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Assumptions of Rational Choice Perspective
• An individual has precise information about exactly what
will occur under any choice made.
• An individual has the cognitive ability to weigh every
choice against every other choice.
• An individual is aware of all possible choices.
Elements of deterrence
• Severity – how severe the punishment is.
• Certainty – how certain punishment will follow.
• Celerity – how related the punishment is to the crime.
• Swiftness – how quickly the person is punished after the
crime.
ypes of Deterrence
• General deterrence
• Specific deterrence (incapacitation).Strengths
• Economics Professor Gary Becker describes it as, “a
unified framework for understanding all human behavior.”
• A way to understand what motivates any and all human behavior
• Parsimonious
• Reduces very complicated human behaviors and decisions to a
fairly simplistic framework – people commit crime because the
benefits of doing so outweigh the costs.
• Has potentially strong predictive capabilities
• Remember what theories should be able to do?
• Predict behavior
• In capturing human behavior as a mathematical equation, it can
actually give specific predictions of when people will commit crime.
Weaknesses
• Can human behavior really be reduced to a mathematical
expression?
• Do people even have enough information to make rational
decisions?
• Do offenders even know state laws concerning sentencing and
criminal punishment?
• Are there instances where people act irrationally?
• Dentist example?
• People very loyal to their dentists even though all dentists share
about a 50% accuracy rate in detecting dental problems like
cavities.
• The role of mental illness, drugs and alcohol in criminal offending.
Charles Cooley
• The “Looking Glass” self
people define themselves according to society’s
perception of them.
Becker
• Identified the role of “moral entrepreneurs” in creating
moral panics
• Many examples of individuals in positions of power trying
to create great public concern over a “national crisis”
• Not just limited to Criminal Justice
• Tipper Gore’s and the Parents Music Resource Center.
The labeling process according to Lemert
(Societal Reaction Theory)
Typically primary deviance typically goes undetected
Even if it is detected, the response may be mild or
somewhat limited, leading to no further deviance
The more dramatic the response, though, the more likely
that secondary deviance results
However there can be no secondary deviance without
societal reaction. Two ways labels continue crime
Closes legitimate opportunities
Individuals internalize the label and adopt that role as
their own.
Labeling
• Labeling theorists critical of conceptions that crime is
behavior that violates criminal law.
• The criminal justice system is dangerous in the sense that
it is “casting the net” of social control too widely.
• They argue it’s not the harm that makes an act “criminal”,
but whether the label is conferred on the act, and this
varies from situation to situation.
• The audience, not the actor, determines when certain behavior
becomes defined as crime.
• Labeling and reacting to offenders as “criminals” makes
the crime problem worse.
Marxist/Conflict theories
According to Marxists, there are two different social
classes,
The ruling elite or the bourgeoisie who own the means of
production.
The proletariat or the working class who are viewed as
commodity for the owners.Economic Production
means of production – the raw materials and
technology required to make products.
mode of production –the economic base of society;
the foundation upon which all other aspects of society
are built e.g. capitalism or socialism.
Gender – the socially generated expectations about the attitudes and behaviors of
women and men that are typically organized around femininity and masculinity
respectively and are the product of social learning.
Patriarchy – social system where men hold most power and enjoy social, political,
economic privilege.Gender is socially constructed
Men are socialized into being violent, aggressive, controlling and assertive
This socialization in part comes from popular culture and the media
This leads to more involvement in crime and violence on the part of men
Criminology theories have almost always focused on men offenders and ignored
women offenders
Criminology does not pay enough attention to gender in the overwhelming
offending disparities between men and women
Most theories do not examine the role of femininity and masculinity in offending
Most theories do not examine the role of patriarchy in offending