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Gratuitous Violence and the Rational Offender Model

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Rational offender models assume that individuals choose whether to offend by weighing the rewards against the chances of apprehension and the penalty if caught. While evidence indicates that rational theory is applicable to acquisitive crimes, the explanatory power for gratuitous non-fatal violent offending has not been evaluated. Lottery-type questions elicited risk attitudes and time preferences from respondents in a street survey. Admitted violent behaviour was predictable on the basis of some of these responses. Consistent with the rational model, less risk averse and more impatient individuals were more liable to violence. Such people were also more likely to be victims of violence. In line with a 'subjective' version of the rational model, respondents with lower estimates of average violence conviction chances and of fines were more prone to be violent.

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  • Foreman-Peck, James & Moore, Simon, 2009. "Gratuitous Violence and the Rational Offender Model," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2009/12, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
  • Handle: RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2009/12
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    Cited by:

    1. Antony W. Dnes & Nuno Garoupa, 2010. "Behavior, Human Capital and the Formation of Gangs," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(4), pages 517-529, November.
    2. Cameron, Lisa & Meng, Xin & Zhang, Dandan, 2022. "Does being “left–behind” in childhood lead to criminality in adulthood? Evidence from data on rural-urban migrants and prison inmates in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 675-693.
    3. Entorf, Horst, 2013. "Criminal Victims, Victimized Criminals, or Both? A Deeper Look at the Victim-Offender Overlap," IZA Discussion Papers 7686, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Violence; alcohol; risk; intertemporal choice; rational offending;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law

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