TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1986//
TI  - Crime, deterrence, and rational choice
JO  - American sociological review
A1  - Piliavin, Irving
A1  - Gartner, Rosemary
A1  - Thornton, Craig
A1  - Matsueda, Ross L.
SP  - 101
EP  - 119
VL  - 51
IS  - 1
N2  - This study examines the deterrent effect of formal sanctions on criminal behavior. While most research on deterrence assumes a rational-choice model of criminal decision-making, few studies consider all of the major elements of the model. In particular, three critical limitations characterize the empirical literature on deterrence: the failure to establish a causal ordering of sanctions and crime consistent with their temporal ordering; the focus on conventional populations and nonserious criminal acts, which are of less interest to the question of how society controls its members; and the inattention to the return or reward component of the decision-making process. To address these issues, we specify, estimate, and test a rational-choice model of crime on data that were collected on individuals, gathered within a longitudinal design, and derived from three distinct populations of persons at high risk of formal sanction. The results support the reward component of the rational-choice model, but fail to support the cost or deterrent component, as measured by perceived risks of formal sanctions. (abstract Adapted from Source: American Sociological Review, 1986. Copyright © 1986 by the American Sociological Association)    Legal Sanctions  Crime Prevention  Deterrence  Rational Choice Theory  Adult Crime  07-02<p />
LA  - en
SN  - 0003-1224
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -