The assumption of rational choice theory in Alfred Adler's theory of crime: Unraveling and reconciling the contradiction in Adlerian theory through synthesis and critique

Alfred Adler is often introduced and discussed incorrectly as one of Freud's students and as a psychoanalytic theorist in criminology and psychology textbooks. While thinkers such as Freud and Jung theorize about crime in tangential ways, as almost an afterthought to their accounts of neurosis and personality, Alfred Adler was one of the few pioneers in the history of psychology who had an actual theory of crime. Yet, Adler's writings on crime, its causes and assumptions have been largely overlooked in contemporary research. While Adler espoused the view that crime represents a "useless" response to the social demands of life, we argue that Adler's theory of crime presupposes a rational choice model of criminal behavior, thus mirroring the Classical School perspective on crime. This paper provides a synthesis and a critique of Alfred Adler's theory of crime. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.