Rational Choice Theory: The Foundation Of The School Of Criminology

There are many theories within the broad network that is Criminology, but none are more notable than the Rational Choice Theory. While some dispute whether Rational Choice was the first defining theory that laid the first foundations of the school of Criminology, it's safe to say that the impact Rational Choice theory has made on society as a whole is an essential one. As a result, the target of this paper will be to explain the origin and founder of Rational Choice theory, define the limitations and methods of deterrence, and how its impact has helped/affected Criminologists when studying how crimes happen.

Definition/Key Concepts As mentioned, the Rational Choice theory is a criminal theory developed by Italian criminologist Cesare Beccaria

According to Siegel (2018), deterrence theory plays a part by stating that if people commit crimes, there will be the emotion of fear of punishment (p.114). In layman's terms, deterrence advocates for the minimizing of crime through certain methods. Some examples of deterrence that are pretty successful when preventing crime are the establishment of neighborhood watch parties, increased police patrols in high crime areas, and breaking routines and adding variety to one's schedule to not fall victim to the Routine Activities theory. While some might argue that these are "pros" to essentially reduce crime in some areas, others argue against the notion that the deterrence theory barely has much of an impact, if not, influences even more crime to

For example, they state that putting someone who committed a crime is not always an effective method to deter crime, as those who commit street crimes tend to relay other information about it to inmates who are yet to be freed and repeat the cycle over and over. Likewise, the institute (2016) argued that neither increasing the severity of the punishment does much to reduce crime - most specifically when discussing the death penalty for serial killers like Bundy or Dahmer or life prison sentences. Hence, the advocacy of prison reform is on the rise with restorative justice being a rising component within the justice system. For this reason, one can see that while there are hopeful successes, one is still left wondering how rational choice theory can be viewed or understood by a non-criminologist. Likewise, there is also the question of who deterrence primarily targets. As a result, in the following section, we can see examples of rational choice within the romanticization of modern pop culture with