Citation

Orsagh T. J. Crim. Justice 1983; 11(5): 391-401.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1983, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0047-2352(83)90024-7

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

It is argued that the study of economics is appropriate for, and would make a significant contribution to, criminal justice degree programs by enriching the understanding and augmenting the technical expertise of students who undertake that study. Economics is based on a very different philosophy of human behavior. From the economist's philosophy has evolved a theory of human behavior which is, to a striking extent, complementary to that of traditional criminology in its choice of endogenous and exogenous variables, and in its assumptions concerning the nature and structure of the relations linking the former to the latter. Methodologically, economics is distinguished from traditional criminology by its greater stress on formal, logical deduction. The discipline also offers, through econometrics, a powerful instrument for empirically estimating and testing theoretical prepositions. A survey of recent criminological research that uses the economist's paradigm is provided.