Evaluating Success at Offending: Implications for Understanding the Motivation to Offend

• In Event: Situational Context, Motivation and Offender Decision Making

Abstract

Offending typically is conceptualized as a deviant act, and thus as behavior that stems from motivations specific to illegal activity. What, though, if individuals who offend are motivated, at least to some extent, by concerns with performance, similar to employees’ motivation to perform well at their jobs? To answer this question, we extend prior research by identifying a range of dimensions that individuals may consider in evaluating their success at offending. We argue that these dimensions, in turn, may motivate whether individuals commit crime and how they do so.

Authors

• Daniel Mears, Florida State University

• Mark Stafford, Texas State University