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CRIM2:
Theories of Crime Causation
Week 3
Rational Choice Perspectives
● Rational Choice of Classical Theory
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“
Classical, Neoclassical, and Rational Choice
Theories
• The Preclassical Era
• The Classical Reaction
• Neoclassical Revisions
• Criminal Justice Implications:
• -The Move to “Justice” Theory
• -Redefining Rational Choice: Situational
• -Summary Chart 3
The Preclassical Era “Italian Renaissance”
• By the sixteenth century, several European • Although the political and religious order of
societies had undergone a considerable life in pre-seventeenth-century Europe
transformation since the feudal era. Political sounds fundamentally different from today’s
power was consolidated in states whose U.S. society, some similarities emerged. If still
monarchical rulers aspired to complete domination.
a class-based society, post-Renaissance
Europe had broken from the rigid feudal
• Many rulers claimed to have unique relations with
order of the “ancient regime,” in which a
the Deity, and they conducted their affairs with
person’s birth determined his or her place in
limited interference from representatives of the
people (L. Smith 1967). life. By 1650, many governments adopted the
new mercantile system of trade, especially
• People were born into positions of wealth and colonial trade monopolies, which paved the
power, which they claimed as their natural right. way for upward (and downward) mobility.
The law was the will of the force applied to the
lower members of society. The administration of
justice was based on inflicting pain, humiliation, and
disgrace on those accused of offenses. This
occurred despite growth in scientific.
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• The Renaissance was a fervent period of
European cultural, artistic, political, and
economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages.
Generally described as taking place from the 14th
century to the 17th century, the Renaissance
promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy,
literature, and art.
• The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap
between the Middle Ages and modern-day
civilization.
• By the early 17th century, the Renaissance
movement had died out, giving way to the Age of
Enlightenment.
The Classical Reaction “Age of Enlightenment”
• The original concepts and ideals presented by the • Thus, anyone working in the criminal justice
social philosophers Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy system needs to understand the origin of these
Bentham included such now-familiar principles as principles and why they were deemed necessary.
innocent until proven guilty, equality before the
law, due process procedure, rules of evidence and
testimony, curbs on judges’ discretionary power,
the right to be judged by a jury of one’s peers,
individual deterrence, and equal punishment for
equal crimes.
• These ideas were incorporated into the U.S.
Declaration of Independence and the U.S.
Constitution.
• They laid the basis of the modern U.S. legal system,
shaping the practices of law enforcement and the
operation of the courts.
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The Classical Reaction
• Classical theory was prevalent before “modern” • By the seventeenth century, a significant change
criminology’s search for the causes of crime, which was taking place. Utilitarians philosophers
did not begin until the nineteenth century. recognized the gross injustices of the legal and
political system and saw much of the problem as
• The classical theory did not seek to explain why resulting from the enormity of church and state
people commit crimes; instead, it was a strategy power. Their solution was legal and judicial
for administering justice according to rational reform, consistent with ideas about human rights
principles (D. Garland 1985). and individual freedom.
• It was based on assumptions about how people • They sought philosophical justification for reform in
living in seventeenth-century Europe, during the the changing conception of humans as
Enlightenment, began to reject the traditional idea freethinking individuals.
that people were born into social types (e.g., landed
nobility and serfs) with vastly different rights and • People were reinvented as rational and reasoning
privileges. beings whose previously scorned individuality was
now declared superior.
• Classical thinkers replaced this bedrock of the
feudal caste system with the then-radical notion
that people are individuals having equal rights. 7
The Classical Reaction
• The combination of a rising propertied middle
class and a rising crime rate led the
philosophical leaders of the classical movement
to demand double security for their newfound
wealth. They needed protection against the
threat from below, the “dangerous” classes,
symbolized by the growing crime rates.
• The growth in street crime was not slowed by
the pervasive corruption in the criminal justice
system. Officials whose job was to control
common crime encouraged it by accepting
bribes. The absence of adequate, organized law
enforcement after informal social and kinship
network ties had been broken was another
factor facilitating the growing crime problem.
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Concern for the poor soon became mixed with
fear of a threat to public order.
