Rational Choice Theory and Deterrence Theory

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Rational Choice Theory and Deterrence Theory

• Rational Choice Theory
• Deterrence Theory
• Prisoners Dilemma

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Personal Choice?
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Personal choice?
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Personal choice?
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Personal choice

• In seeking an answer to the question, "Why do
  people engage in deviant and/or criminal acts?",
  many researchers have begun to focus on the
  element of personal choice
• An understanding of personal choice is commonly
  based in a conception of rationality or rational
  choice
• These conceptions are rooted in the early
  classical theorists, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy
  Bentham.

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The central points of this theory are

• (1) The human being is a rational actor
• (2) Rationality involves an end/means calculation
• (3) People (freely) choose all behaviors, both
  conforming and deviant, based on their rational
  calculations
• (4) The central element of calculation involves a
  cost benefit analysis Pleasure versus Pain,
• (5) Choice, with all other conditions equal, will
  be directed towards the maximization of
  individual pleasure

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Should I commit a robbery? (cost/benefit analysis)

• Costs
• Risk (victim might have a weapon)
• Arrest
• Public humiliation
• Incarceration
• Abusive treatment in prison
• Be away from family for uncertain time

• Benefits
• Fast cash
• Easy to do
• Masculinity Status
• Can buy drugs/alcohol
• Excitement and thrill
• Public/Media attention

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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
• 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

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The model
Steal
Money
Earn
Prison
Actor
Illegal Business
DEBT
Borrow
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Limited Rationality

• Accurate assessment of situation and anticipation
  of all possible outcomes is impossible
• Limited rationality refers to the best possible
  decision under the circumstance
• Burglar cannot calculate the value of property
  he/she expects to take away
• Most of them do not know the extent of the
  punishment

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Deterrence Theory

• Rational choice theorists recognize that the
  threat of punishment may discourage people from
  illegal behavior
• That is where deterrence theory comes from.

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Deterrence Theorys assumption

• Choice can be controlled through the perception
  and understanding of the potential pain or
  punishment that will follow an act
• The state is responsible for maintaining order
  and preserving the common good through a system
  of laws

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Deterrence Theory

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

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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

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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
• Signs like Shoplifters will be prosecuted to the
  fullest extent of the law
• Death penalty

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Specific Deterrence

• General deterrence strategies focus preventing
  individuals from engaging in crime
• Specific deterrence focuses on punishing known
  deviants in order to prevent them from ever again
  violating the specific norms they have broken

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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

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Research

• 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 committed

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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)

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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

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Prisoners 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

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Prisoners Dilemma
PRISONER B
Confess
Doesnt confess
5 years
9 years
Confess
Total -10
Total -9
Goes free
5 years
PRISONER A
Goes free
2 years
Doesnt confess
Total -9
Total -4
9 years
2 years
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Paradox of the Prisoners 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.