Adj 215 Criminology "Rational Choice Crime Control Strategies"
Rational Choice Crime Control Strategies
September 29, 20--
ADJ 215: Criminology
1. What crime control strategies are effective according to rational choice theory?
According to the reading and to the simulation, the majority of crime prevention strategies are effective but in reality, very few of them are, if any really.
The simulation mentioned something about implementing more speedometers to deter drivers from illegal driving actions or speeding but with the courts having to prove that the owner of the car was actually driving at the time the camera snapped that picture and real legitimate lawyers fighting against it, it’s nearly impossible and ineffective.
A longer prison sentence is nothing but a joke to the common criminal, with jails and prisons being so “comfortable” now. Any criminal that keeps his or her head down and their nose clean can get any sentence cut in half for “good behavior.” Not to mention the entire system is too crowded as is and society knows it.
While the original crime prevention efforts of rational choice theory…to make the risks far outweigh the benefits of committing crimes, I feel this is no longer an effective view of crime in today’s world.
2. How is criminal behavior explicable according to rational choice theory?
Rational choice theory teaches that a person will look at a current situation and decide that an immediate need must be met through illegal action. For example, a normally law abiding citizen is watching his or her family go hungry. To meet the feeding need of his or her family, that person will break the law and steal. Because the benefit (not starving to death) outweighs the risk of being caught.
“A wealthy man and his pregnant wife were going through a divorce. Rather than pay alimony and child support the man hired someone to kill his wife and make it look like an
September 29, 20--
ADJ 215: Criminology
1. What crime control strategies are effective according to rational choice theory?
According to the reading and to the simulation, the majority of crime prevention strategies are effective but in reality, very few of them are, if any really.
The simulation mentioned something about implementing more speedometers to deter drivers from illegal driving actions or speeding but with the courts having to prove that the owner of the car was actually driving at the time the camera snapped that picture and real legitimate lawyers fighting against it, it’s nearly impossible and ineffective.
A longer prison sentence is nothing but a joke to the common criminal, with jails and prisons being so “comfortable” now. Any criminal that keeps his or her head down and their nose clean can get any sentence cut in half for “good behavior.” Not to mention the entire system is too crowded as is and society knows it.
While the original crime prevention efforts of rational choice theory…to make the risks far outweigh the benefits of committing crimes, I feel this is no longer an effective view of crime in today’s world.
2. How is criminal behavior explicable according to rational choice theory?
Rational choice theory teaches that a person will look at a current situation and decide that an immediate need must be met through illegal action. For example, a normally law abiding citizen is watching his or her family go hungry. To meet the feeding need of his or her family, that person will break the law and steal. Because the benefit (not starving to death) outweighs the risk of being caught.
“A wealthy man and his pregnant wife were going through a divorce. Rather than pay alimony and child support the man hired someone to kill his wife and make it look like an