3001CCJ: Rational Choice | Routine Activity | Crime Pattern Theory - Critical Analysis Assessment Answers

Theories that should be used in the Essay:

Rational Choice Theory

1. Bounded ra6onality ?
2. Ends and means of ra6onality ?
3. Types of displacement ?
4. Diffusion of Benefit ?

Routine Activity Theory

• Crime analysis triangle (inner and outer)

Crime Pattern Theory?•

• Activity space, awareness space

Critical Analysis: Noise in the Neighborhood

Description of the Initiative

The main project deals with eliminating noise in the neighborhoods and reducing the number of house parties that take place every week within quiet neighborhoods. The project looks to eliminate the high number of raucous parties that take place as a result of students’ residential areas being so proximal to the school and at the same time to other residential estates that do not involve the students. The Achieve Community Together campaign is supposed to come together with the police department in order for there to be a way they can get to the students by using people that relate with them from a common livelihood point of view. The parties are a source of all disastrous outcomes within the community which makes it hard for there to be an orderly community with the presence of several students partying every now and then. The Achieve Community Together Campaign is focused on creating a program where the use of Alcohol is eliminated and guidance and counseling sessions offered to those involved. It also seeks to introduce programs that will allow the growth of responsible activities that will compensate for all unnecessary parties on the weeknights and weekends.

Theoretical perspective

Rational Choice Theory

The rational choice theory focuses on assumptions that every individual has preferences that overlook all other choice alternatives. It therefore assesses the level of rationality of a person when it comes to choice (Van, 2013). The theory is mostly tuned towards individuals with the need to achieve the utilitarian effect from being part of a certain activity or project. In order for a person to be considered rational in their level of thought or their choices, they have to show a level of responsibility in a wide range of activities. These do not only limit the person to activities that benefit them but rather activities that are bound to affect other people (Cornish & Clarke, 2014). Rationality is therefore the state of being able to make choices based on the positive effects that are bound to affect others.

Bounded Rationality

This theory gives the idea that for an individual to make decisions, their level of being rational is always limited by the amount of information that is provided. It also disregards the level of intelligence of a decision maker where they are believed to be able to only work based on three unavoidable limits (Cornish & Clarke, 2008). The type of information is mostly always unreliable and only available relatively to other alternatives and the consequences of the same. It appears as though there is only a limited amount of time made available for the individual to make the decision. This in the university would apply in that it defines the level of peer influence and manipulative strategies to create a common agenda.

Ends and Means of Rationality

While taking up actions they are defined as means-end rational. Therefore for an individual to take an action, it is often guided by the kind of expectations that the individual has towards any activities (Cornish & Clarke, 2008). The expectations are what define the nature of the conditions or means used to attain an individual’s own rationally pursued and calculated ends. In their care, all the university students attending those parties expect that they will achieve fulfillment on all angles by being part of the activity.

Types of Displacement

Problem-Oriented Policing is the main cause of crime displacement. The efforts that police have towards crime prevention are what result to crime displacement. Therefore, the theory asserts that criminals should not be deterred in order for them not to perform the crime at a different location (Apel, 2013). In this case, the crimes may be temporal displacement. The parties may be organized to fit into times when the neighborhood isn’t paying much attention. This however, does not change the consequences caused by the crimes.

Diffusion of Benefits

The diffusion of benefits concept only occurs when preventing crime only leads to positive outcomes. The prevention of one crime may lead to preventing other crimes that might not have been targeted for prevention (Johnson, Guerette & Bowers, 2012). In the case of noise in the neighborhood, by eliminating the holding of parties, they are also able to eliminate pollution of other forms and the possibilities of violence and injury resulted from inappropriate consumption of Alcoholic drinks.

The rational choice theory would be based on two other theories that govern the diagnosis of crime. The first theory that would possibly be used to assess the crime by the ACT team is the kind of person theory relative to Cesare Beccaria’s thoughts on criminology and criminal justice. The kind of person theory states that a person may be led to crime due to their personality or the environment that they are in. in this case, the ACT campaign finds that the parties are 100% filled with young adults in their youthful years and with a high tendency to find excitement and fun away from the school environment. An analytical and psychological perspective from the theory of defiance states that in most cases, crime is as a result of the need to fulfill one’s desires with selfish, motives. Crime can either be conscious or done unknowingly too.

The theory of the kind of person indicates that in this case, the university students are too open to freedom and find it freeing being a part of something they can relate to without feeling obliged to achieve anything out of it. The level at which the university students enjoy freedom is relative to what goes through their thoughts in everyday academic life. The kind of person theory dictates that it is natural for academic sectors to have high peer influence. The most common case for criminal cases in such environments would be the need for a person to feel validated in several senses or aspects without feeling weighed down or strenuously making any effort to fit into any social group. The kind of person theory may be as a result of subjective factors in the academic and/or university context. The young people in the university with only a few experiences in the party and social life may feel obliged to impress others by being a part of a larger more influential group within the university.

The other theory that is most common to such a setting is the kind of environment that a person is subjected to. The ACT department finds that in universities, there is bound to be a lot of pressure for students when it comes to academics and little projects on how they get to unwind (Manning, 2008). There is very little effort made in universities to create programs that are able to keep the students from undertaking vain activities to fulfill their needs for social growth and development. The environmental problem that is causing noise in the neighborhoods is as a result of what students opt to take part in order to feel part of a group whose activities they fully engage with. It is however not completely limited to these two theories that the ACT group diagnosed crime with. The benefit of using these two theories as a first option or choice is in order for the crimes not to appear excused but rather in order for them to be analyzed and dealt with accordingly without leaving out any of the reasons why the same would be taking place.

