White Collar Crime Rational Choice Theory

When it comes to criminals, and their thinking errors, there are multiple. These thinking errors, are ways criminals think, that is contrary to the typical way of thinking. There are ten thinking errors that are expressed the first of which include closed channel thinking. This is when criminals won’t let anyone or anything inside your own personal bubble of how criminals view themselves, yet will openly point out the faults of other people. While the victim stance which is another criminal thinking error view themselves as the victim that they can do absolutely no wrong. Viewing themselves as a good person is the third, which is basically being a bully to everyone around them. The fourth is lack of effort, consisting of unwilling to do anything

Desperate times call for desperate measures. In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the Misfit is depicted as a violent criminal who has escaped from the federal penitentiary. At first, the Misfit appears to be compassionate towards the grandmother, but when the grandmother identifies the Misfit as the escaped criminal, the Misfit becomes volatile and eventually violent towards the family. Although many would assume that the Misfit is psychotic, he opts to kill the family in order to save himself from being put back in the federal penitentiary.

Criminology is the wider area that is used to evaluate the context of crime. The scientific study of criminals and crime is used for evaluating the basis and reasons of crime done by people. It makes use of different theories and school of thought in order to analyse the reasons behind criminal activities. The main purpose of this paper is to consider one criminology theory or school of thought. The criminology theory that is used for analysing the requirements of this paper is rational choice theory. According to this theory, the people focus on making logical choice regarding the circumstances in which to commit crime. It is noticed that this theory makes use of utilitarian belief under which man is the actor who considers costs, means,

This learned behaviour includes techniques of committing crime as well as the drives and motivations for it. He suggests that an individual will become a delinquent if the act of crime becomes more favourable, in that it benefits them more. It is not always a crime being committed due to the need of the individual and may just be greed. Sutherland suggested that middle class and upper class commit crime as often as working class however this can be due to greed, as opposed to the working class who are more likely to be committing crime due to need. Sutherland suggests that a working class individual committing benefit fraud will be punished more harshly than a middle or upper class individual committing tax fraud and this is purely down to the class and power inequality and the law protecting those in the higher classes or

Rational choice theory is the most useful for understanding white collar crime. These are crimes that often require specialized knowledge, or access. They are often committed by individuals with advanced educations. This theory is vital to contemporary political science in addition to other chastisements for instance sociology and philosophy. The core of the rational choice theory can often be challenged amongst several courses of encounters, people typically do according to what they consider to result in the best inclusive outcome. A white collar crime is committed to make profits, they are not the acts of madmen or irrational people. They are rational acts that often require planning and careful

Criminal activities are seen as the only way to break poverty and to reach the dream which has been changed. The American Dream has promoting fame and fortune, therefore, the citizens of the middle and working class are being lured into criminal activities in order to become rich, to become one of the people who has achieved the dream. Messner says that money is special and is high priority in the American culture and also implies that the Americans are materialistic (70). Money has been accelerating effects in the lives of the American people with the effect of capitalism and the consumer culture. Since people are trying to show themselves off by using what they buy, money has started to define the Americans and has become what they value the most. This demonstrates that they would do anything for cash, including illegal activities. Messner also says that what is by all accounts the most particular about wrongdoing in the United States is the excessive and perilous character. As it were whether the offense is savage or robbery, it is more prone to take the manifestation of “any means necessary” (Messner et al, 21). The aspects of criminal activities are defined to be unlimited and unsafe. This indicates since these activities are done in “any means necessary” as Messner mentions, this only results in the hypothesis that criminal activities are done from need, this can be either for the peoples

Situational crime prevention (SCP) and rational choice theory (RCT), together, provide an insightful explanation as to why people commit crimes and what can be done to deter them. Much of the work done in RCT and SCP was founded by Derek Cornish and Ronald V. Clarke, who wanted to understand the decision-making process of potential offenders and focus on the spatial and situational factors that make such crime possible (Farrell and Hodgkinson, 2015). This paper aims to explore SCP and its relationship to RCT, as well as analyze the works of Keith Hayward and Graham Farrell in their discussion of these ideas. This paper has four objectives: first, the paper will discuss SCP and RCT and explain the link between the two concepts. Second, this paper will examine Hayward 's discussion of RCT, SCP, and cultural criminology. Third, I will explore Farrell 's critique of Hayward 's article and consider his arguments made in response to Hayward 's conclusions. Fourth, this paper will engage in its own critique of both Hayward 's and Farrell 's work and conclude with which article makes the most compelling argument.

