The deterrence theory, Gladwell explained, holds that people rebel when the benefits outweigh the risks. “The problem with the deterrence theory,” he said, “is too often it doesn’t explain behavior.”
William Warren Geary, 72, of Manhattan Beach, was sentenced Dec. 15 in Federal Court in Santa Ana to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay back almost $1 million he took from fellow co-owners of a Florida mall that he helped build in 2002.