ABSTRACT
We saw in the first part of this book that the rational actor model of crime and criminal behaviour understands human beings to possess free will and they therefore have the capacity to make rational decisions to engage in activities of their choice. Criminal behaviour is simply a rationally chosen activity. The predestined actor model, on the other hand, proposes that crime emanates from factors – be they biological, psychological or social – that are outside the control of the offender and which determine their behaviour. Thus, the major concern of this tradition is to identify and analyse what is considered to be the causes that drive individuals to commit criminal acts. A major criticism of that tradition has centred on its acceptance of the conventional morality and criminal laws as self-evident truths. In other words, if a particular action is defined as a crime, it is necessarily wrong because the state decreed it to be so.
