The Behavioral Code: The Hidden Ways the Law Makes Us Better . . . or Worse

by Benjamin van Rooij, Adam Fine

A 2022 PROSE Award finalist in Legal Studies and Criminology

A Behavioral Scientist's Notable Book of 2021

Freakonomics for the law--how applying behavioral science to the law can fundamentally change and explain misbehavior

Why do most Americans wear seatbelts but continue to speed even though speeding fines are higher? Why could park rangers reduce theft by removing "no stealing" signs? Why was a man who stole 3 golf clubs sentenced to 25 years in prison?

Some laws radically change behavior whereas others are consistently ignored and routinely broken. And yet we keep relying on harsh punishment against crime despite its continued failure.

Professors Benjamin van Rooij and Adam Fine draw on decades of research to uncover the behavioral code: the root causes and hidden forces that drive human behavior and our responses to society's laws. In doing so, they present the first accessible analysis of behavioral jurisprudence, which will fundamentally alter how we understand the connection between law and human behavior.

The Behavioral Code offers a necessary and different approach to battling crime and injustice that is based in understanding the science of human misconduct--rather than relying on our instinctual drive to punish as a way to shape behavior. The book reveals the behavioral code's hidden role through illustrative examples like:

- The illusion of the US's beloved tax refund
- German walls that "pee back" at public urinators
- The $1,000 monthly "good behavior" reward that reduced gun violence
- Uber's backdoor "Greyball" app that helped the company evade Seattle's taxi regulators
- A $2.3 billion legal settlement against Pfizer that revealed how whistleblower protections fail to reduce corporate malfeasance
- A toxic organizational culture playing a core role in Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal
- How Peter Thiel helped Hulk Hogan sue Gawker into oblivion

Revelatory and counterintuitive, The Behavioral Code catalyzes the conversation about how the law can effectively improve human conduct and respond to some of our most pressing issues today, from police misconduct to corporate malfeasance.

Genres: Nonfiction, Law, Psychology, Economics, Politics, Sociology, Social Science

312 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2021

Reviews

[Wilte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important book that bridges the gap between Legal and Behavioral Sciences. Seeing how current laws and regulations function and are drafted, this is very necessary. Not a lot of new insights for those who already versed in behavioral sciences, but the application and connection to the legal profession is important and useful.

Full summary: https://wilte.wordpress.com/2021/11/1...

[Noemi Toth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very readable and easy to understand. It highlights the root causes of how law shapes behaviour, and it gives empirical evidence for the different methods as well as highlights the limitations and complications (which I believe is crucial in grasping the complexity of 'the behavioural code'). It is an honour to be taught by the author of this book.

[Niek · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Behavioral Code is not your average popular science book. Sure, it's an accessible read and there are attention grabbing stories from practice to introduce academic findings. But what makes this book stand out is that it is heavy on the science. Essentially, The Behavioral Code reviews the current state of the literature on the intersection of legal and behavioral science. It stays away from the sexy headline grabbing single studies, but rather looks at robust bodies of literature. In doing so, Van Rooij and Fine bust a lot of myths and beliefs, for example about the effectiveness of punishments. It's a nuanced book, that does not offer easy solutions, but does convincingly make the case for a more behaviorally informed Law.

[Heather-le Byrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be not only insightful and educational, but interesting as well. The Behavioral code definitely opened my eyes to things I, and many people, never really think twice about. I enjoyed this book and recommended it!

[Carson Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Behavioral Code is an insightful and interesting book everyone should read! Based entirely on reputable and honest scientific evidence, it explores how humans actually behave in response to the law. Laws have been around for centuries, with the same intention: to keep us safe from harm. However the logic behind laws has not changed as it still relies on human intuitions rather than behavioral science. It is for this reason the modern US legal system is destined to fail.

