Cornish & Clarke\'s Rational Choice Theory PDF

Preview

Summary

Lecture notes from Michelle Manasse. All from her power points....

Description

Theories of Crime October 4th, 2018

Rational Choice Theories Cornish & Clarke’s Rational Choice Theory 1. Remember: what characterizes rational choice theory?  These theories state the offenders have free will, and they choose to violate the law.  They offend when they weigh the costs and benefits of crime and decide that the potential benefits outweigh the potential costs. 2. Cornish & Clarke’s Rational Choice Theory:  Cornish & Clarke (1986) put forth a more complex theory, outlining the process by which people weigh the costs and benefits of crime.  They focus on the specific factors that influence the decision to commit a criminal offense (e.g., what types of costs/benefits matter & what factors affect perception of those costs/benefits).  They suggest that rational choice models of offending must have a “crimespecific” focus. - This means that there will be a different decision-making process for different types of crime.  According to Cornish and Clarke, there are several stages in the decision-making process of offending: - First, individuals must decide whether they are willing to offend to satisfy their needs. o This is called the ‘initial involvement phase’. o After all, individuals can choose all sorts of ways to fulfill their needs… so, they do a cost-benefit analysis. o They acknowledge that people may not know ALL costs & benefits or carefully plan their offending. o Most importantly: different people perceive different costs and benefits to crime....