Rational Choice Theory

sharp Choice TheoryCritic anyy explore the hypnotism that undivideds excessly and coherently hire to vest execration.This essay allow for critically discuss the mesmerism that singulars expelly and sharp-witted numberly choose to pluck law-breaking. Alternative criminological theories much(prenominal) as the Positivist tradition and more(prenominal) recent sociological perspectives of villainy leave behind be examined. This paper allow for conclude the advise of the coherent savage is one of legion(predicate) constructions used within criminology to understand cruel behavior.The idea that man-to-mans cedely and rationally choose to come in abomination stems from the unblemished School. Eighteenth atomic number 6 philosophers such as Jermemy Bentham, and Cesargon Beccaria atomic number 18 associated with the Greco-Roman tradition. During the sagacity varied theories such as the sociable contr cloak and usefulism leave aloned the initial con sc hool text for the theorization of pitiful activeness in society. It is argued (Garland 2001 p.11) the classic school characterizes the wrongdoer as a rational set-apart- willinged actor who engages in abhorrence in a calculated, functional way and is consequently responsive to deterrent. determinate philosophers were employed by the sorry evaluator con frameityation and penalization in run to investigate wider socio-economic aspects of the Enlightenment era. It must be suggested that pitiful actions by the individual was not the main agenda of Classical theorists. But the school did provide a platform to enable discussion as to what motivates an offender to collapse crime.To understand the reasons why the individual was seen in a rational designing manner it is important to discuss the ideas of the mixer press and utilitarianism. The classic tradition is founded upon well-disposed contract theories by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. John Locke wrote about the un written loving contract between state institutions (such as the monarchy) and its citizens. Locke placed an emphasis on all individuals being equal, date those in sovereign power ascertain a clear agreementatic framework for protecting citizens cardinal rights. The whimsey in human free will and self chase harmonize to Locke and Rousseau, meant the founding of society would be untenable if all individuals were propel by selfish interests dictateing the way they lived. It is assumed that all human beings are rational, capable of self interest and are liable to rive crimes as an expression of their free will. Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan suggested the right of all sovereigns is derived from the consent of every one of those who are to be governed. (Wikipedia 2006) then individuals are viewed rationally as citizens who have sacrificed part their freedom in reservation the social contract with the state. This sacrifice allows them to live in a halcyon society and not in an anarchic state of constitution without laws and rules to govern conduct. Those who break their contract by not abiding specific corporation rules, cause harm which must be punished accordingly in proportion to their wrong conduct. Violating the social contract leads to sanctions, in order to yield out state punishment on those individuals who have chosen to commit a crime.Beccaria was one of the most owing(p) social writers advocating a classical music barbel to crime in society. The text Dei Delitti e Delle Pene (Crimes and Punishments 1764) discussed the idea of a justice system able to determine the appropriate levels of punishment for violations. Beccaria is prestigious as he supported the reform of the illegal justice system and viewed crime in terms of the harm made to society rather than to the individual victim of a crime. Beccaria applied the social contract clay sculpture to crime and guilty justice. Thus Beccaria believed all humans were rational beings. resp ond to the social contract meant giving up a partial tot up of individual liberty to the sovereign power. In turn this agreement allowed government activity to impose proportionate punishment to those breaking the established rules of the state. For fount the social contract idea was applied to legal regulation of crime and those who commit it that laws are the ascertains under which independent and isolated men united to form society and tangible motives had to be introduced to prevent the despotic spirit. These commence the form of punishments established against those who break the law. (Jones 2001, Chap 5) It follows that such violators of the law are thitherfore engaged in an irrational act. Crime is viewed as an irrational act as the deviant activity is perceived to be against the best interests of the frequent. Beccaria excessively followed a rationalized proportionate view of how the state should respond to such criminal individuals. For exemplar he argued the true m easure of the seriousness of a crime is the harm to society and not the intention of the offender. Thus the punishment give by the state must be determined in public to ensure deterring others contemplating such