The Rational Offender

1
The Rational Offender

• The Classical School
• Deterrence Theory
• Rational Choice Theory
• Routine Activities Theory

2
Social Context of the Classical School

• Prior to the 1700s
• The devil made me do it
• Punishments/justice system?

3
Social Context II

• Classical School Criminology (1700s-1800s)
• Bentham, Beccaria, others rail against an
  inhumane justice system
• Along the way, they articule a general theory
  of human behavior
• Borrow heavily from Thomas Hobbes

4
Becarria

• An Essay on Crimes and Punishment (1764)
• On the origin of punishment (Hobbes)
• What is the nature of human beings?
• War of all against all
• What should be done to the system of laws?
• Interpretation of Laws
• Obscurity of Laws

5
Beccaria II

• What is the purpose of punishment?
• Prevent the criminal from doing further injury
  to society, and to prevent others from committing
  the like offense.
• Necessary conditions for this?
• Proportion between crimes and punishment
• Advantage of immediate punishment
• Certainty more important than severity

6
The Classical School Fades

• By the early 1900s, most dismissed this as a
  valid theory of criminal behavior
• What emerged is called the Positive school
• Changes in legal system didnt lower crime rates
• Armchair theorizing questioned
• Humans as determined rather than rational
• From early 1900s until the 1970s, the positive
  school was unchallenged
• Sociology was dominant force (search for root
  cause)

7
Rebirth of Deterrence

• Social Context of U.S. in the 1970s
• James Q Wilson, Thinking About Crime
• There are no root causes of crime
• Martinson
• Nothing Works in rehabilitation
• Murray
• Punishment Programs rather than rehab programs
• Economists enter Criminology
• Beckers Rational Choice article

8
Current Neo-classical Theories

• Deterrence theory
• Swift, certain, severe punishment reduces crime
• Focus on formal punishment
• Rational Choice theory
• Focus on how rational offender is
• The flip-side of deterrence
• Routine activity theory

9
Deterrence Theory Assumptions

• 1. Humans are Rational (cost/benefit)
• 2. Humans are self-interested and hedonistic
• 3. Human behavior can be controlled through
  certain, swift, severe punishment

10
Deterrence Theory

• Criminal behavior (or crime rates) vary directly
  with _______ of FORMAL punishment.
• Certainty
• Severity
• Swiftness
• MICRO or MACRO?
• Specific or General

11
Marginal versus Absolute

• Absolute deterrence the existence of formal
  punishment reduces crime
• Marginal increases in existing formal
  punishment reduces crime further

12
General Deterrence (Macro)

• What should reduce crime rates?
• Evidence
• Severity of Punishment
• Death Penalty Research
• Certainty of Punishment
• Experiments in Certainty (KC patrol)
• Swiftness of Punishment?

13
General Deterrence Micro Level

• An individuals perceptions of _______ influence
  their decision to commit crimes.
• Perceptual Deterrence
• Criticism of objective do people really know
  the clearance rate?
• Better what do you think the clearance rate is?

14
Perceptual Deterrence Research

• Initial cross sectional studies
• Perceived risk, severity SR crime
• But, what is the causal order??
• Experiential effect
• SR crime perceptions or certainty/risk
• Manipulation of Perceived Risk
• Scared Straight

15
Specific Deterrence

• A person who commits a crime and is punished is
  less likely to commit additional crimes.
• Swift, Certain, Severe (Marginal)
• How test these propositions?

16
Testing Specific Deterrence

• Prison vs. Probation?
• Perhaps, time in prison or type of prison
• More realistically
• Probation vs. Intensive Probation
• Probation vs. Boot Camp

17
Deterrence Review

• Deals only with formal legal sanctions.
• Is this fair?
• Classical school roots, policy implications
• Empirical Support?
• General Deterrence
• Macro
• Micro (Perceptual)
• Specific Deterrence

18
Why little support for deterrence?

• We cant get certain, severe, swift enough
• The theory is based on bad assumptions
• How rational are we?
• Equality of opportunity, pleasure, pain?
• Marginal deterrence

19
POLICY IMPLICATIONS

• General Deterrence certain, swift, and severe
  punishment reduces crime rates, or the
  probability that an individual will offend
• Specific Deterrence CSS punishment reduces
  recidivism
• Cant/Wont make sentences swift, certain, and
  severe enough?
• Incapacitate