Criminology Theory: An Opportunity Perspective

According to the principle of rational choice, someone commits a crime when the advantages outweigh the drawbacks of the ultimate decision, which takes advantage of the personal advantage. It can also be expressed by saying that a criminal first considers all the outcomes and options before rationally deciding to commit a crime. The results are typically what the criminals hoping to achieve from performing the acts. According to the rational choice theory, criminals have a low chance of being detected because they assess the consequences of their actions beforehand (Benson 277). Because of these reasons many of the upper and middle-class offenders choose to commit white-collar crimes since the potential gains will outweigh the small chance of being detected. Most of the middle and upper-class offenders of white-collar crimes are usually pushed by characteristics such as situational, individual, and personality. The white-collar offenses do not involve force like other offenses meaning that professional people with some technical skills commit it (Benson 279).

In relation to the rational theory, the white-collar jobs are usually committed from the privacy of a home or an office meaning that they had time to plan and quickly commit these crimes and most of the offenders are middle and upper class since they are more intellectual and have the technical skills to undertake it (Benson 283). Since most of the middle and high-class work in corporate, they are organized in their crimes and understand what they are about to do. Before they commit the crime, they already have calculated the benefits and know the chances of them being caught and this most of the time makes it difficult for evidence to be found against them. The average and upper-class offenders of white-collar offenses relate to the rational choice theory because they apply a decision-making process that involves critical thinking of whether the benefits are more than the consequences before they commit the offense.

Work Cited

Benson, Michael L. “An Opportunity Perspective.” Understanding White-Collar Crime (2014): 275-336.