억제이론의 명과 암

Abstract

This study was conducted to critically examine the effectiveness of deterrence theory. Deterrence theory, which assumes a criminal's rational thinking, argues that if the benefit of the crime exceeds the cost, crime will be a normal and rational choice for everyone. Accordingly, deterrence theory predicts that recidivism and first-time crimes are prevented only when punishment is set above the benefit of crime or social harm. However, an individual's perception of criminal damage or social harm is considered one of the sufficient conditions for fear of crime. The more positively one evaluates the level of physical and mental damage caused by crime, the greater the fear of crime. If the severity of punishment reflects the social harm of the crime, it was judged that the severity would stimulate the fear of crime. The tool to prevent actual crimes rather produces a wide range of crime victims. In order to verify the assumption of the researcher, multiple regression analysis was conducted using data collected from 815 adult men and women. As a result of the analysis, the certainty of punishment had a positive(+) effect on fear of crime, while the severity of punishment had a negative(-) effect on it, confirming the side effects of severity. Based on the results, this study proposed a check on the trend of severe punishment and a critical review of criminology theory.