This book does not urge for specific policy changes or favor one side, but objectively weighs scientific findings to conclude that there needs to be a new approach to law, separate from our own intuitions, preference, and biases. These are a few of the scientific findings I found most compelling:

- When law enforcement cracked down and conducted a zero-tolerance campaign for even low-level crimes in Cincinnati, killings in the city increased by 12 additional murders per day.
- When the police department instead enacted “focused deterrence” by prioritizing certainty and swiftness, emphasizing targeted messaging about punishment, and offering employment counseling and life coaching, homicides declined almost 38% ! Crime reduction requires socioeconomic opportunities. People respond to social and moral appeals in their community.
- Incarceration raises the rate of re-offending by 5-14%
- Operation Peacemaker Fellowship: In Oakland, the city provided $1000 monthly cash stipends for high-risk, violent youthful offenders as a reward for making progress toward “life goals” like stopping drug use, getting their driver’s license, etc. This dropped the city’s homicide rate by 50% !
- About 1 in every 1,000 Black men can expect to be killed by the police :(
- Black men are about 2.5 time more likely to be killed by police than white men
- Defendants convicted of killing a white victim were 4.3 time more likely to receive capital punishment than those convicted of killing a Black victim
- In an LA neighborhood with high levels of gang activity and history of systematic racism, the LAPD developed a “relationship-based” model of policing. Cops built trust and relationships with residents, learning their names, treating them with compassion as fellow humans. They participated and started neighborhood activities like a farmers market, Girl Scout troop, sports leagues for kids, etc. As a result, crime reduced drastically. For 2 years after start of program, there was not a single murder. The program reduced crime and improved policing.
- Most people who serve time in prison reoffend. In a large study, 68% of people released from prison had been arrested again within 3 years.
- Puppy programs in prisons where inmates are responsible for training puppies is shown to enhance inmates’ self-esteem, empathy, emotional intelligence, and coping skills :)
- Prisoners who trained puppies became more patient and more willing to comply with the prisons rules.
- Cognitive therapy that trained prisoners in social skills, coping skills, problem solving, stress management led to a 14% decrease in crime
- Programs in cognitive skills are five times more effective than typical punishment through incarceration.
- Educational, ovational, and work programs for adults reduce offending by 6-20 %
- Behavioral and social-learning treatment for at-risk juveniles and adults reduced offending by 60% !
- Poverty is one of the strongest predictors of crime :(
- Based on data in 63 countries, poverty rates are consistently correlated with homicide, robbery, and burglary. To fight crime, we must fight poverty.
- A 10% increase in graduation rates would reduce murder and assault by 20%
- 35% of universities have denied applicants because they have criminal records
- High-risk youth were 50% less likely to get arrested and imprisoned if they had attended higher-quality schools
- Expanding access to better housing in nicer, suburban neighborhoods for lower-income people had no impact on crime rates in those suburban communities
- The first vaccination was created in 1798. By giving people cowpox, they would be immune to smallpox.
- When cities develop better street lighting, crime levels drop dramatically by an average of 21%
- Between 2010 and 2015, closing off opportunities to produce meth made it worse.
- Over the past 40 years, US has increased its prison and jail population by 500%
- The longer the jail sentences for juveniles, the less likely they will prevent crime when the prisoners grow up.
- When there was a federal ban on assault rifles in 1994 (not all guns, shotguns and pistols still allowed), none of the ten deadliest shootings occurred. Three occurred before and seven occurred after the ban expired in 2004.
- the risk of homicide in the home is tripled when there are firearms in the house.
- After the NRA complained about that study^, Congress banned the CDC from doing research about the relationship between homicide and gun ownership.

You have to read it to believe it! It is fascinating how studying behavior is the key to preventing crime and enabling opportunities, yet it is only done by scientists and not incorporated into the law. The ones who make laws rely on their assumptions and intuition, using punishment as the only force in preventing crime. This just doesn't work. The US Justice System needs to be fundamentally changed, incorporating empirical analysis into lawmaking. This would make the world a safer place for all of us!

[Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is an essential book for people working in law, criminal justice, law enforcement, policy making, etc. I also recommend it for behavioral scientists, particularly those doing work / thinking about how policy, systems, and behavior interact.

On a technical / academic note, there were a few studies that had small sample sizes or have since been debunked that were included. I don’t think it undercuts the argument of the whole book, just something to be aware of.

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.5* of five (Pearl Rule @ 42%)

The Publisher Says: A 2022 PROSE Award finalist in Legal Studies and Criminology
A Behavioral Scientist's Notable Book of 2021
Freakonomics for the law—how applying behavioral science to the law can fundamentally change and explain misbehavior

Why do most Americans wear seatbelts but continue to speed even though speeding fines are higher? Why could park rangers reduce theft by removing "no stealing" signs? Why was a man who stole 3 golf clubs sentenced to 25 years in prison?

