BURSIK Deterrence research related to criminal behavior has focused traditionally on the effectiveness of legal sanctions in the form of physical and material deprivations. The research of Grasmick and Bursik is embedded in a new line of inquiry that emphasizes the role of extra-legal factors in controlling anti-social behavior. Theoretically, the study will contribute to deterrence research by linking the moral dimension of controlling anti-social behavior emphasized in sociology with the utilitarian paradigm of rational actors, a notion drawn from the expected utility models associated with economics. Their approach will expand the utilitarian paradigm by incorporating personal moral beliefs and community standards in the calculation of expected costs that rational actors weigh in assessing the utility of anti-social behavior. Specifically, their proposal will make use of a cross-sectional survey conducted in 1982 in Oklahoma City that is to be replicated in 1992. The survey is designed to measure relationships between perceived certainties and severities of shame, embarrassment and legal sanctions, and self-reports of littering, tax cheating, drunk driving, assault, illegal gambling, and petty theft. During the ten years since 1982, offense-specific legislation, social movement activity, and appeals to conscience have occured at the national and local levels, and are expected to have changed the levels of perceived threats in the community. The merged dataset will be the basis for testing hypotheses that changes in the perceived threats of shame and embarrassment might be more powerful explanations of changes in offense prevalence than is change in perceived threat of legal sanctions.
