week 12 - contemporary classical Flashcards
contemporary classical perspectives
- based on the classical school of criminology (weighing costs/benefits, certain/swift/severe punishment)
- emerged out of the idea that “nothing works” in terms of crime prevention
-> researched failed to find a crime reducing effect of rehab programs based on positivist views of crime - saw a revival of classical school concepts-> contemporary classical perspectives
- resurgence of popularity in mid 1970’s
Rational Choice Theory
- emerged from the classical school of criminology
- assumes that human behaviour is the result of rational decision making
- crime will occur the perceived benefits outweigh the perceived costs
-> expanded the costs/benefits considered relative to traditional classical perspectives
the costs and benefits of crime
basic formula = crime will occur when the perceived benefits outweigh the perceived costs
- perceived because our perceptions can be wrong (influenced by emotions and substances)
- costs and benefits include both monetary and non- monetary costs and benefits
monetary costs
- expenditure on tools to commit crime
- cost of travel to offence site
monetary benefits
- cash from crime
- stolen consumer goods to be resold for money
- stolen goods that can be used by offenders
- stolen information and personal data
non monetary costs
- physical effort/energy
- psychological and emotional effort
/energy - shame, remorse, guilt
- worry and concern about punishment
- any other negative emotions or feelings
non monetary benefits
- energy saved by cutting corners
- excitement/thrill
- feeling of power/control over others
- any boost to self esteem
impulsive decisions
imperfect decisions
impaired decisions
emergence of Routine Activity Theory
- originally proposed to explain why crime rates increased in the latter half of the 20th century in western industrialized countries
- crime was increasing despite the fact the social conditions were improving
- existing criminological theory could not explain this paradox
changing routine activities
- cohen and felson (1979) argued that these crime rate increases where due to changing routine activities at the time
-> more valuable goods available to steal
-> more women going to work
routine activity theory
- most criminal acts require convergence in time and space of:
1. motivated offender
2. suitable target
3. lack of a capable guardian - some daily routine activities make it more likely to engage in crimey
motivated offender
- assumes that some individuals are motivated toward crime
- limitation of the theory
->
suitable targets
- person/place/thing that could be a target for crime:
-> women, children
defining suitable targets
CRAVED:
concealable - small and easily hidden when stolen
removable - portable and not a permanent fixture
available - not locked away and can be accessed
valuable - have monetary value
enjoyable - enjoyed by the offender if it is not stolen for money
disposable- can be disposed of (eg fenced or sold)
lack of a capable guardian
- anyone/anything that could influence/prevent crime
routine activities
- everyday routines and legitimate activites are key determinants of crime opportunities
- most crime occurs during our routine activities in the main social domains:
- home, workplace, school, leisure
connection: rct and rat
- interconnected
- conneceted becuase the presence of suitable targets and a lack of capable guardianship influence the decision making of a potential offender
crime pattern theory
- crime pattern theory asserts that crime is not random, but rather highly patterned
- its concepts (nodes & paths) explain why we see the crime patterns we see
- paul and patricia bratingham
nodes
- can be crime generators and/or crime attractors
- the main places we travel to and from (home, work, school, leisure)
crime generators
- places where crime is generated by the interaction of high volumes of suitable targets and potential offenders in places with less capable guardians
crime attractors
- places that attract offenders because they have a reputation as good places to commit crime
paths
- the routes along which we, including potential offenders, travel between nodes
- offenders tended to commit crime near their normal paths
- paths can take criminals to and from suitable targets
situational crime prevention
- how we respond to criminal behaviour
crime prevention policy
- there is a clear link between contemporary classical perspectives and crime prevention policy
- if decisions are made on the balance of perceived costs and benefits, we can alter the decision to commit crime by changing the costs/benefits of crime
-prevents crime by altering the situation/place, not the individual
situational crime prevention (scp)
- primarily associated with clarke and cornish (the people who developed rct)
- seeks to alter the costs and benefits involved in crime choices
- proposed 15 different techniques (grouped in 3 broad categories)
techniques of scp
1) increased the effort needed to commit a crime
2) increased the risk (costs) of crime
3) reduced rewards (benefits) of crime
scp: main concern
- because SCP does not seek to change the long term motivation of particular offenders
