The choice theory has an important role to play when considering the reasons leading to a criminal activity.

This theory has its own importance while creating strategies for controlling or reducing crime. For this, it is important to understand the theory and how it affects the possibility of someone taking part in criminal activity and how an attempt to control crime would take place under choice theory. Choice theory has derived from the works of early theorists, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. The Choice Theory obviously affects how society would deter criminal acts.

The choice theory of criminology is also known as the classical theory. The fundamental concepts of this theory are that people select all behavior, including criminal behavior. People's choices can be controlled by many factors such as the fear of punishment or the benefits which are attained by doing the crime or an illegal activity. So it implies that the more severe, certain, and swift the punishment, the greater is the possibility to control criminal behavior. The choice theory in relation to criminology, states about punishment, and its effects on criminal behavior. According to choice theory, punishment should have four main objectives. The first and the most important is to prevent all criminal offenses. The second objective is that when it cannot prevent a crime, it should persuade the offender to commit a lesser crime. The third objective is to ensure that a criminal uses no more force than is necessary. And the fourth objective is to prevent crime as cheaply as possible.

In the 1970s, the choice theory came about when the classical theory became popular again. XXXXX XXXXX, who was a political scientist, argued that efforts should be made to reduce criminal opportunity by discouraging would-be offenders and by imprisoning the known criminals. Following this revival of the classical theory, there was a political shift towards a more conservative public policy when Ronald Reagan was elected. This new choice theory based on intelligent thought processes and criminal decision making, is known today as the rational choice theory.

Rational choice is the decision to commit a specific type of crime or illegal activity based on weighing the available information. It is also a matter of personal decision making. Rational choice theory has a perspective of crime which is both offense- and offender specific. Offense-specific crime relates to

those, where offenders will react selectively to the characteristics of particular offenses. Offenderspecific crimes relates to the fact that criminals are not simply aggravated people who engage in random antisocial behavior for one reason or another. Instead they consider whether they have the prerequisites for committing a criminal act which include their skills, needs, and fears before decide to commit a crime. Choice theorists believed that crime is an event and that criminal behavior is a personality trait. Offenders perceive freedom of movement and lack of social constraints. When compared to other people, they have less self-control and appear unaffected by fear of social controls. They are typically under stress or facing some serious personal problems or conditions that compel them to choose risky behavior.

Choice theorists have also studied that the decision to commit a crime, regardless of its substance, is planned by the choice of where the crime occurs. The decision will also depend on the characteristics of the target and the means available for its execution. It has been exposed that criminals choose the place of the crime taking in to consideration the possibility for being caught. They also choose their targets considering the nature of the crime. For example, offenders decide to choose high-income households for property crimes while they select low-income households for the targets of violent crimes. Criminals have reportedly revealed that learning the techniques of crime help them to avoid detection.

Routine activities related to crime also can be explained by the choice theory. The crimes rates correspond to the number of motivated criminals like the teenage males, drug users and unemployed adults who commit crimes. Most offenders commit crimes because they considered legitimate opportunities unavailable based on their limited education and background. If these motivated criminals have suitable targets available and the opportunity to accomplish them, they will not commit crimes. Rational choice theory involves both the shaping of criminality and organizing of crime.

The society has some common models to determine which acts are considered to be criminal acts. The two common models in the criminal justice system are consensus model and conflict model. Consensus model is a criminal justice model in which the majority of citizens in a society share the same values and beliefs. Criminal acts are those acts that conflict with these values and beliefs and are considered damaging to society. The consensus model argues that the majority of citizens will agree on which activities should be outlawed and published as crimes. The assumption of this model is that a diverse

group of people can have similar morals. The consensus model assumes that when people group together to form a society; its members will obviously come to a basic agreement with regard to shared norms and values. Those individuals whose actions deviate from the recognized norms and values are considered as a threat to the well-being of society as a whole and need to be punished. The society passes laws to control and prevent deviant behavior, in a way setting the boundaries for acceptable behavior within the group.

The conflict model is a criminal justice model in which the content of criminal law is determined by the groups that hold economic, political, and social power in a community. This argues that in a diverse society, the dominant groups exercise power by codifying their value systems into criminal laws. Those who reject the consensus model do so on the ground that moral attitudes are not absolute. Different segments of society will certainly have different value systems and shared norms in large, democratic societies such as the United States. According to the conflict model, these different segments which are separated by social class, income, age, and race are engaged in a constant struggle with each other for control of society. Accordingly, what is criminal activity is determined by whichever group happens to be holding power at any given time. Because certain groups do not have access to political power, their interests are not served by the criminal justice system.