a law when detection and punishment

a law when detection and punishment are certain when the policeman is standing on the comer. At the lesser level of enforcement, some people violate laws even though the chances of getting caught is great. They are risk-lovers who knowingly take a chance: they gamble on the card,even though they know that the house does not lose in long run.

Actual evidence on the differential effect of sanctions on the risk-avoiders and risk-takers is quite limited. Indeed, there is little on the whole subject of the effect on enforcement of what Zimring and Hawkins call "differences among men". Berkowitz
and Walker found differences in attitude toward moral and legal propositions among British college students, which they thought could relate to scores on personality tests.It is some distance, however, from attitude to behavior.

Clearly too, culture is a crucial determinant of legal behavior. Moral and cultural factors affect the deterrence curve. These are often the factors hardest
to manipulate Or synthesize. Behavior imbedded in the mores and supported by the mores changes slowly and at great pains. Since there is no single world culture, there is no reason to expect the same deterrence curve for armed robbery or drunkenness in Hungary and Honduras.