12. Free will, classicism, and rational choice

Criminology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Case ◽  
Phil Johnson ◽  
David Manlow ◽  
Roger Smith ◽  
Kate Williams
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
John Locke ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Critical Criminology ◽  
Routine Activity Theory ◽  
Routine Activity ◽  
Jeremy Bentham

This chapter explores the importance of free will and rational choice in the criminal justice system. It first explains the purpose of theory and how to interpret, test, and critically consider ideas in the context of criminological study before discussing classical theories which assert that people freely and rationally choose to offend and therefore can — and should — be punished or have their choices prevented (by, for example, reducing offending opportunities). It then considers the main theoretical schools in criminology including classicism, positivism, interpretivism, and critical criminology. It also looks at classical criminology and the key thinkers that shaped it, including John Locke and Jeremy Bentham, as well as the policies to which it gave rise. The chapter concludes with an analysis of neo-classical criminology, rational choice theory, routine activity theory, and situational crime prevention.

scholarly journals TRENDS OF KIDNAPPING AND HOSTAGE TAKING IN 21ST CENTURY NIGERIA: A REFLECTIVE DISCOURSE

2021 ◽  
Vol 06 (01) ◽  
pp. 144-163
Author(s):  
Abolaji Adewale Obileye ◽  
◽  
Kayode George ◽  
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Routine Activity Theory ◽  
Routine Activity ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Geographical Boundary ◽  
Nigerian Government ◽  
Reflective Discourse

Kidnapping and hostage taking activities have geometrically increased across the world, taking different forms. These activities for money and other reasons have contributed immensely to the state of insecurity of average Nigerian from within and outside the territory. It is on this note that this paper addresses the trends of kidnapping and hostage taking in Nigeria, its causes, implications and how best to arrest the worrisome situation. Relevant existing body of knowledge were reviewed according to the objectives of the paper. The research design for the paper was explanatory in nature where rational choice theory, routine activity theory and situational crime prevention were adopted to buttress the understanding of the subject matter. Based on the reviewed literature, it was found that the trend of kidnapping and hostage taking in the 21st century Nigeria is on the “high” side thereby needing urgent attention from all stakeholders; Nigerian government, non-governmental organisations, private bodies and all citizens. It is, therefore, recommended that increased effort to fight kidnapping and hostage taking should be made possible by the Nigerian government. This would make the risk of involving in kidnapping related activities higher than the expected benefit; to deter offenders and potential ones from committing such act. Also, capturing the geographical boundary of Nigeria with sophisticated gadget will help reduce the chances of being a victim of kidnapping. These strategies would make kidnapping unattractive to the motivated offender since the opportunity to commit such crime no longer exists.

scholarly journals Tourism and Crime: The Case of Bangladesh

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Moniruzzaman Muzib ◽  
Subrata Banarjee
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Foreign Currency ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Routine Activity Theory ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Routine Activity ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Reported Crime

Tourism is an important sector and contributes significantly in the economy of Bangladesh. However, in comparison to others, the tourism industry has not developed and flourished considerably due to some obstacles.  The increasing rate of crime is regarded as a potential threat for the industry. Besides some evidence from worldwide suggest that now a day, tourists and visitors are at risk of being victims of violent and property crimes. Some criminological theories such as rational choice theory, routine activity theory and opportunity theory indicate the significant relationship between crime and tourist areas.  Mainly the present study attempts to find out the relation between crime and tourism in Bangladesh along with the patterns of crime in tourist areas and the associated risk factors behind it. The qualitative method has been used to conduct the study and data has been collected from secondary sources like various statistics, articles, books, newspapers and so on. The findings of the study revealed that most of the tourist places were affected by criminal activities such as dacoity, robbery, murder, hijacking, riot, women repression, kidnapping, police assault, burglary, theft, etc. Consequently, the frequency and number of tour by the tourist increased at a slower rate and our country are earning lower foreign currency from the tourism sector in recent years. Concerning the high volume of crime, factors like high inequality, mass unemployment, low income, and low level of education has strong influences on crime. Also, it is cheap and easy to buy different types of weapons and bombs in hilly areas due to lack of proper oversight of law enforcing agencies. In 2011, the number of international visitor tourist reached 443,000 generating revenue of BDT6.6 billion. However, in our study period,     we found that the number of reported crime has been increasing day by day. Although the police reported crime increased sharply, in most cases residents have been victimized more than the foreigner. For this, the tourism industry is not yet badly affected by police-reported crime in most cases.  