“Respectable” citizens (especially the “Respectable poor” included those suffering
new merchant classes) from sickness, and contagious diseases,
wounded soldiers, curable cripples, the
wanted “to protect themselves from the blind, fatherless and pauper children, and the
unscrupulous activities of this vast army of aged poor.
wandering parasites” (Salgado 1972, 10) They were seen as the responsibility
and demanded that something be done to of the more fortunate. They would be
make the city streets safe for business. segregated by their class and condition and
given immediate assistance, including
shelter, treatment, adequate maintenance,
and, in the case of the children, Education,
and training, in various houses and hospitals
around the country. 9
Famous Personalities:
CESARE BECCARIA
Perhaps the most influential protest
in 1764, at the age of twenty-six, Beccaria
writer and philosopher of the period was the published a small book on penology translated
Italian marquis Cesare Bonesana, Marchese di into English as “On Crimes and Punishment.”
Beccaria (1738–1794), or as he is more popularly
known, Cesare Beccaria. Beccaria challenged the prevailing idea that
humans are predestined to fill certain social
Beccaria’s ideas were molded by his statuses. Instead, he claimed, they are born as
free, equal, and rational individuals with natural
friends, the Milanese political activist brothers
rights, including the right to own property
Pietro and Alessandro Verri. These intellectuals privately and realistic qualities, such as the
formed a radical group called the “Academy of freedom to reason and the ability to choose
Fists,” which was “dedicated to waging a actions that are in their own best interests.
relentless war against economic disorder,
bureaucratic petty tyranny, religious narrow-
mindedness, and intellectual pedantry.”
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Famous Personalities:
CESARE BECCARIA
Beccaria also shifted the focus of what When it came to the issue of crime prevention,
counted as a crime. Rather than crimes being Beccaria did not believe that the best way to
offenses against the powerful, he saw them as reduce crime was to increase laws or increase the
severity of punishment since doing so would
offenses against fellow humans and thus
merely create new crimes and “[embolden] men to
against society itself. He believed crimes
commit the very wrongs it is supposed to prevent”
offended community because they broke the ([1764] 1963, 43).
social contract, resulting in encroachment on
others’ freedom. Instead, he argued, laws and punishments should
be only as restrictive as necessary just to deter
those who would break them by calculating that
it would not be in their interests to do so.
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Famous Personalities:
JEREMY BENTHAM
An influential social philosopher and a For individuals to be able to calculate rationally,
supporter of Beccaria’s ideas was the Englishman he believed, laws should ban harmful behavior,
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832). Bentham expanded provided a victim is involved. Crimes without
on Beccaria’s initial contribution by offering the victims, consensual crimes, and acts of self-
notion of the “hedonistic, or felicity, calculus” as defense should not be subject to criminal law
an explanation for people’s actions. because they produce more good than evil.
Bentham argued that punishments should be
This calculus states that people act to
scaled so that an offender rationally calculating
increase positive results through their pursuit of whether to commit a crime would choose the
pleasure and to reduce adverse outcomes lesser offense.
through the avoidance of pain. Bentham’s
conception of pain and pleasure was complex,
involving not just physical sensations but also
political, moral, and religious dimensions, each of
which varied in intensity, duration, certainty, and
proximity. 12
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Famous Personalities:
JEREMY BENTHAM
Beccaria’s British contemporary, Jeremy
Bentham (1748–1832), borrowed from Beccaria the
the notion that laws should provide “the greatest
happiness shared by the greatest number.”
Bentham has been called an advocate of
“utilitarian hedonism,” “felicific calculus,” or “penal
pharmacy.”
Utilitarianism is a practical philosophical view that
claims “we should always act to produce the
greatest possible ratio of good to evil for all
concerned”
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Neoclassical Revisions
by the 1970s, a familiar call was being heard The neoclassical theory admits environmental,
from those challenging the power and growing psychological, and other mitigating
discretion of the state in matters of justice. circumstances as modifying conditions to classic
These post-classicists were calling for a return doctrine.
to equality standards, protesting that discretion
based on the dubious claims of science and Neoclassicists argue that less theory
social science had gone too far. Two and more action are needed but at times ignore
developments in this regard were particularly that the fundamental theoretical underpinnings of
important. their theories are rooted in assumptions of 18th-
century hedonism, utilitarianism, and free will. On
The first is justice theory and related balance, however, they make a crucial point: one
developments toward a conservative “law-and- need not have a basic explanation of the cause to
order” approach to crime control. meet pressing policy needs that cannot wait for a
final explanation.
