Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-j7khd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T13:07:05.642Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Enduring Individual Differences and Rational Choice Theories of Crime

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Daniel S. Nagin  and
Raymond Paternoster
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In explaining crime, some criminological theories emphasize time-stable individual differences in propensity to offend while others emphasize more proximate and situational factors. Using scenario data from a sample of college undergraduates we have found evidence to support both positions. A measure of criminal propensity (poor self-control) was found to be significantly related to self-reported decisions to commit three offenses (drunk driving, theft, and sexual assault). Even after considering differences in self-control, there was evidence to suggest that the attractiveness of the crime target, the ease of committing the crime with minimum risk, and perceptions of the costs and benefits of committing the crime were all significantly related to offending decisions. Our results suggest that theories of criminal offending should include notions pertaining to persistent individual differences in criminal propensity and choice-relevant variables.

Information

Type
Articles on Culture and Compliance
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , 1993 , pp. 467 - 496
Copyright
Copyright © 1993 by The Law and Society Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers SES-9122403 and SES-9023109.

References

Andenaes, Johannes (1974) Punishment and Deterrence. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Bachman, Ronet, Paternoster, Raymond, & Ward, Sally (1992) “The Rationality of Sexual Offending: Testing a Deterrence/Rational Choice Conception of Sexual Assault,” 26 Law & Society Rev. 401.Google Scholar
Bailey, William C., & Lott, Ruth P. (1976) “Crime, Punishment and Personality: An Examination of the Deterrence Question,” 67 J. of Criminal Law & Criminology 99.Google Scholar
Becker, Gary S. (1967) Human Capital and the Personal Distribution of Income: An Analytical Approach. Ann Arbor: Institute of Public Administration, Univ. of Michigan.Google Scholar
Bourque, Linda Brookover (1989) Defining Rape. Durham, NC: Duke Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Braithwaite, John (1989) Crime, Shame and Reintegration. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Briar, Scott, & Piliavin, Irving (1965) “Delinquency, Situational Inducements, and Commitments to Conformity,” 13 Social Problems 516.Google Scholar
Carroll, John S. (1978) “A Psychological Approach to Deterrence: The Evaluation of Crime Opportunities,” 36 J. of Personality & Social Psychology 1512.Google Scholar
Clarke, Ronald V., & Cornish, Derek B. (1985) “Modeling Offenders' Decisions: A Framework for Research and Policy,” in Tonry, M. & Morris, N., eds., 6 Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Lawrence E., and Felson, Marcus (1979) “Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach,” 44 American Sociological Rev. 588.Google Scholar
Cohen, Lawrence E., Felson, Marcus, & Land, Kenneth C. (1980) “Property Crime Rates in the United States: A Macrodynamic Analysis, 1947–1977, with Ex-Ante Forecasts for the Mid-1980's,” 86 American J. of Sociology 90.Google Scholar
Cohen, Lawrence E., Kluegel, James R., & Land, Kenneth C. (1981) “Social Inequality and Predatory Criminal Victimization: An Exposition and Test of a Formal Theory,” 46 American Sociological Rev. 505.Google Scholar
Cohen, Lawrence E., & Land, Kenneth C. (1987) “Age and Crime: Symmetry vs. Asymmetry, and the Projection of Crime Rates through the 1990's,” 52 American Sociological Rev. 170.Google Scholar
Cohen, Robin L. (1992) “Drunk Driving.” Washington, DC: Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Cornish, Derek B., & Clarke, Ronald V., eds. (1986) The Reasoning Criminal: Rational Choice Perspectives on Offending. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornish, Derek B., & Clarke, Ronald V., eds. (1987) “Understanding Crime Displacement: An Application of Rational Choice Theory,” 25 Criminology 933.Google Scholar
