SOCI 3810 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Rationality, Impulsivity

• School: University of Georgia
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCI 3810
• Professor: Brittany Martin

Document Summary

More theories on crime : rational choice theory: overview, offenders are rational people (similar assumptions as classical & deterrence theories, build on classical/deterrence theories in several ways, limited/bounded rationality. The rational decision is contained by time, ability, & availability (not just costs & bene ts: broad de nition of costs of crime. Informal costs > loss of neighbor"s trust (collective ef cacy decreases) Moral costs > shame, quilt, violation of beliefs: people differ in estimates of bene ts of crime. Bene ts are very individual speci c & include a wide range of things. What are bene ts of crime? money/things you want or need, status, thrill, emotional motive (e. g. revenge) What are the costs of crime? getting caught, various punishments, time, money, shame, stigma: range of factors in uence estimate of cost vs. bene ts. Social organization : expected utility > if you are not going to gain enough from it, then you are not going to do it.