The second is rational choice theory
and its extension, routine activities theory.
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The Move to “Justice” Theory
In response to modern societal problems, a move back toward policies based on
classical principles developed. From the ashes of rehabilitation, skepticism rose the justice, or “just
deserts” model (Fogel 1975). This model reflected many of the original principles presented by
Beccaria and Bentham.
The justice model contained four key elements:
(1) limited discretion at all procedural stages of the criminal justice system,
(2) greater openness and accountability,
(3) punishment justified by the last crime or series of crimes (neither deterrence goals nor offender
characteristics justify punishment), and
(4) punishment commensurate with the seriousness of the crime, based on actual harm done and
the offender’s culpability.
The move back to justice gave priority to discipline “as a desirable value and goal in its
own right”; this was different from the traditional justification of penal goals, such as deterrence or
rehabilitation (Bottomley 1979, 139).
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(1) The Conservative Law-and-Order Turn
Combined with a conservative or “law- • “boot camp” for juvenile offenders,
and-order approach” to crime control, the • “incapacitation” (the idea of removing an
prevailing just deserts model holds that crime is offender’s ability to commit further
offenses),
freely chosen and rewarding, and, therefore, it
• mandatory sentencing (which fixes the
demands both deterrent and retributive minimum sentence for various crimes),
responses. This is not only because the harm • truth in sentencing (requiring judges to
was done but also because the offender knew state the actual sentence that will be
the consequences before committing the crime. served),
• three-strikes-and-you’re-out laws
(requiring three-time felons to help long
We look at four of these elements: determinate
sentences, typically life without the
sentencing, incapacitation, three-strikes laws, possibility of parole),
and the death penalty. • and the death penalty as a general
deterrent
The conservative distortion of neo-classical
thought provides a formidable and popular
election platform. 16
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(2) Redefining Rational Choice
The political and philosophical backlash against Clarke and his colleague Derek Cornish
the rehabilitation models of the 1960s created a developed a more sophisticated understanding
second development that had less to do with of how people make rational choices about
the administration of justice and more to do with whether to act— and whether to commit
crimes.
how offenders decided to commit crimes. This
was a new and refined interest in classical They spawned a whole new direction
economic ideas of rational choice. A principal in postclassical contemporary criminological
advocate of this renewed idea was Ronald research that looked at the situational factors
Clarke. that influence offenders to choose to commit
crimes.
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(2) Redefining Routine Activities Theory
In the United States, Marcus Felson • Rational choice theories explain how some
and Lawrence Cohen (Cohen and Felson 1979; people consciously and rationally choose
Felson 1986) were working on similar ideas, to commit criminal acts.
although they were looking at how the regular
• These are based on situational
daily patterns of citizens’ behavior create or
circumstances, including their mood (Nee
inhibit the opportunities for offenders to commit and Taylor 1988).
crimes.
• According to rational choice theorists, then,
potential offenders consider the net
benefits gained from committing crimes.
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(2) Redefining Rational Choice
• Cornish and Clarke’s (1986) rational choice • Offender characteristics are seen as
theory proposes that offenders weigh the combining with offense types in shaping
opportunities, costs, and benefits of offender choices.
particular crimes. • Rational choice theorists admit that such
• The argument by rational choice theorists behavior is only partly rational but that
is not that individuals are purely rational in most offenders know quite well what they
their decision-making but rather that they are doing.
do consider the costs and benefits. • The criminal justice system must make
• Several factors may constrain choices, crime less rewarding by increasing the
such as social factors, individual traits, and certainty and severity of punishment.
attitudes toward crime. • Crime is viewed as a matter of situational
• Rational choice theorists also argue for a choice, a combination of costs, benefits,
crime-specific approach to crime; that is, and opportunities associated with a
the circumstances involved in the typical particular crime.
burglary may differ from robbery or
domestic assault.
