Citation

Stewart CHM, Hemsley DR. Br. J. Criminol. 1979; 19(2): 105-119.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1979, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The perception of risk (defined as the expectancy of gain, Egn) and the likelihood of taking criminal risks (defined as likelihood of action, L/A) in 18 criminal risk situations were examined in offenders and non-offenders. Three situational risk factors were considered at different " objective " risk levels: probability of capture, severity of punishment, timing of consequences. The groups did not differ in their expectancy of gain, but did in their reported likelihood of action, the offenders being more likely to take the risks. Significant relationships were found between both Egn and L/A and the three situational factors; both being higher when the objective risk level of each factor was lower. The only between-group difference was the effect of factor 3 (timing of consequences) on L/A; the offenders were less influenced by delayed consequences. The relationship of these findings to other research and areas meriting further investigation is discussed.