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?
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Related Concepts
• Committing crime for first time (initiation)
• Ceasing to commit crime (desistance)
• Situational factors
• Opportunity
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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
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Deterrence Theory
• Assumes that potential and actual legal
punishment can deter crime
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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
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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.
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General Deterrence
• Punishment and Deterrence;
three factors:
• Certainty of Punishment
• Police and Certainty of
Punishment
• Severity of Punishment
• Swiftness of Punishment
• Interrelationship of factors
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General Deterrence
• Evaluating General Deterrence
• Rationality
• System effectiveness
• Criminals discount punishments
• Some offenders – and some
crimes – are more
“deterrable” than others.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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• 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
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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
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Controlling Crime
• Evaluating Situational Crime Prevention
• Hidden benefits
• Diffusion
• Discouragement
• Hidden costs
• Displacement
• Extinction
• Replacement
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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
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Policy Implications
of Choice Theory
Death Penalty
• Is it a
deterrent?
• No.
• Wrongful
convictions
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