NCJ Number
130436
Date Published
1989
Length
81 pages
Annotation
Individual decisionmaking regarding whether or not to commit a crime was studied using information on fictitious decisions and past real decisions by Swedish individuals not known as lawbreakers.
Abstract
The 71 participants were male university students ages 23-30. Data were collected by means of four questionnaires, which gathered retrospective information on actual decisions and also asked about hypothetical decisions. The analysis considered the effects of the probability of being detected when committing a property crime, the unpleasantness caused by detection, and the gain from not being detected. Results indicated that the relationship between the latent decisionmaking factors and the utility value of economic crimes is multiplicative, although some of the analysis also indicates that the relationship between latent factors and choices may be of a different type. Methodological discussion, tables, and 16 references