Question

Which criminological theory best answers the question of why people commit crime and provides a solution for how the current criminal justice system could respond to these individuals?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily.

(Answer) According to statistics, “A 1% increase in the unemployment rate will increase the violent crime rate by 14.3 per 100,000 inhabitants. A 1% increase in the poverty rate will increase the violent crime rate by 23.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, and is statistically significant at the 1% level.”

This means that the individuals indulging in crime have basic self-interests at heart. These criminals need the money for food and basic amenities. Aptly, the criminological theory to be applied here is the “Rational Choice Theory.”

According to the rational choice theory, a criminal comes to a decision of committing a crime by arriving at the conclusion by weighing the rewards against the possible punishment. After weighing the rewards, they will decide to commit the crime as the needs outweigh the punishment.

The criminal justice system needs to consider the rate of unemployment and reduce harsh punitive measures. This clearly proves that if the individual were self-sufficient, they wouldn’t commit the crime in the first place.