Economic Theories of Crime and Delinquency

Abstract

This brief literature review highlights three key economic frameworks that can be used to explain a persistent social problem in modern society, crime and delinquency: the rational model, the present-oriented or myopic model, and the radical political economic model. Based on a cost-benefit analysis, an individual's decision to engage in crime in the rational model is consistent in the short-and long-term. Present-oriented individuals, however, focus on the short-term benefits without particular concern for the long-term consequences of their actions. The radical political economic model focuses on the following key political and socio-economic factors that sustain crime: relative deprivation, poverty and inequality, unemployment, and class conflict. The conclusion includes a conceptual map integrating the three frameworks.

KEYWORDS:

• Crime and delinquency
• economic theory
• rational model
• present-oriented model
• radical political economic model