Transcript Rational Choice Theory and Deterrence Theory

Rational Choice Theory
and Deterrence Theory
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Rational Choice Theory
Deterrence theory
Quiz # 3
Rational Choice Theory
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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
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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
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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
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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
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"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
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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
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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. Clarke (eds.) 1986. The Reasoning
Criminal. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Rational choice model
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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
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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
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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
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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
Confess
Doesn’t confess
5 years
9 years
Confess
5 years
PRISONER
A
Doesn’t
confess
Total
-10
Goes
free
Goes
free
9 years
Total
-9
Total
-9
2 years
2 years
Total
-4
Paradox of the Prisoner’s
Dilemma
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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