Some laws radically change behavior whereas others are consistently ignored and routinely broken. And yet we keep relying on harsh punishment against crime despite its continued failure.

Professors Benjamin van Rooij and Adam Fine draw on decades of research to uncover the behavioral code: the root causes and hidden forces that drive human behavior and our responses to society's laws. In doing so, they present the first accessible analysis of behavioral jurisprudence, which will fundamentally alter how we understand the connection between law and human behavior.

The Behavioral Code offers a necessary and different approach to battling crime and injustice that is based in understanding the science of human misconduct—rather than relying on our instinctual drive to punish as a way to shape behavior. The book reveals the behavioral code's hidden role through illustrative examples like:

The illusion of the US's beloved tax refund
German walls that "pee back" at public urinators
The $1,000 monthly "good behavior" reward that reduced gun violence
Uber's backdoor "Greyball" app that helped the company evade Seattle's taxi regulators
A $2.3 billion legal settlement against Pfizer that revealed how whistleblower protections fail to reduce corporate malfeasance
A toxic organizational culture playing a core role in Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal
How Peter Thiel helped Hulk Hogan sue Gawker into oblvivion

Revelatory and counterintuitive, The Behavioral Code catalyzes the conversation about how the law can effectively improve human conduct and respond to some of our most pressing issues today, from police misconduct to corporate malfeasance.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Why read for pleasure when you can eat your spinach, suffer, and learn? Why indeed...I had to quit reading at 42% because I am utterly outraged.

In the landscape of a crooked, lying rapist manipulating the system in advance by appointing political hacks to the courts high and low, and thus possibly evading...AGAIN...consequences for his vile actions, I just could not continue. The prose is redable, the arguments stand up to my poking around for other opinions, but I'm just not in the headspace to read this badly-needed work of popular social science.

Beacon Press hardcovers are $27.95, and I'll urge the purchase on you.

[MIKE Watkins Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is similar to Lawrence Friedman's book "Impact: How Law Affects Behavior" in that it explores the often neglected psychological components that make the law function.

I would recommend both books because Friedman's book dives more so into the impact aspect of how current law shapes behavior, while this book deals more with how people themselves tend to respond to laws and why.

This book also provides more of a layman's overview of this topic as well.


The premise behind the book is this, "words printed on paper. In the end, that is what the legal code is, or at least what it always was until we developed digital legal databases and it became words represented by zeros and ones. And once we see what the legal code really is, its failures to change behavior do not seem so surprising. Simply by writing a text, legislators somehow hope to change real everyday behavior. But how can text, whether printed or digital, affect our behavior? How can law in the books become law in action? This is no easy feat. "

Or in other words, the idea that in order to accurately diagnose problems in society, we need to factor in human behavior.

As far as ways we can influence behavior when creating law... "All of this shows a new approach to dealing with misbehavior. Besides trying to use incentives or social norms to motivate people, and besides supporting and helping people lead a law-abiding life, we can also just make it harder or impossible to misbehave in the first place."

The author also covers how to shape behavior on an organizational level, and that this is most effectively done by entering said organization and attempting to understand how people in said organization develop a shared understanding and communicate with one another.


The author closes by pointing out that behavior code (what he calls this overall process) works via motivations and situations. He goes on to provide a 7 step process on how we can go about figuring out the motivations+situations that can motivate people to comply with a law.


Conclusion: Overall this made for an interesting read. If you have any experience in studying this, the first 4 chapters or so will serve as an entertaining review if anything. However, the later chapters will really surprise you and introduce some new concepts you're likely not familiar with.

This book comes short of a 5/5 book for me because it wasn't as entertaining as a 5/5 book typically is. I can't say i was hooked on this book to the point where i couldn't put it down, the last chapter or so on organizations in particular, was boring, at least until the last portion of the chapter.

The author also decided to give a similar roadmap/layout for each chapter...so at times it became kind of repetitive.

But overall this was a really good book, and besides, i didn't feel like Friedman's book was a 5/5 either so.

