Are criminals rational decision makers, or are most motivated by pyschological and social forces?

Question

Are criminals rational decision makers, or are most motivated by pyschological and social forces?

Answer 1

there are theories supporting both. Anomie theory stresses more social forces, where poor people have the same goals as everyone else but they do not have the available means (education, money, etc) to achieve those goals so they resort to illegitimate means to achieve them. Other theories say criminals weigh cost vs. benefit. In the end they decide that the benefits outweigh the cost. There is a whole study on this topic, its called criminology, and this is just a couple of the theories.

Answer 2

Good Question, but it's "debate-able" here my reason why:

That depends on where they are physically when you ask that question. If they are incarcerated and are rational decision makers before they are incarcerated and they believe in the system, fairness etc. etc. From my experience, as a paralegal, yeah they can be rational decision makers.

ON THE OTHER HAND

(and this too is from personal experience with a criminal, I've seen both sides of the law)

IF and this is a big IF they are NOT rational decision makers before they are incarcerated or they believe that they have been treated unfairly or that the system is not fair etc. etc. there is a good chance---rational decision making may be out the door already.

But then there's always the 50/50 chance that they can see the system as a good thing and get what they can out of it, you never know, you might have a good citizen.

The bottom line here though is, EVERYONE is MOTIVATED (that is assuming they are MOTIVATED, or have motives) by SOMETHING, be it psychological or social, that's YOU, Me, EVERYBODY<----we All have motives.

And then there is that whole breaking the LAW thing, is Martha Staurt a criminal because she felt that nobody had a right to ask her about her personal finances and expect to get an honest answer anyway, and if Lying is breaking the law why isn't our President in Jail for lying to us about 9-11?

Answer 3

In full agreement with what has been stated, it comes down to either a chemical imbalance or psychological disorder that has never been addressed, versus poor decision making with lack of consequential thinking process.

Answer 4

Criminologists will tell you that it is not as simple as all that.

There are many different types of offenders. There are offenders that have only performed one crime. There are those that continue to rape women. There are those that have no reason, and they have those that have every reason from their childhood beyond.

We must see these people as humans first. State-funded s*x objects, later.

Answer 5

I believe that there are two or maybe even three types of criminals. I believe that many criminals are motivated by psychological and social forces and others just have something in them that make them want to seek the thrill of getting away with something. They first steal, sell dope on the corners never looking toward a future. Money may have been the motivator. but deviance breeds deviance. If you never committed a crime and start to hang with criminals it is a shock to see it at first. Then crime becomes common and once the shock value wears off then it becomes more normal and then it becomes a way of life. This is social and psychological

Other criminals like a man I knew spent 8 years in college made 265.00 a hour and was one of the brightest men in his field. He committed a federal crime lost all. His criminal behavior was not motivated by social forces it was purely a rational decision that took along time to plan. He ruined his life and all the years of schooling etc and god knows he did not need the money it was a thrill.

Answer 6

We are all criminals... can you tell me you've never sped or jaywalked?  Calling a person a criminal makes it easier to think of them as different than yourself.  Human beings (except for a few minor exceptions) all go through pretty much the same decision making processes.

Young people spend a great deal more time weighing costs and benefits of actions... sometimes they are wrong in their assessment and that influences the next c/b comparison that they do.  As they get older they rely on critical thinking less and less - their reactions to previous actions influence behavior as a matter of course rather than as a matter of thought.

When you jaywalk, you are doing one of two things... thinking about it and weighing the possible outcomes of your action, or you're just mindlessly doing it because it has worked for you in the past.

Either way, the psychological and social forces are coupled together in such a way as to make one meaningless without the other.