4. Realist Theories of crime- Right realism Flashcards
Outline right realists view of crime
Right realists see crime as a real problem for society; they see the cause of it as partly biological and party social.
, they focus on deterring offenders.
Right Realism believes individuals make a rational choice to commit crime, and emphasises tough control measures to reduce crime – such as zero tolerance policing.
Right realism see crime as a real & growing problem that destroys communities, undermines social cohesion & threatens society’s work ethic.
Right realism reflects this poltical climate .
criticise other theories for failing to offer any practical solutions to the problem of rising crime.
They regard theories such as labelling & critical criminology as too sympathetic to the criminal
Right realists are less concerned to understand the causes of crime & more concerned to provide what they see as a realistic solution
Outline causes of crime (Right Realism)
The two main theories about the causes of crime associated with Right Realism :
‘Rational Choice Theory’, ‘
Broken Windows Theory’,
Crime is the product of 3 factors:
* Individual biological differences
- Inadequate socialization
- Individual rational choice to offend
Outline Biological differences as an explanation for cause of crime
Wilson & Herrnstein
Wilson & Herrnstein( 1985) put forward biosocial theory of criminal behavior. In their view, crime is caused by a combination of biological & social factors.
Biological differences between individuals make some people innately more strongly predisposed to commit crime crime than others. Personality traits such as aggressiveness, extroversion, risk taking put people at greater risk of offending in addition low intelligence is also contributing factor
Outline Socialization & underclass as en explanation for cause of crime
Murray
Murray(1990) claims that crime rate is increasing because of a growing underclass who fail to socialise their children properly. According to Murrqay , the underclass is growing as a result of welfare dependancy
He calls the welfare state ‘generous revolution’ to increase the numbers of people to become dependent on state, led to decline in marriage & growth of lone parenthood
Murray claims that lone mothers are ineffective socialisation agents, & absent fathers means boys lack parental discipline & male role models thus young males turn to role models of the street & gain status through crime
Explain rational choice theory (right realism)
Clarke
Is the idea that crime is a matter of individual choice – individuals choose to commit crime
Rational Choice Theory states that most criminals are rational actors.
Clarke argues that the decision to commit crimes is a choice based on rational calculation of likely consequences .If perceived rewards outweigh costs, people are more likely to offend.
If the criminal calculates that the risk of getting caught is low, or that the punishment if caught will not be severe, then they are more likely to commit crime, assuming the reward for doing that crime is high enough. They are rational in that they weigh up the costs and benefits in order to assess whether a crime is worth committing.
Evaluations of Right Realist explanations of causes of crime( rational choice theory)
- Right realists ignore wider structural causes such as poverty.
- It overstates offenders rationality and how far they make cost-benefit calculations before commiting a crime. While it may explain some ulitarian crime, does not explain impulsive or violent crime
- Right realists view of criminals as rational actors freely choosing crime conflicts with its claim that behaviour is determined by biology & socialisation
- It over-emphasises biological factors : lily et al-IQ differences account for less than 3% of differences in offending
Outline Right realists view of Tackling crime-refer to Broken windows theory
Wilson & kelling
Right realisrts due not deal with causes of crime, instead seek practical measures to make crime less attractive
main focus is on control,containment & punishment of offenders rather than eliminating the underlying causes of offending or rehabilitating them
Broken Windows Theory (Wilson and Kelling 1982
This approach is based on. Wilson and Kelling’s (1982) article ‘Broken Windows’ that focuses on crime prevention
Wilson and Kelling use the the phrase ‘broken windows’ to stand for ] signs of disorder and lack of concern for others that are found in some neighbourhoods. This includes]graffiti, begging, ,littering, vandalism.
In such neighbourhoods, there is an absence of both formal social control and informal social control (the police and the community respectively). The policy are only concerned with serious crime and turn a blind eye to petty nuisance behaviour, while members of the community feel intimidated and powerless. Without remedial action, the situation deteriorates, tipping the neighbourhood into a spiral of decline. Respectable people move out (if they can) and the area becomes a magnet for deviants.
They advocate a zero-tolerance policy towards undesireable behaviour such as prostitution , begging , drunkness. The police should focus on controlling the streets so people feel safe
Outline zero- tolerance policy
Zero Tolerance Policing involves strictly enforcing penalties for relatively minor crimes or anti-social behaviour such as begging, drug possession, public drinking.
This approach was famously used to crack down on rapidly increasing crime in New York City in the 1980s, which was suffering from a crime epidemic, linked to high levels crack-cocaine use a that time.
Specific examples of Zero Tolerance approaches adopted at that time included a ‘clean car program’ which was instituted on the subway, in which tube-cars were taken out of service immediately if they had any graffiti on them, only being returned once clean. As a result graffiti was largely removed from the subways.
Evaluation of Broken Windows Theory
Strength
A2015 Meta-Analysisof 30 studies which had been designed to evaluated social disorder policing. The analysis found that community and problem-solving interventions focused on reducing levels of social disorder in specific locations had the strongest effect on reducing crime levels.
Evaluating Zero tolerance policy
Young (2011) argues that zero tolerance policing for reducing crime is a myth peddled by politicians & police keen to take the credit for falling crime, argues police need arrests to justify their existance & new yorks shortage of serious crime led police to define deviance up and arrested people for minor deviant acts
- Zero tolerance policy is preoccupied with petty street crime & ignores corporate crime , which is costly & harmful
- It gives the police free rein to discriminate against minorities, youths & homeless
- Zero tolerance and target hardening leads to displacement of crime to other areas
