Criminology Theory †Rational Choice Theory Essay

demythologised quality possible action was inspired in the 1700s by a man chance upon Cesare Beccaria, whose utilitarian views and ideas were accepted byout atomic number 63 and the joined States. This surmise is in addition know as wise action hypothesis meaning the framework for understanding and frequently formally modeling social and stinting behavior. It is the dominant theoretical paradigm in microeconomics. It is also the central to modern semipolitical science and is apply by scholars in other disciplines such as sociology and philosophy. Rational Choice Theory is used by social scientists to understand human behavior. This speculation is the belief that man is a abstract thought actor who weighs means and ends, costs and benefits, and submits a rational choice. Beccarias helped to eliminate unrelenting and unusual penalty in the 19th century, which at the time was very common, and create the basis for the perfect scheme of iniquity, a school of thought that influenced the French whirling and the establishment of the Eighth Amendment in the United States Constitution.Beccaria believed that passel choose to engage in all behavior, criminal and non-criminal, and without the fear and matter of course of severe punishment for criminal offenses. slew will continue to choose to gift those crimes. Beccaria believed that all individuals possess free will. deal use free will to make rational decisions, such as whether or non the individualised benefits are expenditure the assay of violating the law by committing a crime. It is by free will that multitude are able to follow through with those rational decisions. To Beccaria, punishment should address measure rather than revenge. He believed that the lone(prenominal) focal point to deter criminals from continuing to commit to a greater extent serious offenses is to ensure that the punishment is rise up suited for the crime. He believed the punishment should only be severe enough to surpass the personal benefits gained from committing the crime. A British philosopher named Jeremy Bentham elaborate on Beccarias views and proposed the idea that flock choose their actions by whether or not they produce happiness and avoidedunpleasant conditions.With this theory laws were created to keep the community happy and punishment is only justified if it is used as a method of prevention. The popularity of the classical theory peaked in the 1800s but began to exacerbate and was eventually neglected altogether by the majority of criminologists by the end of the twentieth century. During the mid-1970s, as positivist approaches towards the rehabilitation of know criminals began to prove ineffective, the popularity of the classical approach improved. Criminologists began to describe criminals to the public as rational planners who be to be punished. This modernized view of the classical school of criminology is now known as the rational choice theory and is used to exp lain why criminals commit crimes. agree to the rational choice theory, criminals are people who share the same goals and ambitions as workaday citizens, but choose to obtain those goals by illegitimate means.The rational choice theory is based on the assumption that in the lead choosing to commit a crime, the criminal considers personal factors or motivation for the crime, such as their immediate need for benefits, revenge, or excitement, and also situational factors, such as the severity of the consequences and the risk of apprehension. The rationality described by rational choice theory is different from the conversational and philosophical uses of rationality. Rationality means in colloquial language sane or in a thoughtful top headed manner. Routine activity theory is a sub-field of rational choice criminology, which was developed by Marcus Felson. Routine activity theory says that crime is normal and depends on the opportunities available. For example by and by Hurricane K atrina hit New Orleans, meaning poverty, divergence and unemployment became a problem this gave people a reason to commit crimes.