Rational Choice Theory
Definition
A criminological theory, associated with Cornish and Clarke, that treats offending as purposive behaviour: offenders assess the rewards, costs, risks, and effort of a crime and are more likely to offend when rewards outweigh costs. The theory is crime-specific and situational.
- Associated with
- Cornish and Clarke
- Field
- Criminology
- Core claim
- Offending is purposive, weighing rewards against costs
- Scope
- Crime-specific and situational
Common questions
How is rational choice theory applied in practical crime prevention?+
Because it treats offending as a cost-benefit decision, prevention strategies built on it try to raise the perceived effort or risk of a specific crime, such as target hardening or increased surveillance, or reduce the reward, rather than addressing an offender's general disposition.
Why does the theory emphasise being crime-specific rather than a general theory of offending?+
Cornish and Clarke argued that the rewards, risks, and skills involved differ substantially between, say, burglary and fraud, so the decision-making process an offender goes through has to be modelled separately for each type of crime rather than assumed to be uniform.
Related terms
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- Criminal Justice Studies
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- Criminology
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- Interdisciplinarity
- The practice of drawing concepts and methods from several established disciplines, such as sociology, psychology, and biology, to explain a single phenomenon.
- Penology
- The branch of criminology concerned with the theory and practice of punishment and imprisonment. It examines the aims of punishment (retribution, deterrence,...
- Routine Activity Theory
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- Situational Crime Prevention
- A prevention approach, developed by Clarke, that uses opportunity-reduction techniques to make specific crimes harder, riskier, less rewarding, or less excusable. It...
- Suitable Target
- In routine activity theory, a target whose value, inertia, visibility, and access (VIVA) make it attractive to an offender. Portable, valuable, and...
Explained in these topics
- Criminology and Criminal Justice: Two Disciplines ComparedThe view that offenders weigh the anticipated costs and benefits of a crime before committing it, underlying deterrence research and situational crime preventi...
- Rational Choice and Routine Activity Theories