Criminologists have multiple crime theories at their disposals derived from different perspectives, yet many criminal theories if not all lack the ability to thoroughly explain why criminals commit crime, nor their criminal behaviour. This is because there are plenty of factors out there that could influence an individual's behaviour. It would be impossible to develop a single theory that could properly explain criminal behaviour, not to mention the uniqueness of each individual so to combat this issue, so many criminologists integrate theories together to better explain a phenomenon such as the one that this paper will be dealing with. In the case of Joan, she successfully tricked her friends and families into giving her $350,000 during a
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Rational choice theory's history has roots dating back to the 18th century where Cesare Beccaria was adamantly advocating for legal reforms in the criminal justice system (Tibbetts & Hemmens, 2014). Beccaria believed that all humans possessed free will, meaning they could decide their actions. Therefore, when an individual commits a crime, they are aware of their illegal actions. The main ideals of the rational choice theory is also similar to those of the classical school of criminology, as in that the criminals are acting based on their judgement as opposed to environmental and biological influences, otherwise known as the positive school of criminology (Tibbetts & Hemmens, …show more content…
For example, let us assume that Jim stumbles upon an Ipad that was left behind. Action one sees Jim taking the Ipad which will give him an outcome of an Ipad, while action two sees him leaving the Ipad alone which will give him an outcome of a clear conscious. The action that will likely take place will depend on whichever outcome Jim places a higher emphasis on. Secondly, the theory is assuming that we are aware of the consequences that accompany each action, Jim may have thought that it was a trap Ipad used by police to catch Ipad thieves. Humans, according to the theory also have an innate ability to consider "several different possible courses of action" (Lovett, 2016 p.3) and each action is not mutually exclusive of each other, meaning multiple course of action can coincide at the same time (Lovett, 2016). Back to the example, since Jim is a good Samaritan, he may have not only left the Ipad, but decided to report it to the
Rational choice theory's history has roots dating back to the 18th century where Cesare Beccaria was adamantly advocating for legal reforms in the criminal justice system (Tibbetts & Hemmens, 2014). Beccaria believed that all humans possessed free will, meaning they could decide their actions. Therefore, when an individual commits a crime, they are aware of their illegal actions. The main ideals of the rational choice theory is also similar to those of the classical school of criminology, as in that the criminals are acting based on their judgement as opposed to environmental and biological influences, otherwise known as the positive school of criminology (Tibbetts & Hemmens, …show more content…
For example, let us assume that Jim stumbles upon an Ipad that was left behind. Action one sees Jim taking the Ipad which will give him an outcome of an Ipad, while action two sees him leaving the Ipad alone which will give him an outcome of a clear conscious. The action that will likely take place will depend on whichever outcome Jim places a higher emphasis on. Secondly, the theory is assuming that we are aware of the consequences that accompany each action, Jim may have thought that it was a trap Ipad used by police to catch Ipad thieves. Humans, according to the theory also have an innate ability to consider "several different possible courses of action" (Lovett, 2016 p.3) and each action is not mutually exclusive of each other, meaning multiple course of action can coincide at the same time (Lovett, 2016). Back to the example, since Jim is a good Samaritan, he may have not only left the Ipad, but decided to report it to the