Pros And Cons Of Rational Choice Theory Of Crime

For years an answer has been searched for an important question, why do people commit crime? Philosophers have come together over the span of years to try to answer this very question. The choice theory, the trait theory, the social structure theory and many more have all had their attempt to answer such a demanding question. Many people have their own different opinions on which theory explains it the most; the one theory that makes the most sense to me is the Rational Choice Theory. This theory states that an offender simply weighs the pros and cons of being caught for an illegal activity to decide if they will do continue to go through with it or not. For them, it is a choice. While we could argue biological factors and their structure

The offense-specific crime, where the crime is premeditated and based off of the characteristics of the victim, and the offender-specific crime where the criminal decides if they will commit the crime based off of their own personal needs and skill sets. For an offense-specific crime factors such as the probability of the victim having security devices is evaluated, whether there is a presence of dogs, can the offender get away quickly, what escape routes are present and many more. For an offender-specific crime factors of the offender are evaluated, does the offender have the skills needed to commit the crime, do they have resources needed to commit the crime, is there an overbearing need for money in the offenders life, and are they physically strong enough to commit the crime (Siegel

“In RTC, criminal offenders are actually no different than noncriminal offenders. Both willingly choose their own behaviors, and both choose those behaviors on the basis of a rational consideration of the costs and benefits of the intended action” (Rational Choice Theory). A person rationally makes the decision to commit a crime. Just as another person may decide to do something else such as go to the grocery store or to walk their dog. Both persons thought out the process, listed the pros and cons, and decided to do that action. While no one ever said that the thought process was a good idea and they were making a rational decision, they still decided to think through the process and decide on their course of action (Rational Choice