Rational Choice Theory Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, assumptions, decision-making models, and definitions of Rational Choice Theory.

Rational Choice Theory

A criminological perspective that views crime as a normal, commonplace choice and a series of deliberate decisions made by a reasoning individual in specific situations, rather than an abnormal defect.

Reasoning Offenders

Individuals who make ordinary decisions to offend based on perceived rewards and risks, rather than being inherently evil, crazy, or pathological.

Non-symptomatic View

The perspective that crime is a direct result of individual choice rather than a symptom of poverty, bad parenting, broken homes, or medical defects.

Near Causes

Immediate situational factors, such as the physical setting, available opportunities, and immediate risks, which rational choice theory prioritizes over distant background factors.

Distant Causes

Long-term background factors, such as childhood history, that rational choice theory deprioritizes in favor of immediate situational conditions.

Hobbesian "State of Nature"

The assumption that outside of a formal legal order, human beings are naturally self-interested and competitive, requiring institutions like police and prisons to intervene in their calculations.

Standardized Perception of Punishment

The core assumption in rational choice theory that individuals generally calculate risks and evaluate potential punishments in predictable, uniform ways.

Discrete Decision World

A theoretical assumption that views social life as a series of structured, separate decision points rather than an intricate web of competing social values.

Bounded (or Limited) Rationality

The concept that offenders' decisions are not mathematically exact or fully informed, but are constrained by limited information, situational stress, and immediate conditions.

Involvement Decisions

One of two decision types identified by Cornish and Clarke, referring to choices about whether to begin crime (initiation), remain involved (habituation), or quit (desistance).

Event Decisions

One of two decision types identified by Cornish and Clarke, referring to choices made during a specific crime, such as target selection, commission, escape, and handling aftermath.

Agency

A person's capacity to exercise power, control, and authority over themselves and their own actions.

Autonomous Free Agents

Individuals conceptualized as fully independent decision-makers who possess the room to evaluate options, calculate costs and rewards, and control their own destiny.

Hobbesian Paradox

The condition where the social contract provides individuals with personal freedom and agency, while society simultaneously expects them to use that freedom to be rule-abiding "good subjects."

Implication (of a Theory)

What we would logically expect to happen or what concrete actions we should take if a given theoretical model is correct.