Felson, Marcus, & Cohen, Lawrence E. (1981) “Modeling Crime Trends: A Criminal Opportunity Perspective,” 18 J. of Research in Crime & Delinquency 138.Google Scholar
Fishbein, Martin, & Ajzen, Icek (1975) Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Goddard, Henry Herbert (1912) The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeblemindedness. New York: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goring, Charles (1913) The English Convict: A Statistical Study. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Gottfredson, Michael R., & Hirschi, Travis (1990) A General Theory of Crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gough, Harrison G. (1968) “An Interpreter's Syllabus for the California Psychological Inventory,” in McReynolds, P., ed., 1 Advances in Psychological Assessment. Palo Alto, CA: Science & Behavior Books.Google Scholar
Grasmick, Harold G., & Bryjak, George J. (1980) “The Deterrent Effect of Perceived Severity of Punishment,” 59 Social Forces 471.Google Scholar
Grasmick, Harold G., & Bursik, Robert J. Jr. (1990) “Conscience, Significant Others, and Rational Choice: Extending the Deterrence Model,” 24 Law & Society Rev. 837.Google Scholar
Grasmick, Harold G., Finley, Nancy J., & Glaser, Deborah L. (1984) “Labor Force Participation, Sex Role Attitudes, and Female Crime,” 65 Social Science Q. 703.Google Scholar
Grasmick, Harold G., Tittle, Charles R., Bursik, Robert J. Jr., & Arneklev, Bruce J. (1993) “Testing the Core Implications of Gottfredson and Hir-schi's General Theory of Crime,” 30 J. of Research in Crime & Delinquency 5.Google Scholar
Hindelang, Michael J., Gottfredson, Michael R., & Garofalo, James (1978) Victims of Personal Crime: An Empirical Foundation for a Theory of Personal Victimization. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishers.Google Scholar
Hirschi, Travis (1969) Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.Google Scholar
Hirschi, Travis (1986) “On the Compatibility of Rational Choice and Social Control Theories of Crime,” in Cornish & Clarke 1986.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooton, Earnest Albert (1939) Crime and the Man. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Hough, Mike (1987) “Offenders' Choice of Target: Findings from Victim Surveys,” 3 J. of Quantitative Criminology 355.Google Scholar
Jensen, Gary F., Erickson, Maynard L., & Gibbs, Jack P. (1978) “Perceived Risk of Punishment and Self-reported Delinquency,” 57 Social Forces 57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahneman, Daniel, Slovic, Paul, & Tversky, Amos (1982) Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanin, Eugene J., & Parcell, Stanley R. (1977) “Sexual Aggression: A Second Look at the Offended Female,” 6 Archives of Sexual Behavior 67.Google Scholar
Klepper, Steven, & Nagin, Daniel (1989a) “Tax Compliance and Perceptions of the Risks of Detection and Criminal Prosecution,” 23 Law & Society Rev. 209.Google Scholar
Klepper, Steven, & Nagin, Daniel (1989b) “The Deterrent Effect of Perceived Certainty and Severity of Punishment Revisited,” 27 Criminology 721.Google Scholar
Koss, Mary P. (1983) “The Scope of Rape: Implications for the Clinical Treatment of Victims,” 36 Clinical Psychologist 88.Google Scholar
Koss, Mary P., & Oros, Cheryl J. (1987) “Sexual Experiences Survey: A Research Instrument Investigating Sexual Aggression and Victimization,” 50 J. of Consulting & Clinical Psychology 455.Google Scholar
Koss, Mary P., Gidycz, Christine A., & Wisniewski, Nadine (1987) “The Scope of Rape: Incidence and Prevalence of Sexual Aggression and Victimization in a National Sample of Higher Education Students,” 55 J. of Consulting & Clinical Psychology 162.Google Scholar
Kuhn, Ralph (1992) “1991 Student Drug Survey” (unpublished report, President's Committee on Alcohol and Drug Policy). College Park: Univ. of Maryland.Google Scholar
Maxfield, Michael G. (1987) “Lifestyle and Routine Activity Theories of Crime: Empirical Studies of Victimization, Delinquency, and Offender Decision-making,” 3 J. of Quantitative Criminology 275.Google Scholar
