Rational Choice Theory Rational Choice theory is a concept of Criminal philosophy, which focuses on the analysis of the determinants of criminal behavior that came about during the eighteenth centuries Age of Enlightenment. Rational choice theory is a theory that analyzes human behavior as it applies to crime and everyday life. This theory has roots that run deep in the field of economics and has become the favored method for development of a cognitive theory of choice in criminology (Oppenheimer 2008). It derives a great deal of its concepts from the economic utilitarian model that was formulated by classical school philosophers like Jeremy Bentham and Cesare Beccaria. The principle of utility emphasizes the achievement of maximizing pleasure …show more content…
It has become the very framework of our modern views of criminal deterrence. Under the Rational Choice Theory approach to crime deterrence one must first assume that an offender can only weight out their options and rationally choose to act if they fully understand, both, the negative and positive consequences of their actions (Akers, 1990, p. 654). Even though it is proven that people commit crime to fulfill needs of pleasure philosophers propose that it is possible to deter crime. In the past it was believed that the mere certainty and swiftness of punishment was enough to deter crime. However, that is not enough. Today, both formal sanctions (i.e. incarceration, fines, and community) and informal sanctions (i.e. morals, economics, employment, and social circles) can be used to deter crime (Cornish and Clark, 1986, chapter 1). However, Cornish and Clark propose that people can be peer pressured or influenced by social factors to commit crime. So the same factors that can deter a criminal from committing a crime can inversely influence them to commit a crime. If a person sees his or her friend gets away with committing a crime. They are more likely to perceive the crime as having low risk and will be more likely to offend if they feel they will not risk punishment. Also, the inverse of this assumption states that if people can be influenced to commit crime because their peer group approves of it. (Tibbetts & Hemmens, section II). People can also be influenced to avoid criminal deviance, as a whole, if their peer group disapproves or their moral values are in conflict with their current course of action. Under the theory of rational choice shame and personal guilt are more effective crime deterrents than formal sanctions. While pleasure and shame tend to be the scale used to determine behavior, there are many variations to the personality and mental temperance