For my article I chose, “Decision Making in the Crime Commission Process: Comparing Rapist, Child Molesters, and Victim-Crossover Sex Offenders” by Eric Beauregard, Benoit Leclerc, and Patrick Lussier. In traditional beliefs it suggests sex offenders are mainly driven by an uncontrollable urge to sexually offend. This article takes a looks into comparing how rapist, child molesters, and victim-crossover sex offenders make their criminal decisions. It investigated how decision-making is involved in target selection. The researchers used mixed methods along with Clarke and Cornish’s decision-making model to evaluate the offender’s actions. In the first studies, sex offenders’ decision-making was investigated using the rational choice approach.

White collar crime is an organized crime committed by person of higher socioeconomic status in the course of their business, occupation, or profession (Sutherland, 2002). It was introduced to the Criminal Justice system in 1939, but was overlooked by many people because they never noticed it was happening. White collar crime has been taking place in America for a long time and is summed up as lying, cheating and stealing. There are numerous types of white collar crimes such as bribery, bank fraud, embezzlement, and insurance fraud to name a few (National Check Fraud Center, 2011). One case that we all know of, Enron, not only wiped out lifesavings, but cost investors billions of dollars. White collar crime requires intelligence and lots of

Crime is any act which breaks the laws of society, such as murder, rape, speeding etc. Social control is enforced by agencies such as police and the courts, more specifically defined than deviance.

In our previous class we spoke about how the profile of the usual white collar criminal is white, middle age, has a high level of education married, has a home and is in a supervisory position. This reminded me of one of my undergrad classes where we spoke about older white males more likely to commit suicide because of the loss of status. Putting those two together if reminded me of former Walls Street trader Michael Marin. Michael Marin was 53 years old, had a wife and children and could not pay the $2,500 a month mortgage on his home. Furthermore, he had $34,000 in back taxes. In 2009, he set his house of fire committing arson and insurance fraud. What made the case weird was that he climbed out the house in scuba gear claiming he needed it to breathe. Marin had intentionally wanted to commit insurance fraud by collecting the fire insurance payout for his burned home. When sent to court in Maricopa County he was found guilty of arson and the sentence could have been 10 to 20 years. However, during the proceeding Marin had swallowed cyanide to escape his fate.

Not only are the outcomes of these felon disenfranchisement laws racist, but they are also classist. It is not news to many that the criminal justice system of the U.S. has many loopholes for rich people to pay their way out of jail time. The wealthy can afford top lawyers, pay bail, pay fines, and live in neighborhoods less frequently patrolled by the police. Defense lawyers for felony crimes can cost anywhere from $1000 to $2500 a day, and bail and fines are not on a sliding scale based off of income (NOLO, 2010). For an impoverished individual making only $1500 a month, the financial obstacles to fighting a winnable court case make conviction nearly inevitable. To contribute to the financial advantage the rich have, the wealthy generally commit more white collar crimes than street crimes, which are treated as lesser in the overall criminal justice system. Street crimes are far more visible than white collar crimes and those charged with street crimes are more likely to face justice than those charged with white collar crimes (Martinez, 2014).

During the 18th century Enlightenment the concept of rights, classical criminology, came into play. This was a time before law was “relational and obligational” (Classical). These ideas can be traced back all the way back to John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau with “life, liberty, and property” (Siegel 92). With classical criminology comes four basic elements. First, “people in society have free will to choose criminal or conventional solutions to meet their needs or settle their problems” (Siegel 92). Secondly, “criminal solutions may be more attractive than conventional ones, because they usually require less work for a greater payoff” (Siegel 92). Thirdly, “a person’s choice of criminal solutions may be controlled by fear of society’s reaction

There are flaws in every tool used to define and measure crime because it is impossible to know actual amount of crime that takes place. The Uniform Crime Report relies on the reports of local law enforcement agencies but some surveys suggest that less than half of all criminal incidents are reported to the police. Many people fail to report crimes that they believe are insignificant while others fail to report crimes because victims are unaware that they are a victim and mistrust police. The Uniform Crime Report also relies on voluntary participants. Criminal statistics are lost when law enforcement agencies do not voluntarily participate.

The Broken Windows theory sounds practical on paper, but in practice it is not a sound theory of crime. Similarly, the Reagan administration, and stop and frisk enforcement were practical on paper, but did not turn out with the right results. Laws such as these are too often directed towards the wrong demographic usually minorities. It is discernible that the Broken Windows theory targeted many African Americans and Latinos in ways that data shows that there is an over-population of minorities being incarcerated, experiments show that it is the whites creating disorder, no concrete evidence that the Broken Windows theory worked, and the authorities wanted to believe that the theory worked. Ultimately, crime is down for the better, but it is