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SAGE Journal User Guide

Journal Article Questions

1. Do suitable guardians decrease drug use?
2. What do we do with individuals who are irrational?
3. Does routine activities theory apply more easily to juveniles or adults?
4. Are there situations where there are not motivated offenders?  Explain your answer
5. Compare and contrast routine activities and rational choice theory.

A crying shame: The over-rationalized conception of man in the rational choice perspective De Haan, W., Vos, J. Theoretical Criminology, Feb 2003; vol. 7: pp. 29 - 54.

Abstract

The rational choice perspective explains all forms of crime by viewing offenders as reasoning criminals. In this article, we take this approach to task by trying out its heuristic potential. More specifically, we look at how well it works for one special type of crime, i.e. street robbery. On the basis of a detailed analysis of offender accounts we argue that rational choice theory fails adequately to conceptualize some of the essential aspects of this form of criminal behaviour: impulsiveness, expressivity, moral ambiguity and shame. We argue that adequate explanation and understanding of criminality requires taking more seriously the affective aspects of criminal behaviour and the normative meanings that perpetrators attribute to their own behaviour before, during and after the crime.

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Unrealistic Assumptions in Rational Choice Theory Lehtinen, A., Kuorikoski, J. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Jun 2007; vol. 37: pp. 115 - 138.

Abstract

The most common argument against the use of rational choice models outside economics is that they make unrealistic assumptions about individual behavior. We argue that whether the falsity of assumptions matters in a given model depends on which factors are explanatorily relevant. Since the explanatory factors may vary from application to application, effective criticism of economic model building should be based on model-specific arguments showing how the result really depends on the false assumptions. However, some modeling results in imperialistic applications are relatively robust with respect to unrealistic assumptions.

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Guardians to Counter Adolescent Drug Use? Limitations of a Routine Activities Approach Bratt, Christopher Youth & Society, Mar 2008; vol. 39: pp. 385 - 405.

Abstract

Based on suggestions made by routine activities theory and data from two surveys, the present study discusses the use of adult guardians as a means to counter drug use among adolescents who seek out unsupervised routine activities with peers. Two surveys with 13- to 15-year-olds were conducted 4 years apart in a Norwegian town (Ns = 1,455 and 1,552). Prior to the second survey, adult guardians (social workers and voluntary guardians) were introduced at places where teenagers tended to gather. The town experienced a remarkable reduction in adolescents' use of alcohol and illegal drugs, in contrast to the general development in Norway. Routine activities theory would suggest that the introduction of guardians contributed to this development. Data did not support this suggestion. However, data indicated that guardians might result in a marginalization of users of illegal drugs. This article uses the example of drug use to point at limitations in a situational approach to counter youth delinquency.