3.1 perspectives on crime and deviance - left and right realism

Question 1

How do right realists view crime?

Answer 1

• as a real problem that is destroying communities and social cohesion
• they offer both explanations and practical solutions to crime
• crime will always exist, we just need to limit the impact on victims

Question 2

What are the three causes of crime, according to right realists?

Answer 2

• biological differences
• inadequate socialisation
• rational choice theory

Question 3

Who argued that biological differences are the cause of crime?

Answer 3

• Wilson and Hernstein (1985)

Question 4

What is meant by biological differences being a cause of crime?

Answer 4

• crime is caused by a mixture of biological and social factors
• some people are more predisposed to committing crime than others e.g. certain hormones and personality traits can lead to more aggression, impulsivity and risk taking
• one of the main causes of crime in low intelligence

Question 5

Who argues that inadequate socialisation is the cause of crime?

Answer 5

Murray (1990)

Question 6

What is meant by inadequate socialisation?

Answer 6

• children who are socialised inadequately have a higher risk of becoming offenders
• crime is increasing because of a growing underclass
• the welfare system is a huge factor in creating more of an ‘underclass’
• lone parents don’t socialise adequately

Question 7

Who argues that rational choice theory is the cause of crime?

Answer 7

Clarke (1980)

Question 8

What is meant by rational choice theory as a cause of crime?

Answer 8

• a theory that states everyone has free will and the power of reason
• the decision to commit crime is due to a choice based on a rational calculation of the consequences
• if it is perceived the rewards outweigh the costs, then someone may turn to crime

Question 9

How do right realists think we should tackle crime?

Answer 9

• crime prevention policies should reduce the rewards and increase the cost of committing crime, for example - the greater use of prison

Question 10

What is meant by zero tolerance?

Answer 10

• first introduced in New York in 1994 and was widely applauded for reducing crime in the city
• took a harsher, no tolerance view to crime and stepped up their game

Question 11

What does Young (2011) argue about zero tolerance?

Answer 11

• falling crime was a myth created by politicians

Question 12

What is meant by target hardening?

Answer 12

• making it more difficult for certain crimes to be committed
  e.g CCTV, labelling goods which may be stolen

Question 13

What is the broken windows theory?

Answer 13

• proposed by James Q
• Wilson and George Kelling (1982) = used broken windows as a metaphor for disorder within neighbourhoods and incivility within a community to subsequent occurrences of serious crime

Question 14

What are some strengths of right realism?

Answer 14

• it addresses the immediate causes of crime
• provides practical approaches to dealing with crime
• it recognises the importance of community control and community responses

Question 15

What are some weaknesses of right realism?

Answer 15

• ignores wider structural causes e.g. poverty
• overstates offenders’ rationality and how far they make cost-benefit calculations before committing a crime - it may explain utilitarian crime but not violent crime
• it contradicts itself
• doesn’t pay attention to white collar crime or corporate crime
• strategies just displace crime to other areas

Question 16

What do left realists argue about crime?

Answer 16

• crime can be solved through social policy rather than revolution
• crime needs practical solutions
• the high crime rate has led to an aetiological crisis (a crisis in explanation)

Question 17

What are the three causes of crime according to left realists?

Answer 17

• relative deprivation
• subcultures
• marginialisation

Question 18

What is meant by relative deprivation?

Answer 18

• the feeling of resentment is more important than the actual poverty
• poverty will only cause crime if people feel deprived in relation to each other
• the media and advertising plays a big part in this
• creates a bulimic society

Question 19

What is meant by marginalisation?

Answer 19

• marginalised groups are prone to use violence and rioting to express their frustration because they lack other outlets
• marginalised groups include lower social classes and ethnic minorities

Question 20

What is meant by subcultures?

Answer 20

• the lifestyle chosen by some to solve their problems of living in a capitalist society often emphasise antagonism towards the police and authority in general
• different groups may produce different subcultural solutions to the problem

Question 21

What does Young argue about late modernity, exclusion and crime?

Answer 21

• since the 70s, deindustrialisation has resulted in more poverty especially for young and ethnic minority groups
• there is cultural inclusion, which the media promotes BUT there is also economic exclusion, where the poor are excluded from these opportunities

Question 22

What do Lea and Young argue about policing?

Answer 22

• there are a number of problems with policing: public confidence in the police has declined; the police resort to new policing methods

Question 23

What is meant by consensus policing?

Answer 23

• a policing style which involves community input and support for the police

Question 24

What is meant by military policing?

Answer 24

• a policing style which is primarily policing without the consent, and with the hostility of the community

Question 25

What are the structural causes Young argues that we must address?

Answer 25

• inequality of opportunity
• discrimination
• decent jobs for all
• improved housing and community facilities
• be more tolerant of diversity to stop stereotyping

Question 26

What are the strengths of left realism?

Answer 26

• left realism draws attention to the reality of street crime and its effects, especially on victims from deprived groups

Question 27

What are some weaknesses of left realism?

Answer 27

• it accepts the authorities’ definition of crime as being the street crimes of the poor + ignores the harms done to the poor by the powerful
• over-predicts the amount of WC crime - not everyone who experiences relative deprivation will go on to commit crime
• focusing on high crime inner city areas makes crime appear a greater problem than it is