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Enduring Individual Differences and Rational Choice Theories of Crime

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Daniel S. Nagin  and
Raymond Paternoster
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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.

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

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Footnotes

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

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