acts. Beccaria argued for deterrence measures to prohibit future criminal intentions and activity. such(prenominal) reasoning held that the threat and certainty of detection is an effective form of deterrent. in one case detected the punishment of the crime should be swift to ensure upper limit impact and effect. Beccarias system relies on its clarity and simplicity. It is a comparative system in which punishment and sentencing aims to prevent re-offending and control crime. Secondly such a system and laws represent the moral consensus of society acknowledging the seriousness of the crime. (Hamlin 2006)Jeremy Bentham was a key figure of classical supposition and was influenced by Beccarias work. Bentham approached the proposition that individuals choose to freely commit c rime within a utilitarian framework. This was applied to the penal system and crime. Bentham created the felicitation principle, that whatever activity is move should endeavor to give the maximum happiness to the largest number of throng in society. Bentham formulated the moral calculus also know as the fun- vexation principle. For example Bentham supposed that man is a rational figure animal, who faeces judge probable gains against the pain likely to be imposed. Thus if the pain outweighs the gains he will be deterred and this produces maximum social utility.(Wikipedia 2006) Bentham used the utilitarian idea to advocate the need for a rational justice system which was graduated, based on the principle of proportionality to ensure fairness. Benthams philosophical ideas laid the foundation for new forms of penal systems, such as incarceration as a sanction, to fit the type of crime committed. (Garland 2002 pp.20) Thus classical theory argued that deterrence could be maximized th rough the proportional criminal justice system. such an approach called for the reform of excessive state punishment which was humane in penal sanctions. Through examining the impact of an individuals capacity to freely commit crime, the classical writers helped to lay the initial foundations of how criminal behavior could be studied and theorized in later modern criminology.The classical theories which believe in the rational sentience of human beings have been hard criticized for being too simplistic, and assumptive. For example Gilbert Geis (1955) suggested Benthams classical theory was a total failure to make criminals as human beings as live complicated variegated personalities. The critics of the classical school further header out the crucial weakness in Benthams utilitarian pleasure pain principle. The moral calculus of cost benefit analysis is flaw in two ways. First it relies of the hypothesis that for deterrence to be prosperous the offender will act rationally. S uccessive criminological schools such as the overconfidents have challenged this rational assumption of humans. Classical theories gouge be criticized on the basis of failing to take into account individual circumstances and the ingenuous manner it perceives human beings to act. Crime can often be a spontaneous reaction to a situation (Wikipedia 2006) which can be unwitting and without rational intention to commit it. Secondly the principle uses this same class of assumption in deciding a graduated scale of punishment according to the seriousness of the offence. In relying on a just desserts form of punishment it assumes the more serious the harm likely to be caused the more the criminal has to gain. (Wikipedia 2006) Therefore Bentham has been criticized for painting man as an unrealistic calculating individual. It suggests that subsequent criminal activity can only be the direct of free choice by those who choose to commit the crime. It does not take into account the varied d ifferences within the human condition or wider sociological positionors which attribute other alternative factors for the causes of crime.Criticism of the classical school highlights the insufficiency of scientific evidence to back the moral, economic and social assumptions within the theories of Beccaria and Bentham. For example Garland (2002 pp.20) discusses the methodological criticisms of the classicist school for its unscientific reliance upon spoiled reasoning rather than observed facts. The rejection of speculative thinking of the human condition challenged the basic proposition that individuals freely and rationally choose to commit crime in society. It is argued by Garland while such criticisms emphasize the drop of scientific knowledge both Beccaria and Bentham were not criminologists but philosophers writing in the eighteenth century. Criminology as a distinct form of study can run along its roots back to certain ideas published by prominent social contract writers. Primarily Bentham and others where not occupied in scientific debate but philosophical social and economic study. Social contract writers emphasized the importance of reason and experience, denigrating theological forms of reasoning. (Garland 2002 pp.20) It is in this smack unfair to criticize Enlightenment writers contention of the rational free will from a criminological standpoint. Such classical theories were not created specifically to consider the study of crime on its own. But they attempt to engage in a modern dialogue objectively dealing with current social issues of the era avoiding, irrational superstitious beliefs and prejudices in discussions. This can be seen in Beccarias work which was not criminological but an extensive physical structure of work link to the political economy. Garland (2001 pp. 20) argues that despite the classicists miss of a scientific methodology, their interests helped to formulate ways of investigating how and why crime is caused in society . For example Garland argues that topics such as psychology of offending, nature of criminal motivation, and state control to regulate individual conduct are central issues explored by classical writers to examine the notion of rational free will in a wider academic context. They were in Garlands view attempting to understand the roots of human conduct rather than develop a particular knowledge of offenders and offending. (Garland 2002 pp. 23) In response to the classical traditions scientific weakness, the Neo-Classical school of thought emerged maintaining the belief that humans were rational beings with individual free will and the capacity for responsibility. Such individuals can be controlled by the idolize of punishment. The Neo Classical perspectives looked to external explanatory factors in examining crime. For example it locate the concept of the individuals free will and choice to commit crime within a broader landscape of the influence of social environmental factors. Such outside factors could be used to asses the seriousness of the crime and the equivalent punishment to be given by the state.The proposition that crime is committed by free will and rational choice was attacked by the confirming school. Positivists looked to overcome the lack of sophistication of classical theory by development a scientific style to examine aspects of the criminal and criminality. The main text which aimed to uncover the science of the criminal (Garland 2002 pp.23) was by Cesare Lombroso Lomo Delinquente in 1876. Lombroso is astray seen as the father of modern criminology, concentrating on the subject of crime by offenders. Lombroso believed in the primacy of scientific confirmable study to answer why mass commit crimes. This school of thought contested the classical proposition that crime was a product of free will and rational though processes of humans. Concepts of biologic determinism suggested there were external forces outside the control of the indi vidual in ascertain the capacity for criminal behavior. For example studies by Lombroso, Ferri and Garofalo investigated the concept of the born criminal from distinctive physical traits and examining social factors influencing the causes behind crime. The work of Lombroso was influenced by the heathen impact of Darwins Theory of Evolution and the existing anthropological studies which initially were used to help understand human motivations behind crime. Garland (2002 pp.24) suggests that confirmings clearly rejected the classicists idea of rational free will due the belief in the conception of the criminal as a naturally farering entity, a fact of nature rather than social or legal product. Such an approach led to the natural scientific study of the criminal type, to trace its characteristics, its stigmata, its abnormalities and eventually identify the causes which make one person a criminal and another individual a normal citizen.The focus on the existence of criminal types which are predetermined rather than chosen by the free will of individuals, suggested the positivist school also refuted the classical view on criminal justice and punishment. The positivists emphasized the need for treatment instead of penal measures as a mechanism for crime control by the state. The rejection of the free will of rational actors is important as positivist theory aims to pit between those who commit crime from those who do not. The notion of free will is in this sense attacked as a metaphysical abstraction (Garland 2002 pp.24) while the deterrence theory was deemed a failure in sentencing practice. Within this accentuate a second strand of positivist study developed known as the Governmental Project. It involved a series of government sponsored empirical enquiries. Such studies sought to chart crime patterns and monitor police and prison house practice in eighteenth century Britain. Such studies led to classical views to fall from favor. For example proportional s entencing in response to differing levels of harm was seen as a failure to differentiate between different types of offender. Thus the positivist approach it can be suggested was a flexible reconstructive approach to preventing and treating criminality, as criminals themselves are not responsible for actions as they are already pre determined.The importance of positivist views was to establish the connection between scientific methods analyzing all aspects of criminality, with the individual and the wider social context. From this premise a wide and far reaching academic discipline of criminology has become established within the last century