AUTHOR=Lee Chang-Moo 

TITLE=Criminal behavior and contingency

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1209619

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1209619

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Although their perspectives and approaches vary, existing criminological theories are all based on the deterministic optimism that the crucial causes of criminal behavior must exist and can be uncovered. However, no key factor can fully explain the causes of criminal behavior. All factors that directly affect the occurrence of criminal behavior are important, and contingency is always at work. More feasible crime prevention and control measures can be proposed only considering the contingency factor. The aim of this study is to point out the limitations of the deterministic view of existing criminological theories that explain the causes of crime after knowing the results, and simultaneously to propose the contingency model with viable alternative solutions.This study points out the problem of the hindsight fallacy, which explains causes in the state of knowing the outcome, based on the deterministic optimism that the causes of criminal behavior can be accurately identified. Furthermore, this study aims to answer to the question: "Why does criminal behavior occur?" This study focuses on criminal behavior, not crime itself; that is, it addresses the issues of why and how behaviors that have already been defined as crimes occur.