Rational Choice Theory and Crime Control Strategies Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering historical foundations, core concepts, prevention models, and policy implications of Rational Choice Theory and deterrence.

St. Thomas Aquinas

A Religious and Natural Law scholar (1225–1274) who argued that natural law stems from a God-given drive to do good, viewing deviance as original sin or a fall from grace.

Thomas Hobbes

Philosopher (1588–1679) who proposed Social Contract Theory, asserting that individuals surrender some self-interest to the state in exchange for protection maintained through legitimate force.

Cesare Beccaria

Classical criminologist (1738–1794) who argued that people act out of self-interest, weighing pleasure against pain, and proposed controlling crime through swift, certain, and severe punishment.

Marginal Deterrence

The principle introduced by Cesare Beccaria stating that penalties must be proportional to the crime so offenders do not choose a more extreme offense when penalties are equal.

Jeremy Bentham

Utilitarian philosopher (1748–1832) who outlined four goals of punishment: prevent all crime, convince offenders to commit less severe crimes, use minimum necessary force, and minimize crime control costs.

Utilitarianism

The philosophy popularized by Jeremy Bentham holding that actions are moral if they maximize overall happiness and minimize pain.

Positivist Criminology

A 19th-century criminological perspective that replaced classical ideas by framing crime as a product of internal (biological or psychological) or external (social or economic) factors outside individual control.

Gary Becker

Economist who in the 1960s applied economic analysis to crime, proposing that offenders engage in a rational cost-benefit calculation before acting.

Robert Martinson

Author of the 1974 publication 'What Works?', which concluded that criminal rehabilitation programs had failed to significantly reduce recidivism.

James Q. Wilson

Author of 'Thinking About Crime' (1975) who argued crime stems from opportunity and lack of inhibition, championing incapacitation and deterrence to shape 1980s 'get tough' policies.

Human Agency

The capacity of individuals to make conscious, deliberate choices independent of external social or environmental pressures.

Offense-Specific Crime

A perspective on crime focusing on situational characteristics of the event or location, such as target value, ease of exit, or presence of alarms and dogs.

Offender-Specific Crime

A perspective focusing on personal traits and capabilities of the individual offender, such as skills, physical condition, personal values, or immediate need for cash.

Behavioral Scripts

Learned sequences of actions that guide an offense to minimize risk and avoid detection.

Situational Crime Prevention

A crime control strategy focused on altering specific settings and environmental contexts to reduce immediate opportunities for criminal acts.

Defensible Space

An environmental design concept developed by Oscar Newman proposing that physical environment features can reduce opportunities for crime.

CRAVED Model

A target selection model developed by Ronald Clarke explaining theft attractiveness: Concealable, Removable, Available, Valuable, Enjoyable, and Disposable.

Crime Discouragers

Actors and devices that increase the perceived risk for offenders, categorized into Guardians, Handlers, Managers, and Mechanical Devices.

EVIL DONE Model

A target vulnerability assessment model developed by Clarke and Newman for terrorism: Exposed, Vital, Iconic, Legitimate, Destructible, Occupied, Near, and Easy.

Diffusion

A hidden benefit of situational crime prevention where prevention efforts in one setting inadvertently reduce crime in another setting.

Discouragement

A hidden benefit where target controls implemented in one area cause crime rates to drop in surrounding locations.

Displacement

An unintended cost of situational crime prevention where crime prevention efforts in one area simply push crime to less guarded locations.

Extinction

A limitation of situational crime prevention where initial short-term drops in crime fade over time as offenders adapt to new controls.

Replacement

An unintended cost of situational crime prevention where offenders switch to alternative crime types when their original target is guarded.

General Deterrence

A strategy premised on the belief that fear of punishment keeps the broader population from committing criminal offenses.

Specific Deterrence

A crime control strategy designed to sanction a known offender severe enough so that they will not repeat their illegal acts.

Incapacitation

A crime control policy that deprives convicted offenders of physical liberty to eliminate their opportunity to offend in public.

Celerity

The swiftness with which a criminal punishment is applied following the commission of an offense.

Restrictive Deterrence

Also known as partial deterrence, refers to situations where the threat of punishment reduces the frequency, severity, or duration of crime without eliminating it entirely.

Focused Deterrence

A policy approach (also called 'pulling levers') that directly communicates specific consequences and legal penalties to targeted high-risk groups.

Just Desert

A philosophy of justice developed by Andrew Von Hirsch asserting that punishment severity must strictly match the crime's gravity, rejecting sentencing based on predictions of future behavior.

Crackdowns

Short-term, concentrated police enforcement sweeps targeting criminal hot spots, whose deterrent effects typically dissipate post-operation.