Rational Choice Theory Essay - 1848 Words

White-collar crime accounts for billions of dollars in losses for companies every year (Gottschalk, 2017). Particularly, internal company theft has reached pandemic proportions, with evidence that it is one of the fastest growing categories of crime in many Western countries (Gottschalk, 2017). Thus, the purpose of this paper will be to examine this fast-growing phenomenon of employee theft using two theoretical backgrounds: rational choice theory (RCT) and hormonal influences. Specifically, these two theories will be used to provide reasoning as to why a single mother of two who is a senior management team member of a mid-sized telecommunications industry would issue herself false cheques, thus committing fraud. Rational Choice Theory†¦show more content†¦This convenience can be seen as one of the most important aspects of white-collar crime that may influence the offender in perceiving that the benefits of the crime outweigh the costs. Being head of the payroll department, Janine could have easily exploited opportunities and illegally benefitted by issuing herself cheques. Her high position in the company allowed her to hide her illegal transactions in legal transactions, making it look like ordinary business. Gottschalk (2017) explains that the fact that there is little risk and great reward is what makes white-collar crime so attractive to rational people. When further applying RCT to this specific scenario, it is evident that background factors, current life circumstances, and situational variables played a prominent role in Janine’s determination of the benefits of her actions outweighing the costs. Being a single mother of two, Janine struggled to get by. She worked long hours, weekends, and holidays, which was barely enough to cover the costs of daily living expenses as well as daycare for the children. One day, Janine was reading the newspaper and saw an article on workplace fraud. She couldn’t believe how common it was, with a whopping 26% of Canadian small-and mid-sized firms being victims of fraud, and those were only the ones that had been discovered. Later that day Janine was called to the president’s office. She left feeling overwhelmed andShow MoreRelated Rational Choice Theory Essay1246 Words   |  5 PagesThere are three main points that are reinforced in rational choice theory (Cornish and Clarke, 1986). First, it may work better or worse for different types of crime, yet it is thought that there are rational choices in every type of crime even impulsive and pathologic crimes. Second, the theory should be applied on a crime-specific basis. Hence, burglaries can’t be grouped together in among residential and commercial categories. 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