A case for evolutionary criminology: Introducing the retribution and reciprocity model

Abstract

We live in a reciprocating world – we smile when someone smiles at us, get angry when we perceive injustice, and support the social norm even when we cannot explain why. This paper sheds light on one of the most unlikely explanatory mechanisms of crime: cooperation. By combining knowledge from neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and behavioural economics, this theoretical paper presents the evidence that could help us understand crime and organises it into a Retribution and Reciprocity Model (RRM). RRM has the potential to help us take a step back and see how criminal acts may be an outcome of evolutionary mechanisms that the field of criminology should not overlook.

Keywords

• Evolutionary psychology
• Behavioural economics
• Retribution
• Reciprocity
• Tit-for-tat