scholarly journals Moral Truth and Criminology: Back to Its Classical Roots

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-14
Author(s):  
Alexandre Chitov
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Moral Truth ◽  
Underlying Principle ◽  
Rational Choice Theories ◽  
Criminological Theories

This paper argues for the relevance of classical criminology for addressing contemporary problems of the criminal justice system. Despite many fundamental differences in political and cultural contexts, the central themes of classical crimino­logy continue to be relevant for our time. One such theme is the criticism of criminal law for imposing very harsh penalties. Penalties become cruel if they produce fear rather than moral responsibility. Criminal laws based on fear rather than conscience and reason are the expressions of political tyranny. The importance of developing moral responsibility has been reflected in a number of contemporary criminological theories. They, however, differ from classical criminology in one important aspect. Contemporary criminology, even though accepting the importance of morality in preventing crimes, does not affirm the existence of a moral truth. Classical criminology, as developed by Beccaria and Bentham, is based on a belief in moral truth as the criterion for evaluating contemporary institutions of criminal law. One instance of moral truth is that crimes are acts of free will. In contrast, many contemporary criminological theories do not recognize the concept of free will, which still remains the underlying principle of responsibility in criminal law. Rational choice theory is an exception. The paper highlights some shortcomings of the classical and rational choice theories from the viewpoint of a criminal law theorist. However, these shortcomings do not reduce the overriding importance of the unity of law, morals, and criminology. In order to reach a greater unity between the disciplines of criminology and criminal law, there is a need for the return to, and the acceptance of the main ethical tenets of classical criminology.

Property Crime and Tourists

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Mawby
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Property Crime ◽  
Routine Activity Theory ◽  
Routine Activity ◽  
Risk Category ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Police Statistics ◽  
Newspaper Data ◽  
Crime Risk

This chapter addresses the extent to which tourists are at risk of property crimes. It starts with a discussion of the difficulties of measuring crime risk that largely replicate those in mainstream criminology, but with the additional problem that the number of tourists – in the general population or who are victimised – is rarely distinguished. Accepting these limitations, police statistics, victim surveys, newspaper data, and offenders’ accounts of their preferred targets are used to confirm that tourists are indeed overrepresented among the victims of property crime. This seems to apply across different offence categories, such as burglary, vehicle theft, robbery/theft from the person, and fraud. The final section attempts to explain the findings. Combining routine activity theory, opportunity theory and rational choice theory, four dimensions are identified that help explain why tourists consitute a high risk category: rewards, justifiability of target, guardianship and accessibility.

Rational Choice Theory and the 1990 Party Merger in South Korea

OUGHTOPIA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-282
Author(s):  
In-Kyun Kim ◽  
Myeong-Geon Koh
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory

POLITICS-LAW CONVERGENCE OR DIVERGENCE? 'SMALL' POLITICAL PARTIES, REALPOLITIKAND SOUTH AFRICA'S 20 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kealeboga J Maphunye
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Secondary Research ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
African Charter

This article examines South Africa's 20-year democracy by contextualising the roles of the 'small' political parties that contested South Africa's 2014 elections. Through the  prism  of South  Africa's  Constitution,  electoral legislation  and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, it examines these parties' roles in South Africa's democratisation; their influence,  if any, in parliament, and whether they play any role in South Africa's continental or international engagements. Based on a review of the extant literature, official documents,  legislation, media, secondary research, reports and the results of South Africa's elections, the article relies on game theory, rational choice theory and theories of democracy and democratic consolidation to examine 'small' political parties' roles in the country's political and legal systems. It concludes that the roles of 'small' parties in governance and democracy deserve greater recognition than is currently the case, but acknowledges the extreme difficulty experienced by the 'small'  parties in playing a significant role in democratic consolidation, given their formidable opponent in a one-party dominant system.

Rational Choice Contractualism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Moehler
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Correct Choice ◽  
Original Position ◽  
Decision Situation ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
Theories Of Justice ◽  
Principles Of Justice ◽  
Traditional Understanding

This chapter discusses contractualist theories of justice that, although they rely explicitly on moral assumptions in the traditional understanding of morality, employ rational choice theory for the justification of principles of justice. In particular, the chapter focuses on the dispute between Rawls and Harsanyi about the correct choice of principles of justice in the original position. The chapter shows that there is no winner in the Rawls–Harsanyi dispute and, ultimately, formal methods alone cannot justify moral principles. This finding is significant for the development of the rational decision situation that serves for the derivation of the weak principle of universalization for the domain of pure instrumental morality.

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