Cesare Beccaria's Rational Choice Theory

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As the Rational Choice Theory was developed in the eighteenth century as an Italian man by the name of Cesare Beccaria created rational classical criminology. As a philosopher, he assessed the social thoughts of people and came to the conclusion that they were ultimately “egotistical and self centered” and that the main determining factor to avoid crime results from a fear of punishment (Siegal, 103.) The Rational Choice Theory is based on the assumption that decisions with criminal intent are not usually spontaneous or random but are well thought out and predetermined as rational decisions. The Rational Choice Theory consists of the idea that it requires a planned process with careful attention to detail that produces produces …show more content…
In relation to the Rational Choice Theory, the biggest factors that determine which automobiles are targeted consist of the actual target and the environment in which the target is. This particular crime requires the ability to work quickly in a specific amount of time while remaining undetected while the theft is being committed. Similarly, the criminal studies the routine and habits of the target, determining when the victim is vulnerable or absent. As a result, criminals of auto theft typically avoid situations in which they might come into contact with the victim and also avoid areas with heavy surveillance as this increases their risk of being detected and caught (Siegal, …show more content…
In actuality, the interrelated nature of crime rates and measures to avoid those crimes is not definitive as an effort to increase the fear of punishment in potential offenders. In reality, there is not a wide array of evidence to prove the coherence of these two factors working together reduces the possibility of crime in relation to the Rational Choice Theory. Frequently, an increased severity of punishment may actually increase continuous offending rates as this opens up more opportunity as a challenge for experienced offenders seeking to build their reputations as criminals. Furthermore, why this may actually create more crime than reduce it pertains to the rationality of the criminal who may suffer from impaired judgement, the compulsive behavior of the criminal reduces the likelyhood that they’ll refrain from committing future offenses. Also, the lack of options for success among those in the lower class contributes to this concept as well as the greed of the offender in their unbalanced perception to perceive fear of punishment due to the attractiveness of obtaining some sort of criminal gain. (Siegal,

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