[Paul Froehlich · Rating 5 out of 5]

With rising rates of violent crime, it is timely to examine the conditions under which people are more or less likely to obey the law. Research often finds different answers than public intuition and helps us to understand what works.

“Science has made the invisible behavioral code visible…Over the last four decades, scientific insights have revolutionized our understanding of how humans act and why they misbehave.” This book calls for applying those insights to the legal code.

The research, for example, clearly shows that certainly of punishment deters better than its severity. Yet the first reaction to high profile, outrageous crimes is to demand harsher penalties. Researchers find that when violators are detected fewer than 30 percent of the time, violations tend to increase. Likewise, violations decrease when more than 30 percent of violators are caught. One reason automated camera enforcement at red lights changes driver behavior is the high probability of detection and a fine.

Rooij and Fine conclude, “Altogether, there is no conclusive evidence that stricter punishments do or do not deter criminal behavior.” So the knee-jerk reaction to crime should focus on better ensuring that offenders are caught, rather than making penalties more harsh.
But the public likes punishment. There is evidence that humans are “biologically hardwired for punishment.” One study found that the dopamine system is activated when we punish others. “There is a focus on retributive justice, because people want to get even.”

Police visibility also has a sentinel effect in deterring crime. The perception of risk of being caught is what matters. Consequently, visible, high-profile enforcement deters better than secretive, low-profile enforcement. That’s why police checkpoints for DUI are effective deterrents, even when they don’t net many offenders. Lots of people see the checkpoints and therefore perceive a high risk of detection.

By the same token, there are crime hot spots where a small area generates the vast majority of police calls. Beefing up police presence in those areas reduces calls. “Studies find that investing in police is a much more efficient way to deter crime than investing in the prison system.”

People assume that imprisonment deters crime, even though recidivism rates after release typically exceed 50 percent. Systematic studies have found that formerly imprisoned persons re-offend much more frequently than those who committed similar crimes but were not imprisoned. In short, imprisonment actually has a criminogenic effect of increasing crime.

Does punishment of some deter others? Studies of three-strikes laws find a deterrent effect of between zero and 2 percent. Other studies find that three-strikes laws increase crime. In addition, people facing a third strike may be particularly violent to avoid apprehension since they have nothing to lose. If three-strikes laws do deter, however, the cost is high given how many offenders are incarcerated for life.

Does the death penalty deter? Studies have come down on both sides of that question. One persistent finding is that capital punishment has a brutalization effect that increases homicides. The National Research Council has twice stated that the research on deterrence is not dispositive.

When it comes to white collar crime, it is a truism among trial lawyers that the tort liability system helps to keep us safe. Trial lawyers argue that the larger the punitive damages, the better the deterrent. The evidence, however, is not so clearcut as they would have it. For many types of liability, including medical malpractice, car accidents, and product safety, “there is no conclusive evidence that tort liability acts” as a deterrent to keep people from engaging in risky behavior. Better to ensure that paying liability becomes inevitable and that injured parties have easy access to sue.

So what works? An effective anti-crime program emphasizes the certainty of apprehension, the swiftness of punishment, and the communication of consequences to potential offenders. Publicity of punishment matters, which is why every April the IRS predictably releases information about people convicted for tax evasion.

Among the many other findings in the book are these:
• When people feel the legal system is fair, they are more likely to feel obligated to obey. Abusive law enforcement undermines the sense of fairness.
• When people are told that their peers are following the law, then they are more likely to do so themselves. Social norms are powerful forces that can be used to enhance compliance.
• Those with weaker self-control commit more crime. Self-control and critical reasoning can be improved, and recidivism reduced, via cognitive therapy that teaches detainees how to think.
• “A 2005 review of 214 studies on the relationship between poverty and crime found overwhelming evidence that more poverty leads to higher levels of crime but also that poverty is one of the strongest macro-level predictors of crime…This means that, to fight crime, we must address and relieve the root causes of poverty.”
• Changing situations to make crime harder to commit can greatly reduce crime. For example, nighttime public urination at Amsterdam’s Royal Palace was cut in half by switching the lights on.
• Crime peaks in adolescence, and the propensity for criminal behavior declines with age. A study of serious adolescent offenders found that after 7 years, only 9 percent continued to offend at high rates. Consequently, keeping young adults locked up for decades may not prevent many crimes since most would’ve aged out anyway.
• Corporate wrongdoing more often involves problems with the organizational culture rather than with a few bad apples. Compliance management and ethics programs help reduce wrongdoing by a small amount. Such programs can be window dressing to protect top management from blame.