Routine Activity Theory

The theory is focused on the situations of crime. It asserts that social causes are not what affect crime. There are motivated offenders in this case who are not only willing but are also committed to criminal activity. It therefore is relative to the belief that given the opportunity, crime can be committed by anyone. It proves that criminal activity is only an acquired concept that is psychologically connected to the belief that it offers a utilitarian effect. Every criminal has a reason as to why they take part in something (Miro, 2014). While these activities progress, they are bound to form a notion in the person’s thoughts that there is only one way in which they are certainly satisfied and which ends up being relative to criminal activity. The activity therefore becomes a way of life and in the same process takes up a routine and becomes an acquired skill that improves with time.

Crime Analysis Triangle

The crime analysis triangle is a theory created by Lawrence and Marcus Ferson and states that crime based on predatory aspects only happens when an offender who is suitably motivated finds themselves together in terms of time and space with a victim who is not protected. The crime triangle helps indicate the difference between the typical reactive responses by the police and the solution to every crime (Analytics, 2016). It brings out the inefficiency of police protocol in many cases. The police will often investigate and make an arrest which is dreadful to some of the crimes resolved through the crime triangle.

In order for the university residential parties to stop, the crime triangle can be used to take drastic measures to resolve the issues brought about by the parties within the neighborhood. The first action following the crime triangle would be to revoke the noise permit from the students’ households or hostels. The Texas law permits this measure under a mechanism that exists in order top stop any activity that poses a threat to the community. The second action would be to bring the issue to the Military’s armed forces disciplinary control board. It is a unique institution that can significantly control their troops to maintain order and discipline. While all these proceedings take place, the university students are given an opportunity or more to rectify the problems caused over a period of time, failure to which there’d be serious consequences. This is bound to stop crime displacement since they would exercise more responsibility while thinking of undertaking their activities, even in different other locations (Morgan, 2014).

[caption id="attachment_2399" align="aligncenter" width="373"] crime pattern theory[/caption]

The theory explains why crimes are committed in given areas. It asserts that crime is always either planned or opportunistic. Crime is caused by the intersection of the activity space and time of an offender with the activity space and time of a victim (Eck & Weisburd, 2015). The activity space of a person is the area in which crime can possibly occur while the awareness space is the personal boundary created by the pathways that are followed to and from personal points.

Analytic Procedure

The explanations for the problems that were considered included issues such as the sale of Alcohol. The city’s GIS mapping system had to be reconstructed in order to reduce the effect of address tracking. The officers had to show consistency while handling noise calls in checking addresses that had been defined in order to reduce crime. In order for the police to recognize trouble spots there has to be excessive crime analysis and also they should learn to fix problems while they are still small and easier to manage. Excessive noise within the neighborhood was made unlawful which would increase hosts’ responsibility levels. However, the end solution to the problem was giving a new paradigm of noise to the respective neighborhood. The new view stated that noise could be a potential cause of stress. The problem explanations were tested by setting new goals for the same crime control relative to noise within the neighborhood.

There however could have been factors outside this that may have been responsible for the level of crime reduction. Some of them would be the realization of the purpose of being within the university and among a group based on an academic agenda.

University students also have a mind of their own and know when to take responsibility of their activities towards achieving personal academic goals. It is however possible that besides having the ACT campaign and the array of police activity, there are several other measures that had been taken by the university authorities in order to prevent extreme consequences in the case where the police were intensely involved to solve the cases (Manning, 2008). The problem explanations may not be entirely based on the fact that the ACT campaign and the police department took part in setting goals but rather in the initiative of university authorities and the student board. The same might have been tested for by giving specific duties to the students and ensuring that they were looked into efficiently and at the right time.

Other Factors for Consideration

The Achieve Community Together department should consider the interests of the university students by performing a survey on what interests them. There are several projects that may be put in place in order to control the rate at which parties were held in the university. A survey on the interests of students may indicate the reasons as to why most of the students are involved in the parties within quiet residential areas. A probable forecast of the bigger percentage in findings is that it would be out of the need for something to be a part of away from school activities. The survey would lead to an analysis of what projects or activities that students are involved in in order for them to participate in a worthwhile activity that suits their levels of interest. The problem explanation in this case would therefore be focused on offering ideas for projects within the university in order for students to have something to do away from their academic life that interests them and is also worthwhile.

Judging from the evidence presented in the analysis, it is clear that the initiative towards a survey and research on the university’s projects of interest should be undertaken. This is very clear since the parties are as a result of peer influence and peer activity that makes them feel fulfilled by being away from the academic environment. In this case therefore, being able to be a part of any project in the university means that the student has a chance to participate in what they love and are really good at. They will therefore, enjoy being a part of a group where they can participate and achieve utility while they still get their mind off school work. The introduction of university projects will relatively reduce the rate at which students find the need to be a part of the raucous parties in order for them to be part of a social group.

Conclusion

Crime is therefore a planned activity that breeds on all the opportunities to disturb other people’s peace while offering fulfillment to the individual responsible. In order for there to be a clear analysis on crime such as noise in the neighborhood, there has to be a clear assessment of the possible causes of the various criminal offences that have been noted within the area. A clear cut way to deal with crime is by being aware of the criminal mind and how it works. In order to be a complete and applicable plan, there has to be a way in which the ones in charge of initiating the plan discover the whole process in which the society works.