Rational Choice Theory Of The Russian Mafia

Register to read the introduction… Rational theorists argue that society is a highly stratified hierarchy where in society; people are divided with wealth, power and status. There is also the idea and notion of a social contract, which can be viewed as a new way of looking at the relationship between people and the state. The term social contract coined by Hobbe's believes that people would voluntarily enter into a social contract with the state. The way social contract works is that citizens of a state would have to compromise their liberty and freedom in exchange for protection and security for the citizens. The Russian Mafia performs a function and role in society. Present day Russia is an environment, which leaves owners no choice, but to resort to private protection because they have fears over fraud and losing their property. They would develop in societies without effective public order, or in societies in which citizens regard the authorities as hostile. Essentially, at its core, they would function as a parallel machine of law and organized power in societies in which the official government is not effective. During the period in which capitalism started to take place, middle class business owners turned to the Russian Mafia for private …show more content…
Rational choice theorists believe that there are five factors to consider when explaining causes of a crime: 1) Free choice 2) Lack of fear of punishment 3) Ineffective criminal justice system 4) Available unguarded targets 5) Opportunistic situations. The people of Russia led their lives according to their own laws because the state wasn't providing the people with what they wanted, so they had the freedom of choice whether they wanted to become a member of the Russian Mafia or use them as protection. The Russian government did not act accordingly in dealing with transgressors; this is illustrated by the fact crime rate increased at an alarming rate. The criminal justice system operates inefficiently and is vulnerable to being a victim of corruption at all levels. The government failed to enact and enforce clear property rights legislation. Consequently, the Russian Mafia supplants the government for protection and security. The fact that those property and business owners must resort to protection from the Russian Mafia demonstrates that they were perfect candidates for being an available unguarded target. Unfortunately, because the rise of property owners was not matched by clear rights legislation,