Bentham and Beccaria.
- humans are rational
- criminals make choices
cornish and clarke have furthered rational choice
Burglat thinks. Which houses have goodies? Are neighbours around? Which houses can be accessed?
rational choice is the notion that a criminal considers pros and cons before committing crime
is all crime pre meditated? This is a fallacy.
macro perspective on crime. rewarding, easy , satisfying and ludic
there are contributing factors to crime – baackground, psychology, demographics, situational, peer pressure, alcohol, drug infuence
weigh cost and benefits quickly
chances of getting caught, punishment, gain and immediacy of the gain
criminal uses past experiences.
choice theory relies on the assumption that crims have other needs
hierarchy of needs. shelter is higher than love
food is more important than a phone
past experiences
choice only has to be rational to the criminal but not to others.
society can use target hardening to make it more difficult to commit a crime. bank vaults.
rational choice describes. it does not explain how crims process info or if choice is rational