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Summary & Conclusion
Classical theory has been credited with Contemporary versions of classical ideas
enhancing democracy and with reforming harsh, have reintroduced several of these ideas.
arbitrary, and brutal techniques of crime control, Mandatory sentences and limited discretion are
including the elimination of torture (Einstadter logical extensions of the tradition. These
and Henry 2006). But its limits were soon determinate sentencing policies deny
recognized. It is overly idealistic. consideration of individual circumstances and any
need for rehabilitative corrections, however.
Policy implications based on rational choice Advocates also do not apply the same principles
premises have positive and negative effects on to offenders convicted of more than one offense.
an individual’s or a group’s calculation. Selecting some aspects of the classical model
(deterrence and certainty) while ignoring others
Initially, classicists assumed that if the (proportionality) can lead to law-and-order
punishment were sure, swift, and sufficiently distortions of the classical position that produce
severe, the potential offender would be less outrageous injustices (life in prison without parole
likely to commit the crime. for small-scale property offenses).
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Summary & Conclusion
Rational choice and routine activities theorists A further criticism of classical justice is that
focus on the design, security, and surveillance setting punishments equally, or even
measures potential victims may take to frustrate proportionately, takes no account of differences
likely offenders. The goal is to increase the in offenders’ motivation, their ability to reason, or
difficulty, risk of apprehension, and time in their perception of the meaning and
involved in committing a crime. importance of punishment.
These same theorists, however, rarely
consider applying such environmental incentives
to crimes of the powerful. Should they do so?
One ramification of adopting such practices is
that potential criminals may seek other less
vulnerable targets.
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Summary Chart: Classical, Neo-classical, & Rational
Choice Theories
Basic Idea: • Essentially an economic theory of crime is captured in the idea that people are
free to choose crime as one of a range of behavioral options.
Human Nature: • Assumes that humans are freethinking, rational decision makers who choose
their self-interests by weighing pleasure against pain and choosing the former.
• Their choice is goal-directed and aimed at maximizing their sense of well-being
or utility.
• Utility depends on wealth, and life is evaluated primarily in monetary terms and
can include the value and use of time.
• Rational choice and routine activities theorists acknowledge a limited or
conditional rationality
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Summary Chart: Classical, Neo-classical, & Rational
Choice Theories
Criminals: • Rational, hedonistic, free actors are no different from non criminals except that
they broke the law;
• Lawbreakers choose to limit others’ freedom as defined by law.
Social Order • A consensus around a highly stratified hierarchy based on a social contract
and Law: assumed between free individuals who choose to sacrifice a part of their
freedom to the state so that they may enjoy the rest in security.
• Some economists, however, see order as a conflict over interests.
• The law preserves individuals’ freedom to choose.
• Crime is defined by the legal code such that there is no crime without a law.
• There is a preference for statutory law
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Summary Chart: Classical, Neo-classical, & Rational
Choice Theories
Causal Logic: • Free choice, lack of fear of punishment, an ineffective criminal justice system,
available unguarded targets, and opportunistic situations.
• Crime is the outcome of rational calculation.
Criminal • The social function of policy is to administer justice fairly, based on equal
Justice Policy: treatment before the law, so that individuals will accept responsibility for their
offending and choose not to offend.
• Increased efficiency of criminal justice is desired, especially enforcement,
making it visible, certain, and swift.
• Later policy also includes reducing the opportunities for crime to occur.
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Assessment in Week 3: Classical, Neo-classical, & Rational
Choice Theories
1. In your own words, make a summary of the Week 3 discussion using the table
below:
Classical Theory Neo-Classical Theory Rational Choice Theory
Basic Concept
(Summary):
Main Advocates
(Personalities):
Strength:
Weaknesses:
Modern Justice
Implications/
Contributions: 25
Assessment in Week 3: Classical, Neo-classical, & Rational
Choice Theories
2. In relation to Week 3 topic, look for the definition of the following words:
Important Definition:
Terminologies:
1. Just Desert
2. Retribution
3. Deterrence
4. Rehabilitation
5. Incapacitation
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