What makes people want to commit crime?

What makes people want to commit crime?

• A. Opportunity and Motivation
• B. Opportunity
• C. Motivation
• D. Deterrence

Answer: (A)

Criminal acts occur when there’s both a motivating desire to commit a crime and an actual chance to carry it out. Motivation is the internal drive—the reasons someone wants something illegal or believes the payoff justifies the risk. Opportunity is the external opening—the presence of a target, a path to act, and a lack of effective guardians or barriers. When both are present, the likelihood of a crime increases; without one or the other, the act is far less likely. Deterrence plays a role by making crime more costly or riskier, which can push decisions away from acting, but it doesn’t create the desire to commit a crime. It changes the calculus, not the underlying motivation or the simple availability of an opportunity. In practice, reducing either element helps prevent crime: addressing underlying needs and opportunities reduces motivation, while improving guardianship and controls reduces opportunity.

Criminal acts occur when there’s both a motivating desire to commit a crime and an actual chance to carry it out. Motivation is the internal drive—the reasons someone wants something illegal or believes the payoff justifies the risk. Opportunity is the external opening—the presence of a target, a path to act, and a lack of effective guardians or barriers. When both are present, the likelihood of a crime increases; without one or the other, the act is far less likely.

Deterrence plays a role by making crime more costly or riskier, which can push decisions away from acting, but it doesn’t create the desire to commit a crime. It changes the calculus, not the underlying motivation or the simple availability of an opportunity.

In practice, reducing either element helps prevent crime: addressing underlying needs and opportunities reduces motivation, while improving guardianship and controls reduces opportunity.