Rational Choice-Policy

Elements of Rational Choice Theory

• Offender’s Rational Calculation

  • Maximizing Benefits and Minimizing Risks

  • Assumptions: People are free to make choices

  • Gang Involvement

    • Is it rational to be in a gang?

    • Depends on context

Foot Soldier Wages

• Earnings

  • Very Low Wages

  • Risking Lives for Income

  • Supplementing with Low-Wage Jobs

• Risk Evaluation

  • Value of Life considerations

  • The Tournament effect:

    • Accepting low wages initially in hopes of future pay-off

Gang Wars

• Impact on Economies

  • Shock to the Market

    • Not Economically Optimal

    • Demand Decreases

  • Impacts on Distribution

  • Price Reduction

• Rationality in Violence

  • Maintaining Market Share

  • Toughness as a measure of dispute resolution

Evaluating Rational Choice Theory

• Revisiting Assumptions

  • Human choice is constrained by context

  • Individual Characteristics

    • Immediate Needs & Opportunities

    • Risk evaluation based on personality

  • Situational Characteristics

  • Gang Structure and Drug Market Nature

Evaluating Evidence

• Ethnographies of Gang Membership

  • Generalizability concerns

  • Limited scope based on single-gang study

  • Weighing Strength of Evidence

Revising Theories (Cornish and Clarke)

• Contextual Framework

  • Account for socio-economic settings

  • Variability of Rational Calculations across crimes

    • Example: Burglaries differ in neighborhoods

• Research Methodology

  • Difficulty in capturing reasoning processes of offenders

Rational Choice Theory: Policy Implications

• Incapacitation

  • Crimes averted through physical isolation

• Specific Deterrence

  • Significant punishment can deter future crimes

• General Deterrence

  • Overall crime rates influenced by threat of punishment

How Deterrence Works

• Components

  • Raises costs of committing crimes

    • Certainty of legal sanctions

    • Severity of imposed sanctions

    • Celerity: Speed of punishment

Policies Based on Rational Choice Theory

• Cost Increase

  • Harsher prison sentences

• Target Hardening

  • Situational crime prevention measures

Findings on Drug Usage and Crime Rates

• Empirical Research

  • Drug usage remained constant despite increased punishments

• Research Design

  • Examine crime rates before and after increased punishment laws

  • Use official crime statistics to analyze effects

Second Research Design

• Theory and Questions

  • Does punishing crimes severely lower crime rates?

  • Impact of laws on drug users' cost-benefit calculations through interviews

• Findings

  • Importance of intervening factors and stigmatization over deterrence

Situational Crime Prevention Strategies

• Increase Effort

  • Add security measures (e.g., locks on windows)

• Increase Risk

  • Employ security personnel

• Reduce Potential Rewards

  • Conceal expensive items

• Remove Excuses

  • Clarify illegal behaviors

• Induce Guilt or Shame

  • Publicizing offenders' identities

Externalities of Crime Prevention

• Unintended Consequences

  • Positive: Diffusion of deterrent effects

  • Negative: Displacement of crime

Limitations of Rational Choice Theory

• Basic Assumptions

  • Need for contextual addition to be helpful

• Empirical Limitations

  • Not all crimes can be generalized or explained

  • Factors like emotion and impairment are often overlooked

Problems in Rational Choice Theory

• Case Study: Toby L. Sanders

  • Incident of consensus gone wrong between two individuals triggered by alcohol

  • Highlights flaws in rational choice assumptions in extreme situations.