Question

Be sure your answer is complete and include any relevant diagrams and examples. 3 paragraphs minimum.

Deciding to commit a crime is a rational decision. Explain why we make this statement. What benefits and what costs do a criminal incur when committing a crime? Using this concept of rationality, what policies can be used to reduce the amount of crime?

Answer 1

Rational choice offers a micro viewpoint on why particular crimes are committed by individual offenders; people choose to commit crime because it can be lucrative, simple, enjoyable and fun. This theory's central premise is that people are rational beings whose actions can be regulated or changed by fear of punishment. Through intensifying their fear of punishment, it is assumed that criminals can be induced to desist from offending. According to this principle, penalties should be limited to what is needed to deter people from choosing a crime

Rational selection is founded on a rational belief that acts are based on a conscientious evaluation of the utility of behaving in some way. This view suggests that crime is the result of individual decision-making processes as a personal choice. It ensures that people are responsible for their choices and, ultimately, individual criminals are accountable for their crime. Therefore, the criminal rationale weighs the probability of being caught, the extent of the punishment required and the benefit to be achieved by committing the act before committing a crime. It means that if criminals think the costs are too high, the act is too dangerous, or the payoff is too low, they will choose not to participate in the act.

Crime brings significant victim, public, and national costs to society. More than 23 million criminal offenses were committed in the United States in 2007, resulting in nearly $15 billion in economic losses to offenders and $179 billion in government spending on police protection, legal and judicial operation, and corrections (U.S. Department of Justice, 2004a, 2007a, 2008). Therefore, interventions that prevent crime directly or indirectly can generate significant economic benefits by increasing the crime-related costs borne by offenders, families, and the criminal justice system. Substance abuse rehabilitation is one example of an initiative that, by minimizing drug-related crime, not only has the potential to improve individual lives through addiction recovery, but can also bring significant economic benefits to society.

Over the past couple of years, police practices have been increasingly critical of the Black Lives Matter movement and its demonstrations against racial disparities in the criminal justice system and the use of force by the police. But, of course, police can play a huge role in reducing crime, especially by implementing evidence-based approaches such as hot-spot policing.

One of today's hot new sentences in criminal justice is "community police." But honestly, no one seems to have any idea what that means. Experts and law enforcement officials will provide the practice with all kinds of definitions and strategies. Focused prevention applies to specific community problems such as drug trafficking, generally violent behaviour, gangs, and gun violence. It then focuses on the people and groups that drive most of the violence, particularly those with criminal records and those involved in gang activity.

This reform plan may include retraining police, engaging them more in the neighborhood, recruiting more officers to better carry it out, and increasing social service spending. That can be very costly— as many municipal and state budgets already make up a substantial chunk of such facilities and police departments. But these reforms can go a long way if local politicians and leaders want to reduce crime.