There are numerous theories as to why a crime is committed. Rational choice theory, which is a subset of classical theory, says that before people commit a crime they think about what they are going to do. They weigh the pros and cons before committing the criminal act. The rational choice theory is well suited for the causation of burglary. The support for this theory is that burglars do not commit crime for the fun of it or just because they want to. It is usually because they need money to keep their heads above water. In their situation, they do not see any other way than to steal to make a living. The opposition for rational choice theory is that criminals do not think before they act as they may be incapable of thinking rationally in the first place.
Burglary and the Rational Choice Theory
Crime causation is looking at why people commit crimes. There are many theories that have been developed to explain this. The theories can be grouped into eight general categories of which one is the Classical theory (Schmallegar, 2011, p. 79). A subset of this theory, rational choice theory, will be specifically looked at to explain the crime of burglary. Just as no one causation theory explains all crimes committed, the rational choice theory itself does not completely explain why all burglars commit their crimes. Therefore, the pros and cons of the rational choice theory will be discussed in relation to the crime topic of burglary.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting program defines burglary as “the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. To classify an offense as a burglary, the use of force to gain entry need not have occurred” (Federal Bureau of Investigation,¶1). Peop...
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...ommit crimes every day just for the sake of committing a crime; in other words, they have periods of no criminal behavior. So, their rational choice is to turn to burglary only when they are desperate for money. In essence, they have chosen burglary as their line of work.
Works Cited
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). Burglary. Retrieved from website: http://www2.fbi.gov /ucr/cius2009/offenses/property_crime/burglary.html
Schmallegar, F. (2011). Criminal justice today, An introductory text for the 21st century. (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall.
Sturt, G. (2009). Cognition and crime [HTM document]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.sturt/crime/
Wright, R.T. & Decker, S. (1994). Burglars on the job: Streetlife and residential break-ins. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
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One of the biggest issues in America today is crime. It is a large problem that continues to erode our country economically as well as morally. Because of the vastness of the problem, many have speculated what the cause for crime may be in hopes that a solution will be found. Many believe that a bad family life, location of residence, and poverty hold a few of the answers to why an individual becomes involved in criminal activity.
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For thousands of years researchers have developed theories in an attempt to understand why people commit crime. Although, many theories have been created to establish a link between man and criminology many researchers suspect different factors lead man to criminal behavior. Furthermore, we will analyze the following theories, which include positivist theory, biological theory, and psychology theory to correlate their relationship to crime and identify the differences among them beginning with the positivist theory.
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Rational Choice Theory is the belief that man is a reasonable actor who decides means and ends, costs and benefits, and makes rational choices. Routine activity theory provides a simple and powerful insight into the causes of crime problems. At its heart is the idea that in the absence of effective controls, offenders will prey upon attractive targets. Social Control Theory gives an explanation for how behavior conforms to that which is generally expected in society. Social disorganization theory explains the ecological differences in levels of crime based on structural and cultural factors shaping the nature of the social order across communities. This approach alters the sociological studies on which is any of two or more random variables exhibiting correlated variation of urban growth to examine the concentration and stability of rates of criminal behavior. Strain Theory. Conflict theory explains the belief that individuals choose to commit a crime, which many po...
Throughout history a lot of expects have tried to understand why some people feel the need to commit crimes, even though there have been harsh laws inforced for thouse who commit crimes. These people have come up with theories as to why people commit crimes. in order to understand these theories we have to understand what a crime is and also understand the definition of theories.
Burglary is typically recognized, from a legal perspective, as the unauthorized entry into any type of structure. A common misconception is that the crime of burglary is specific to breaking into a home or business; however, this is not the case. Moreover, for a burglary to occur there is no need for a physical breaking and entering, in fact, a burglary can be committed by an individual simply trespassing and walking into a structure through an open door. “Most states and the Model Penal Code use the same basic definition of burglary and incorporate the same three basic elements of which include the unauthorized breaking and entry into a building or occupied structure with the intent to commit a crime inside” (Reuters, 2013).