Article 2: Rational Criminals?

Crime sometimes does pay. It is perfectly rational for a criminal to steal rather than to work if he feels the gains are worth the risks. However, modern criminology (which until quite recently made no use of economic analysis) usually views criminals as individuals with "deviant" motivations. The solution to crime, according to this opinion, lies on the psychological level - for example, improving the mental health of potential criminals, or providing them with better role models. Economic analysis, without necessarily denying that criminals are psychologically "deviant" in some ways, suggests that criminals may still respond to incentives in a way that could be regarded as rational.