SOC 1500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Routine Activity Theory, Tax Evasion, Corporate Crime
24 Oct 2016
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Week Six – SOC*1500 – Crime and Criminal Justice – October 13th
Read Chapter 5 pages 129-142
Rational Choice Theory
• This theory is favoured by economists
• Human behaviour and criminal behaviour is the result of conscious decision making
• Crime is assumed to be calculated and deliberate (criminals are rational actors)
• Individuals make rational decisions based on their profits/benefits and reduce costs/loss
• Crime is influenced by variations in opportunity, environment, target, risk of detection
o Take these 4 things into considered before committing a crime
• Ex: Tax evasion, traffic violations, corporate crime, drunk driving; larceny; sexual assault
o Breaking into a house – is the house vacant, is it in a good or bad community, is
the home likely to have good items (jewelry), am I likely to get caught doing this.
Routine Activity Theory
• Developed by Cohen and Felson (1979) – still a popular theory which is still used
• Suggests that changes in levels of crime in society are associated with changing lifestyles
• Does not focus on what motivates people to engage in crime or refrain from activities
• Premise that crime is likely to occur when a motivated offender and suitable victim
come together in an environment that does not provide protection to the potential victim
• Motivated offender = someone who is looking to commit a crime
• If necessary controls are not in place to prevent the crime then the environment
is conductive to crime and this is due to the lack of capable guardians
• Increase in crime rates were to do the number of temptations available in youth
• Example: Cyberbullying –
o Suitable target: target
o Motivated Offender: bully
o Lack of capable guardians: cyberspace is often times unsupervised
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Week six soc*1500 crime and criminal justice october 13th. Rational choice theory: this theory is favoured by economists, human behaviour and criminal behaviour is the result of conscious decision making, crime is assumed to be calculated and deliberate (criminals are rational actors) If necessary controls are not in place to prevent the crime then the environment is conductive to crime and this is due to the lack of capable guardians. Increase in crime rates were to do the number of temptations available in youth: example: cyberbullying , suitable target: target, motivated offender: bully, lack of capable guardians: cyberspace is often times unsupervised. In class lecture october 13th explaining crime: choices, activities and design. Top hat question - according to merton"s theory the mode of adaptation that is most likely to result in criminal behaviour is the innovation (using unconventional means to achieve goals)