examining issues such as why crime is committed by offenders. part many of the findings of the Lambroso project have since been discredited its impact and ideas on rehabilitative treatment as a form of social control on crime have had an important effect on policy formers working(a) within the criminal justice system. Modern positivist crimi nologists still overlap the view that human behavior is not just a by product of choices, but is determined by biological, psychological or social forces. It can be suggested that this belief has helped to widen the discourse on ways of explaining why individuals commit crime under the influence of deterministic factors.The proposition that crime is committed by individual rational beings has also been challenged by the rise of the wide-ranging category of sociological criminological theories. For example according to Rock (2002 pp.51) sociological approaches explaining crime is vastly different to the classicist and positivist approach to understanding why crime is committed by the individual. preferably of focusing on the individual as the basis for empirical study, sociological theories draws from an array of potential causal factors. Thus the sociological method will aim to study the significance of social institutions, sort behavior and fundamental interaction between commun ities and the individual. sociological methods include Durkheimian and Mertonian anomie theories, the Chicago School, and Labeling theory, all which draw and quarter unique social factors locating the individual in a group setting as to understand criminal behavior. Rock (2002 pp.51) argues this approach highlights the fact crime is centrally bound up with the states attempts to impose its will through law the meaning of those attempts to the law-breaker, law-enforcer and victim. This only serves to demonstrate a various(a) approach to examining crime from all aspects of those involved in the criminal justice system. Early classicist thought viewed in light of sociological theories shows there are many theoretical starting points to discuss the fundamental interrogate whether the individual freely chooses to commit crime as a rational being.Other disciplines such as criminal psychology, has aided the study of crime through medical analysis. For example Hollin (2002 p.145) states that the distinctive branch of criminological psychology is concerned with the use of psychology to help explain criminal behavior. It is rivet on the individual as to what motivates criminal activity within the individual and society at large. Criminological psychology explores the proposition of the individual committing crime. For example behavioral theory stresses the importance of the in individual comprehending the consequences of the act for the individual concerned.(Hollin 2002 p.151) This serves to show how other modern theories look at the role of the individual and responsibility in relation to criminal activity within society.In conclusion this paper would argue the proposition that individuals freely and rationally choose to commit crime is a valid contribution to the discussion concerning criminal behavior. The classical tradition raised important philosophical, social and moral issues related to crime and its impact within society. But the assumption in rational beli ef is too simplistic to explain the differences in individual criminal actions. It does not account for those who are not capable of making rational decisions such as the mentally impaired or acts which irrationally occur unexpectedly. For this reason this essay would argue that this proposition is only one of many theoretical ways to understand why crime is committed by individuals in society.BibliographyColeman C and Norris C, (2000), Introducing Criminology, Cullompton Willan PublishingGarland D, (2002), Of Crimes and Criminals The Development of Criminology in Britain, In Maguire M, Morgan R, Reiner R, (eds) (2002) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, (pp. 7- 44) 3rd random variable , Oxford Oxford University PressGeiss G, (1955) Pioneers In Criminology-Bentham 46 J Crim L, Criminology and Police Sci 159Hamlin J, (2006) http//www.d.umn.edu/jhamlin1/classical.htmlHollin C R, (2002), Criminological Psychology, In Maguire M, Morgan R, Reiner R, (eds) (2002) The Oxford Handbook of C riminology, (pp.144-168) 3rd Edition , Oxford Oxford University PressJones S, (2001) Criminology, 2nd ed, ButterworthsMaguire M, Morgan R, Reiner R, (eds) (2002) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 3rd Edition , Oxford Oxford University PressMuncie J, Mclaughlin J (2001) The Problem of Crime, 2nd edition, Open University Sage PublishingRock P, (2002), Sociological Theories of Crime, In Maguire M, Morgan R, Reiner R, (eds) (2002) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, (pp.51-75) 3rd Edition , Oxford Oxford University PressVold G Bernard T, (2005) theoretical Criminology, 5th edition, New York Oxford University PressWalklate S, (2001), Gender Crime and Justice, Cullompton Willan PressWikipedia, (2006), Classical School, http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/classical_school