Question

Donald was arrested for murdering an acquaintance. At the trial, Donald takes the stand and testifies that he and the victim knew each other. He admits that they would drink and use drugs together. One night while partying, Donald explains in his testimony, an argument got out of hand during a card game. Donald explains that the victim accused him of cheating and pulled out a knife on him and started swinging it in the air. Donald said that he had no choice but to pull out his gun and shoot the victim. The jury convicted Donald of manslaughter. Who would argue that Donald weighed the potential costs and benefits of shooting the victim and decided to pull the trigger as a result of free will? a. A rational choice theorist b. A critical criminologist c. A conflict theorist d. A positivist

Answer 1

After analyzing this scenario, we can come to the conclusion that the option the best defines the situation is:

a. A rational choice theorist

That means Donald was aware of the consequences of pulling the trigger, even if that was due to his own attemp to self defense. That choice was rational.