The authors make a persuasive case that we should support policies that work, based upon scientific evidence, instead of policies that don’t work, and that may make things worse. Our legal system should rely more upon science, like medicine does, instead of upon traditional assumptions or on intuition. ‘That will actually keep us safe.”

[Xander Dale]

let me begin by saying i don't typically rate nonfiction books! unless there's a strong reason i feel like i need to / should.

This was for my legal studies class, and i really enjoyed how it focused on social science training for lawyers, in support of therapeutic and procedural justice. This book did a great job at supporting it's arguments for more humane forms of a carceral system, through rehabilitation. I really enjoyed the way that so many examples were used as well, he specifically contextualizes a point of law that is often uneffective (due to it's lack of behavioral awareness), and adds evidence on the contrary, and suggests how those laws should be changed.

I think as someone who's never been particularly interested in Psychology, this book gave me the tools from psych that I'd need to be an effective lawyer, and a supporter of prison-abolition and humane-prisoner-treatment type policy.

Basically, lawyers are trained to understand the law! Not the way that law and behavior interact, and the way that that effects people (and often in racist and structurally negative ways).

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me a while to get into, but once I did, I found it fascinating. It looked at how we react to laws in sometimes the opposite way that was intended because we are not rational creatures. It also ended with three ideas on how we could make sure that our legal code incorporates our behavioral code. Those ideas were to change our legal system to "embrace a behavioral jurisprudence that assesses and corrects flawed assumptions about behavior in the law". We need to add science to the law. Scientists do all sorts of studies on behavior, but they don't make it to the people who make the laws. And the third thing is that we need to look at ourselves and our own actions. "We have to demand policies that work, not just ones that sound good and feed our intuitions." Probably none of my friends will read this, but it was a really good and informative book.

[Ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not have a professional background in the field of behavioral psychology, but this book makes me want to go back to school. Seriously. How refreshing and fascinating it is to read about the ways in which we can transform our society for the better without having to build yet another jail or prison. The text is extremely accessible, and the examples used by Van Rooij and Fine really clarify their main theses. If you are even remotely interested in our law system and the way in which people behave, this is a must read for you!

[Mathias Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very instructive and readable book. The authors use scientific findings and memorable storytelling to show why rules, laws, and punishments often fail to serve their purpose, which is to correct behavior.

It is convincingly shown that lawyers, judges and lawmakers should incorporate more knowledge of the behavioral sciences into their decision-making.

Too often, politicians, regardless of their political views, think that punishment is enough to make undesirable behavior disappear. This thinking is not only often wrong, it sometimes even leads to the opposite effect.

[Tooka Zokaie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible intersection of behavioral science and law. An interesting complement to other books such as Nudge or Predictably Irrational.
I was looking for something to offer actionable insight to the overturn of Roe v Wade- and while this book doesn’t DIRECTLY address that, it does show how people make decisions and weigh morality, logic, and law. It gives a roadmap of how to try and transform law as we know it to be more rooted in behavior change and community support rather than control and punishment.

[Charlie Heidrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Must read for anyone interested in modern human behavior.

I'm not sure why it took me 30 years to realize I should know more about how law affects our behavior... but here we are. This is an excellent read. Fun and digestible but full of details I never knew. Examples are given throughout to help readers understand concepts. Highly recommend.

[Armen Shirvanian]

My interview with Professor Benjamin van Rooij about "The Behavioral Code" for The Armen Show Podcast:

Episode 328 of The Armen Show with Professor Benjamin van Rooij

[Matt Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book makes reference to great research by Ariely, Kahneman, and other social scientists. It also makes some plausible claims about how law could use reshaping. Still, it feels like a retread for those who read this kind of thing with any regularity. It was a good reminder of things I have seen elsewhere, but I wanted to see it make some bolder claims of effective changes we should make now.

[thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complete objective look at how we can rework social systems in order to drive compliance without appealing to a tyrannical approach.

[Sishi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good textbook for both CJ and crim featuring the combination of behavioral science and criminological theory.