
• Increase the risk of committing crime
• Reduce rewards of crime
• Induce guilt: increase crime
• Reduce provocation
• Remove excuses
25
Controlling Crime
• Evaluating Situational Crime Prevention
• Hidden benefits
• Diffusion
• Discouragement
• Hidden costs
• Displacement
• Extinction
• Replacement
26
Incapacitation
• Incapacitation Effect
• The idea that keeping offenders in
confinement will eliminate the risk of their
committing further offenses.
• One in every one hundred American
adults in behind bars.
• Due to policy implications there have
been periods of time where increases in
incarceration rates increased while
overall crime was decreasing.
27
Policy Implications of Choice Theory
28
Policy Implications
of Choice Theory
Death Penalty
• Is it a
deterrent?
• No.
• Wrongful
convictions
29
30