The term “situational inducement” means situational factors and circumstances which influence a person (a criminal) when he commits a crime. Following Siegel, situational inducement involves motivations and opportunities at a definite period of time. The recognition of self-interest is an important motivational factor. Self-interest is the most important factor in motivating people because the instinct for self-preservation lies behind all human activities. Life is precarious and a constant struggle for survival (Siegel 2007). Security is the desired result of self-interest, but because of its own tenuous nature, it can never be fully achieved and therefore acts as a constant and ongoing source of motivation. For this reason, economic interdependence is not great, and neither is the ability to control other people. Since survival is no longer contingent on the maintenance of personal relations, motivation to refrain from activities that might harm those relationships is lacking.
The same ideas are expressed by Birkbeck and Lafree (1993) who state that: “situational explanations refer to the processes operating at the moment of the crime’s occurrence: they are theories of crime. Sutherland even felt that situational explanation could be “a superior” crime explanation” (1993, p. 113). As an expedient and effective method of achievement, taking unfair advantage of others is one way, and perhaps a common way, of getting ahead, of gaining the competitive edge, and at the end of acquiring wealth, status, and power in American society.
In contrast to Siegel, Birkbeck, and Lafree (1993) any number of factors may contribute to the selection of one form of exploitation over another. The fact that exploitation is common makes it more difficult for the inhibitors self-restraint and control to be effective. Despite any degree of reprehensibility or culpability, the presence of exploitation and the diminution of important inhibitors create an environment conducive to crime. Attacking criminality alone is illogical. It is analogous to an attempt to extinguish the flames of a fire fed by an open gas jet: the flames are the major problem, but the cause is the gas. In contrast to Birkbeck and Lafree (1993), Siegel states that opportunity alone does not explain the occurrence of criminality, because it fails to account for why some people refrain from exploitation even when the opportunity is there. Some people readily engage in such activities, never considering or caring about the harm they cause others, but others never even contemplate doing something that might hurt someone else. Apparently, acceptability varies by degrees. Given the right circumstances, you might cheat someone on a business deal, but you could never imagine physically injuring someone for personal gain (Siegel 2007). It is unlikely that those who exploit others perceive that there will be greater benefits from such acts and are more willing to take the risks than other people who refrain. It is also unlikely that those who abstain are more conscious of the punishments. Each of us, given our own particular background and socialization, has unique images of acceptable and unacceptable patterns of interpersonal interaction. The degree of acceptability is directly related to the kinds of exploitation people will consider.
In sum, “situational inducement’ is a complex term because crime is determined within the dominant culture of a particular society. As long as people are socialized to accept and practice various forms of exploitation because of the value placed on achievement, particularly material achievement, and not to concern themselves too much with the means of achievement, then crime will be prevalent. This process of acculturation takes place within the informal spectrums of social life to a much greater extent than it involves formal institutions.
References
Birkbeck, Ch., Lafree, G. (1993). The Situational Analysis of Crime and Deviance. Annual Review of Sociology, 19 (1), pp. 113-115.
Siegel, L. J. (2007). Criminology: The Core. Wadsworth Publishing; 3 edition.