ABSTRACT
Classical theorists advocate harsh punishment to deter other people from committing crimes because they see everyone as primarily self-interested and motivated to enhance their own well-being. According to classical theorists, self-interested individuals will break the law when the benefits outweigh the costs. Theories about why and how crimes occur are stored in long-term memory and exist at all levels of abstraction. A significant body of research in Canada as well as the United States demonstrates that the public have a specific stereotype in mind when they think of the concept "criminal". If the public regard offenders as "outsiders" from mainstream society, it is not surprising that associations are made in the public mind between criminality and race or ethnicity. The public hold misconceptions about the nature of crime. Beliefs about why crimes occur, offenders' motives, the extent to which offenders typically intend to commit crime, and the extent to which victims provoke or facilitate the criminal activity also are stored.
