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Economic Crime Model

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In this essay, the author analyzes policies and events that affect crime rates in the United Kingdom. The analysis utilizes the economic model of crime by Gary Becker. The discussion will involve analyzing events and government policies and how they impact crime based on the four major elements of the model.
The Economic Model of Crime
Gary Becker popularized the economic model of crime in 1968. The holds that criminals rationally compare the costs and benefits of crime they plan to undertake (Becker, 1968, p.169). The economic model of crime accurately postulates that criminals are rational individuals who weigh and compare the costs and benefits of any criminal activity before they make a decision. In light of this fact, there are government …show more content…

Legal alternatives include legal activities that one can undertake to derive specific gains. An example of a legal alternative is seeking employment. In practice, people with poor labor market opportunities have a tendency to participate in criminal activities. For example, youths who dropped out of school without any qualification often demonstrate different crime propensities compared to professional who possess graduate degrees (Machin & Meghir, 2004, 964). Also, high unemployment rates and low wages increase the likelihood of a person committing a crime. Potential gains from crime include the net benefits one is likely to derive from participating in a criminal activity, such as stealing property or mugging a person on the street. Probability of getting caught measures the chances of the law enforcement officers apprehending a criminal during crime or after the crime has been committed (Sieberg, 2011). When a criminal believes that the probability of being caught is high, they are deterred from committing a criminal offense. Lastly, severity of the punishment refers to the nature of consequences once a person is caught committing a crime (Becker, 1968, p.179). Examples of severe punishments include longer incarceration, lifetime imprisonment, and punitive fines among others. High degree of punishment or …show more content…

In the United Kingdom, government policies and events that have affected crime rates include terrorist attacks, school leaving age, policing policies, recession, and labor market practices. As demonstrated in the discussion below, these events and policies have impacted crime by influencing the one or multiple elements of the economic theory of crime.
Terrorist

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According to Freeman (1996), crime is an activity of individuals with low legitimate earnings prospects. Although associated with those at or below the national poverty rate, crime is an expensive act that is costly to both the individual and society. In the United States, more than 23 million criminal offenses were committed in 2007, resulting in approximately $15 billion in economic losses to the victims and $179 billion in government expenditures on police protection, judicial and legal activities, and corrections (U.S. Department of Justice, 2004a, 2007a, 2008). The cost of crime are normally divided into four components: victim cost, criminal justice system cost, crime career cost, and intangible cost. Seldom discussed or often forgotten is the alarming cost of crime indirectly affect the families of many offenders.

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Within the past couple of decades, criminologists have developed different criminological theories that apply to the social behaviors and decisions of criminals. One of the earliest theories developed regarding criminality is the rational choice theory, in which describes the rationalization of determining if the rewards from committing the crime outweigh the consequences. In Scarver’s case, his decision to engage in criminal activities outweighed the potential consequences, or the other alternatives if he did not engage in such criminal activities. In addition to the rational choice theory, Scarver’s criminality can be related to the social disorganization theory, which describes the influence of one’s social and physical environment on one’s decision to commit a crime. Lastly, the strain theory can be related to Scarver’s criminality as well, as it is used to describe an individual who lacks the means to obtain such goals, and aspirations, so therefore, he or she engages in criminal activities to acquire the goals.

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“Does Crime Pay? In Dexter's case?” In the article the author discussed crime paying off in finical terms. Mr. Landsburg argues that criminals engage in risk assessment before deciding to commit a crime by weighing the potential to get caught and the possible jail time as a result. Furthermore, the writer of the article states that crime pays off when criminals are comfortable with the “small chance of a big punishment” since crimes with serious consequences generate the most rewards.

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Rational choice theory is the most useful for understanding white collar crime. These are crimes that often require specialized knowledge, or access. They are often committed by individuals with advanced educations. This theory is vital to contemporary political science in addition to other chastisements for instance sociology and philosophy. The core of the rational choice theory can often be challenged amongst several courses of encounters, people typically do according to what they consider to result in the best inclusive outcome.

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This problem may arise from monetary problems in struggling families where people, more often than not young people, turn to crime to help their families while putting the lives of innocent people at risk. This problem has already led to the deaths of people that tried to defend themselves and others from these criminals making the community more adamant to leave their houses. Recommendations • I suggest a stronger police presence in the areas more affected

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Contrary to the common belief, crime has been on the decline for the past three decades. Yet, news and media have been covering crime more than ever, resulting in the public belief that crime is at an all time high. The sharp drop in crime since the early 1990s has left experts curious to discover the reasons for the decrease in crime. As I compare the article Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do Not by Steven D. Levitt and the article Evaluating Contemporary Crime Drop(s) in America, New York City, and Many Other Places by Eric P. Baumer and Kevin T. Wolff, I will briefly describe the articles, compare their agreements and disagreements, as well as discuss my personal preferences.

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The classical theory of crime says that people make rational choices when they commit crimes. “Individuals have the will and rationality to act according to their own will and desires. Individuals will calculate the rationality of the crime based on the benefits of the crime versus the consequences of the crime” (Robinson, 2014). This theory discuses that how people think about the negative and positive outcomes before they commit crime. Even though they realize it is not right, they still continue to commit illegal offence because they believe that what they are doing is for the greater

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It does not consider other factors such as criminal associations, individual traits, and inner strains, which plays a significant role in determining punishment for the individuals in committing crimes. It is observed that this theory endeavours to know that whether the activities of crime as well as the victim’s choice, criminals commit the activities on start from rational decisions. The theory also determines that criminals consider different elements before committing crime. They engage in the exchange of ideas before reaching on any final decision. These elements consist of consequences of their crimes, which include revealing their families to problems or death, chances of being arrested, and others elements, which comprises of placement of surveillance systems (Walsh & Hemmens, 2010; Lichbach,

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