Murray, Glenn F., & Erickson, Patricia G. (1987) “Cross-sectional versus Longitudinal Research: An Empirical Comparison of Projected and Subsequent Criminality,” 16 Social Science Research 107.Google Scholar
Nagin, Daniel S., & Farrington, David P. (1992a) “The Stability of Criminal Potential from Childhood to Adulthood,” 30 Criminology 235.Google Scholar
Nagin, Daniel S., & Farrington, David P. (1992b) “The Onset and Persistence of Offending,” 30 Criminology 501.Google Scholar
Nagin, Daniel S., & Paternoster, Raymond (1991) “The Preventive Effects of the Perceived Risk of Arrest: Testing an Expanded Conception of Deterrence,” 29 Criminology 561.Google Scholar
Nagin, Daniel S., & Paternoster, Raymond (1993) “Social Capital and Social Control: The Deterrence Implications of a Theory of Individual Differences in Criminal Offending” (unpublished, Carnegie Mellon Univ.).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nisbett, Richard E., & Ross, Lee (1980) Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social Judgment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Nunnally, Jon C. (1967) Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Paternoster, Raymond (1989) “Decisions to Participate in and Desist from Four Types of Common Delinquency: Deterrence and the Rational Choice Perspective,” 23 Law & Society Rev. 7.Google Scholar
Piliavin, Irving, Gartner, Rosemary, Thornton, Craig, & Matsueda, Ross L. (196) “Crime, Deterrence, and Rational Choice,” 51 American Sociological Rev. 101.Google Scholar
Reckless, Walter C. (1967) The Crime Problem. 4th ed. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.Google Scholar
Riley, David (1987) “Time and Crime: The Link between Teenager Lifestyle and Delinquency,” 3 J. of Quantitative Criminology 339.Google Scholar
Rossi, Peter H., & Anderson, Andy D. (1982) “The Factorial Survey Approach: An Introduction,” in Rossi, P. H. & Nock, S. L., eds., Measuring Social Judgments. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Rossi, Peter H., Waite, Emily, Bose, Christine E., & Berk, Richard E. (1974) “The Seriousness of Crimes: Normative Structure and Individual Differences,” 39 American Sociological Rev. 224.Google Scholar
Sampson, Robert J., & Laub, John H. (1990) “Crime and Deviance over the Life Course: The Salience of Adult Social Bonds,” 55 American Sociological Rev. 609.Google Scholar
Sampson, Robert J., & Laub, John H. (1992) “Crime and Deviance in the Life Course,” 18 Annual Rev. of Sociology 84.Google Scholar
Sampson, Robert J., & Laub, John H. (1993) Crime in the Making. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanday, Peggy Reeves (1990) Fraternity Gang Rape: Sex, Brotherhood, and Privilege on Campus. New York: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Scheff, Thomas J. (1988) “Shame and Conformity: The Deterrence-Emotion System,” 53 American Sociological Rev. 395.Google Scholar
Scott, Wilbur J., & Grasmick, Harold G. (1981) “Deterrence and Income Tax Cheating: Testing Interaction Hypotheses in Utilitarian Theories,” 17 J. of Applied Behavioral Sciences 395.Google Scholar
Sellin, Thorsten, & Wolfgang, Marvin E. (1978) The Measurement of Delinquency. Montclair, NJ: Patterson Smith.Google Scholar
Tittle, Charles R. (1980) Sanctions and Social Deviance: The Question of Deterrence. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Toby, Jackson (1957) “Social Disorganization and Stake in Conformity: Complementary Factors in the Predatory Behavior of Hoodlums,” 48 J. of Criminal Law, Criminology, & Police Science 12.Google Scholar
Tuck, Mary, & Riley, David (1986) “The Theory of Reasoned Action: A Decision Theory of Crime,” in Cornish & Clarke 1986.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, Sally K., Chapman, Kathy, Cohn, Ellen, White, Susan, & Williams, Kirk (1991) “Acquaintance Rape and the College Social Scene,” 40 Family Relations 65.Google Scholar
Warshaw, Robin, & Koss, Mary P. (1988) I Never Called It Rape. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Williams, Kirk R., & Hawkins, Richard (1986) “Perceptual Research on General Deterrence: A Critical Overview,” 20 Law & Society Rev. 545.Google Scholar
Wilson, James Q., & Herrnstein, Richard J. (1985) Crime and Human Nature. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar