Write down your class understanding within few words

Rational Choice Theory: Crime is a function of a decision-making process in which the potential offender weighs the potential costs and benefits of an illegal act. The view that crime is a matter of rational choice is held by a number of criminologists who believe the decision to violate any law like commit a robbery, sell drugs, attack a rival, fill out a false tax return -- is made for a variety of personal reasons, including greed, revenge, need, anger, lust, jealousy, thrill-seeking, or vanity. Regardless of the motive, criminal actions occur only after individuals carefully calculating the potential benefits and consequences of crime. The drug dealer concludes that the huge profit from a single shipment of cocaine far outweighs the possible costs of apprehension. Rational choice theory has its roots in the classical criminology developed by the Italian social thinker Cesare Beccaria.