SOC313H1 Lecture Notes - Risk Perception, Karen Horney, Ego Psychology
Document Summary
This article examined relationships among perceived risk of arrest, arrest history, and frequency of committing crimes. Findings suggest that it is important to measure the ratio of arrests to crimes and that perceptions of risk are formed in a manner consistent with a rational choice perspective, even in a sample of serious offenders. Claster"s (1967) study comparing the self-perceived likelihood of arrest between delinquents and nondelinquents concluded that the delinquents" lower estimates of arrest probability were evidence for the magical immunity mechanism posited by psychoanalytic ego psychology. The risk estimates were thus seen as a reflection of the delinquents" distorted self-perception a delusion of arrest immunity . Now instead of being described as delusional, the risk perceptions of active offenders are seen as fairly realistic reflections of actual arrest rates, and the higher estimates of non-offenders are viewed as exaggerated estimates of certainty of punishment.
