Deterrence and Rational Choice Theories

Medieval Criminal Justice• Trial by ordeal

– Forced confessions

• Severe public punishment– Burning (hell on earth)– Mutilation (body subordinate to soul)– “Ritual of a thousand deaths”

A Reform Movement

• The Enlightenment– Faith in rationality, social contract theory

• Depart from “supernatural” theory– The Classical School of criminology is born

• Assumptions about human nature– Rational, autonomous, hedonistic, calculating

A Theory of Deterrence

• On Crimes and Punishment, Beccaria (1764)– Punishment protects the social contract– Punishment should fit the crime, no more

• Underlying theory– Prevention through deterrence is the primary

justification for punishment

• Condemned by the Catholic Church

Principles of Deterrence

• To deter, punishment should be:– Certain

• To increase fear of consequences

– Swift• To make association with punishment

– Severe enough to outweigh the pleasure of crime • Any more is “tyrannical,” inefficient

Elaborations of Deterrence

• Specific v. general

• Punishment v. non-punishment

• Absolute v. restrictive

• Formal v. informal sanctions

Specific v. General Deterrence

Punishment/Non-Punishment Stafford and Warr (1993)

• Personal experience with punishment

• Personal experience avoiding punishment

• Vicarious experience with punishment

• Vicarious experience avoiding punishment

• Determines the deterrent effect

Absolute v. Restrictive Deterrence

• Absolute deterrence– Abstention

• Restrictive deterrence– Less frequent– Less severe– Displacement

Empirical Research

• There is moderate support for certainty, little to none for severity

• Why does certainty seem to work better than severity? What does this tell us about how offenders think?

Formal v. Informal Sanctions

• Informal = unofficial punishment– Disapproval from significant others– Feelings of remorse, guilt, shame– Expands the range of negative consequence

• Informal sanctions enhance formal sanctions– But not for everyone, why?

In and Out and Back In Favor

• Deterrence theory fell out of favor in the 1800s, replaced by positivism

• Deterrence reemerged in the late 1960s as a rationale for punishment– Coincided with a renewed emphasis on

offender deterrence and retribution within the criminal justice system

Practical Limits of Deterrence• Penalties often learned after arrest

• Underestimate risk of being caught

• Clearance rates are generally low

• Crime displacement may occur

• Rational abilities may be impaired

– Drugs, alcohol, passion, mental disorder

• Some people have little to lose

From Deterrenceto Rational Choice

• Deterrence theory focuses on the effect of punishment on criminal choices

• Rational choice theory focuses on the effect of opportunity on criminal choices

Rational Choice Theory• Crime benefits the offender

– Crime brings pleasure

• People’s rationality is bounded– We gather, store, & use information imperfectly– We tend to focus on immediate gains, not long-

term costs• Offenders focus on situational opportunities

– Criminals are opportunistic

Rational Motivationsfor Crime

• To obtain something• To obtain pleasure• To obtain sex• To obtain peer approval• To prove toughness• To escape negative or unwanted situations• To assert dominance or get one’s way in a dispute• To settle a grievance, revenge

Rational Choices?

• A man beats his wife during an argument

• A father rapes his stepdaughter

• A man drives home drunk from a bar

Crimes that are not rational?

Cheating on Exams

• How would we control cheating using a rational choice perspective?

– Assumptions about cheating

– Interventions to prevent cheating

Assessment of Choice Theory• Opportunity rather than punishment

– Offenders tend to ignore long-term costs

• Situational factors rather than enduring motivational factors– Assume the presence of criminal motivation– Focus on offenders’ assessments of their

immediate situations

Implications for Policy• Situational crime prevention

– Reduce crime by blocking opportunities

• Consistent with the CJ emphasis on responsibility and punishment– All crime is based at least in part on a choice

• Attempt to make criminal choices less attractive by reducing opportunities

Is there a place for morality in rational choice theory?