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CRIMES BY YOUTH: DETERRENCE AND MORAL COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW
Author(s) -
PHILLIPS LLAD,
VOTEY HAROLD L.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7287.1987.tb00273.x
Subject(s) - commit , deterrence (psychology) , compliance (psychology) , criminology , deterrence theory , economics , political science , public economics , psychology , social psychology , law , database , computer science
We use a decision theory framework to evaluate the extent to which crimes by youth are explained by the “economic model of crime.” We expand the model from the usual formulation including deterrence effects to investigate the impact of earned income and income supplements on individuals' crime participation. Additionally, we evaluate variables representing the forces of moral compliance and family attitudes. We find that moral compliance has a moderating effect on the decision to commit crimes, even by persistently criminal individuals.