1. Rational choice and determinist theorists have very different ideas about what causes people to engage in criminal and deviant behaviors. Describe the main differences between the two.
The main difference between the two is that rational choice theory suggests that people act based on rational choice, and have free-will in determining whether or not they will decide to commit a crime. The theory suggests that people act based on a hedonistic calculus, and that humans will always decide on the choice that brings them the most pleasure and can be deterred by factors that will bring them pain. On the other hand, determinist theory assumes that behavior is determined by something other than free-will choice. Determinism theorists assume there are forces that impact someone’s ability to commit crimes that cannot be controlled by the person themselves.
2. What is the goal of the pre-crime unit in Minority Report?
The goal of the pre-crime unit in the Minority Report was to prevent murders before they were supposed to happen. The “precogs” had the ability to see a possible future murder, and the pre-crime unit’s job was to rush to the scene and stop the possible murder before it happened.
3. What assumption does the unit make concerning the cause of criminality? Consider how this might relate to deterministic theories of crime.
The assumption the unit makes is that the crime is already predetermined and that the “criminal” doesn’t have the free-will to change that possible outcome. Even if at the last second the criminal decided to stop themself, they would still be jailed by this pre-crime unit with seemingly no trial or scheduled release. This fits with the ideas of determinism and that the actions of someone are controlled by a power other than oneself.
4. Does ‘free will’ play any part in the behaviors and actions of the characters in the film?
The main character, John Anderton, is shown acting on his own free-will throughout the entire film. The other characters also have many acts of free-will, but Anderton’s actions are the most important to the plot. His actions end up proving that free-will is the driving force behind one’s actions, and that people can choose not to commit the criminal acts that the precogs predict them committing.
5. Consider the ethical implications of determinism as illustrated in Minority Report. For example, should people be arrested and convicted of crimes they have not committed, but who are genetically or psychologically disposed to do so?
In my personal opinion, I believe that everyone absolutely has free choice even if one’s choices are restricted by their situations/environment. I don’t think that anyone is “predisposed” to commit crimes because someone’s actions are not determined by their DNA. Therefore, I do not think that people should be arrested based on the belief that they are predisposed to commit crime. I think that if someone is showing signs of mental illness that could potentially cause them to be violent, they should be able to receive real care and counseling rather than imprisonment. The idea of preventing crime before it happens seems great in theory, but because people are capable of changing their minds at any moment I don’t think that determinism should be implemented in our justice system.
6. In what ways can “pre-crime” prediction be useful/beneficial to society? In what ways can it be harmful? Use examples from the film to explain.
The most obvious benefit would be that being able to see all the possible murders allows you to imprison all the possible murderers regardless of whether or not they actually committed a crime. This would significantly reduce the number of deaths and could potentially lead to a murder-free society, but there probably wouldn’t be enough people to run society since given the circumstances almost anyone could potentially become a murderer. As I said before as to why it can be harmful, so many people would be imprisoned wrongfully without committing a crime just because there is a possibility of them committing that crime.
7. Try to locate an example of society labeling and consequently punishing or targeting people viewed as belonging to a criminal/deviant group before they have done anything.
As we have been talking about a lot lately in class, black people are more often criminalized than white people. Particularly lower-class black men are portrayed as “dangerous” by various media in our society and this has caused a label to form. Young black men are more likely to be labeled as deviants even if they have not committed any crimes or done anything deviant. People in poverty and homeless people are labeled as thieves and criminals more often, again even if they haven’t committed any crimes. It is always minority groups that are labeled by society as criminal or deviant and never middle aged white men in positions of power that commit white collar crime that damages the economy more than any other theft can.
