Crime — Between rationality and emotionality

Abstract

Can a crime be the result of a rational decision? Does the perpetrator always calculate the prof-its and losses from criminal activity? An attempt to answer these questions has become the subject of analysis. The aim of the article is therefore to discuss the issues related to the choices made by people and the awareness of their consequences. In particular, the assumptions of economic crim-inological theories and the rational choice theories, which recognise a perpetrator as a being who rationally and economically chooses a criminal career, have been analysed. The basic issue that guides the considerations here relates to human emotionality and awareness of the choices made, including those concerning criminal behaviour. All considerations were embedded in the theoretical framework of the so-called critical analysis of the above theory and confronting their main assump-tions with the fundamental needs of human existence.