ABSTRACT
It was shown in the first part of this book that the rational actor model of crime and criminal behaviour proposes that human beings possess free will which enables them to make rational decisions about what actions they should take whether these are legal or illegal. It is also proposed that as rational calculating human beings they should be held fully accountable for their actions. These ideas – as we have seen – had been highly influential in changing criminal justice policies during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries particularly in France. However, with the publication of the first national crime statistics in that country in 1827 it became clear that these data were astonishingly regular. Furthermore, some places had higher rates than others and these differences remained relatively constant from year to year. Rational actor model proponents had expected random changes in the number of crimes. The regularity of the new crime statistics suggested that rather than being entirely the product of free will, criminal behaviour must be influenced by other factors.
