Ronald Turptin's Rational Choice Theory

Robert J. Hoshowsky wrote The Last to Die which summarizes the lives of Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas, who were the last two people to die due to capital punishment in Canada. Certain situations in Ronald Turpin’s life led him to commit a crime resulting in the use of capital punishment. Looking into his criminal lifestyle, the rational choice theory can explain some of the actions he felt he had to take and his role in society. Also, using the social learning theory can explain where he learned these behaviours from. Using these theory helps to explain Ronald’s criminal lifestyle and help people understand why he did what he did, although there are a few theories that can relate to Ronald’s lifestyle. The rational choice theory and the social

By age eleven he became a ward of the Children’s Aid Society, he was then in and out of foster homes, reformatories and jails, after his mother abandoned him at Children’s Aid, that was when he felt permeant betrayal from his mother and their relationship was then shattered (Hoskowsky, 2007). Turpin shows the use of the rational choice theory when he was moved around so often, or he ran away before they moved him somewhere else. He would steal, cheat or do whatever he could to try to make it on his own (Hoskowsky, 2007). This shows the rational choice theory because he took the cost and benefit into consideration but chose something that would benefit him the most since he was trying to make it on his own. Eventually he was caught for petty theft and playing hooky, which sent him to a reformatory, where he escaped three separate times (Hoskowsky, 2007). He was sent to many reformatories and jails. He eventually was put into Guelph’s reformatory for all the crimes he did, the year he arrived there was a riot. Police joined the guards who sprayed people with water from high pressure fire hoses and threw tear-gas canisters into the mob. He was hit with a pick handle and had to run through glass and everything and if you made it to the end of the corridor you were then thrown into a cell and left for two days,