Rational Choice Theory and Deterrence Theory Quiz # 3

Rational Choice Theory Has been formulated in economics It assumes that people are motivated by money and by the possibility of making a profit This has allowed it to construct formal, and often predictive, models of human behavior

Rational Choice Theory Apparent success of RCT has led many other social scientists to use RCT These sociologists and political scientists have tried to build theories around the idea that all action is fundamentally “rational' in character and that people calculate the likely costs and benefits of any action before deciding what to do

Main Assumptions of Rational Choice Theory Individuals are seen as motivated by the wants or goals that express their 'preferences‘ They act on the basis of the information that they have about the conditions under which they are acting It is not possible for individuals to achieve all of the various things that they want

Main Assumptions of Rational Choice Theory They must make choices in relation to both their goals and the means for attaining these goals Rational choice theories hold that individuals must anticipate the outcomes of alternative courses of action and calculate that which will be best for them Rational individuals choose the alternative that is likely to give them the greatest satisfaction

Rational Choice Theory "Why do people engage in deviant and/or criminal acts?“ personal choice An understanding of personal choice is commonly based in a conception of rationality or rational choice Early classical theorists, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.

Classical School The human being is a rational actor Rationality involves an end/means calculation People (freely) choose all behavior, both conforming and deviant, based on their rational calculations The central element of calculation involves a cost benefit analysis: Pleasure versus Pain

Classical School Choice can be controlled through the perception and understanding of the potential pain or punishment that will follow an act judged to be in violation of the social good, the social contract The state is responsible for maintaining order and preserving the common good through a system of laws (this system is the embodiment of the social contract) The Swiftness, Severity, and Certainty of punishment are the key elements in understanding a law's ability to control human behavior

THE DECISION TO COMMIT A CRIME Adapted from D. Cornish and R THE DECISION TO COMMIT A CRIME Adapted from D. Cornish and R. Clarke (eds.) 1986. The Reasoning Criminal. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Rational choice model Background factors\: psychological characteristics (intelligence; family background; demographic factors, like what kind of neighborhood the criminal comes from Situational factors: persuasion by friends, arguments with spouse, or whether the person has consumed alcohol or drugs use,

Rational Choice Model Motive is listed as need for money or status, but in this classical view of crime, there is really no need to think about motive. Previous learning and experience refers to the previous success with similar target, criminal's self-perception of his/her own skills, ability to elude law enforcement, and get rid of the stuff afterwards.

Rational choice model Blocked opportunities : the criminal's assessment of what legitimate avenues are available for satisfying needs. The decision to be made is whether the same amount of money, for example, can be made by work, gambling, borrowing, or avenues other than crime The amount of effort required fits into this as the amount of time spent considering and evaluating whether the rewards (and costs) of crime outweigh alternative avenues for satisfying the same needs.

Prisoner’s Dilemma Two prisoners committed a crime together They are both under arrest and unable to communicate with each other In order to force a confession, the authorities offer each prisoner separately, the following deal:

Prisoner’s Dilemma PRISONER B PRISONER A Confess Doesn’t confess 5 years 9 years Confess Total -10 Total -9 5 years Goes free PRISONER A Goes free 2 years Doesn’t confess 9 years Total -9 Total -4 2 years

Paradox of the Prisoner’s Dilemma Both prisoners end up by defecting even though they both know that they would be better off cooperating Each of them thinks that non confessing is very risky If one confesses, he may strike lucky (goes free) or get 5 years , at worst.

Research on RCT Tunnell (1992) found that repeat property offenders were unable to make reasonable assessment of the risk of arrest, did little planning for crime, and were uninformed about the legal penalties in the state where their crimes were commiteed

Deterrence Theory Rational choice theorists also recognize that the threat of punishment or the promise of a reward may motivate people just as much as the punishment or reward itself Rational calculation would lead offenders to avoid committing crime That is where deterrence theory comes from….

Deterrence Theory If legal penalties are certain, severe, and swift crime will be deterred Certainty of punishment is defined as the ration between the number of admissions to the state prisons for a given crime and the number of those crimes known to the police

Deterrence Theory Severity is defined as the mean number of months served by all persons convicted of a given crime who were in prison for that year

General Deterrence General deterrence theory focuses on reducing the probability of deviance in the general population Norms and laws are designed to produce and maintain the image that "negative" and disruptive behaviors will receive attention and punishment Examples of control activities reflecting the concerns of this concept include: Drunk-driving crackdowns, publication and highly visible notices of laws and policies (Notice: Shoplifters will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law), and the death penalty.

Specific Deterrence Specific deterrence focuses on punishing known deviants in order to prevent them from ever again violating the specific norms they have broken Examples: shock sentencing, corporal punishment, mandatory arrests for certain behaviors (domestic violence), etc.

Research on Deterrence Theory Sherman (1990) asked people about their perception of the risks of being punished for specific offenses and about whether they have actually committed those offenses Findings: Consistent association b/w offending and the perception of the certainty, but no association b/w offending and the perception of severity

Critique of Sherman’s Study Direction of causation is unclear Either increased perception of risk leads to reduced criminal behavior or engaging into criminal behavior lead to a decreased perception of risk Nagin (1990)claimed that repeat offenders are less afraid of imprisonment

Research on Deterrence Theory The deterrence hypothesis suggests that states with the death penalty should have lower homicide rate Tittle (1992): states with the death penalty have higher murder rates than states without it The reason is that death penalty in implemented in those states where the murder rate is higher (unclear causation)

Death Penalty Bonner, Fessenden (2000) found that death penalty actually increases homicides Death Penalty has a “brutalization” effect that tends to devalue human life and thereby increase homicide