Crime - left and right realist theories and crime prevention - Flashcards
Why do Right Realists believe people commit crime?
Hernstein and Wilson - bad socialisation, biological differences.
Rational choice theory (risk vs reward)
Charles Murray - underclass cause crime.
What do Right Realists believe is the solution to crime?
JQ Wilson - broken windows thesis - Deal with little things and it won’t escalate further.
Make risk higher than reward (deterrence) - ZERO TOLERANCE.
What is zero tolerance and where was it first used?
New York 1994 Cleaned subways and houses - make it nicer place to live. Clamped down on minor offences Immediate punishment. Police focus on controlling streets.
Evaluation of zero tolerance?
- There was already a general decline in crime rate.
- By 1994 new jobs were being created.
- Decline in availability of Crack Cocaine.
- NYPD had 7000 new officers.
- Short term
- Displacement of crime (crime went up in areas around - New York)
- Criminalisation (labelling theory)
Evaluation of Right Realism?
- Rational choice theory overstates offenders and how much they make effective decisions - may not be choice (drugs)
- Broken window theory gives police free range to target minorities. (selective policing)
- Biological theory of crime conflicts with view that criminals choose to commit crime - can’t explain white collar crime.
What are the left realist beliefs on causes of crime?
Relative deprivation - feeling poor compared to others - explains white collar crime.
Rise of individualism
Subcultures (response from relative deprivation) - goals and means - Howard and Chlorin illegitimate opportunities. This is result of theodicy of dispriviledge - ways of coping.
Marginalisation - not having an outlet for frustration for deprived.
What is the square of crime?
Left realist idea
Response from formal social control. (criminal justice system)
Response from informal social control. (public reaction)
Victim
Offender
Says that cjs is influenced by all 3 other factors. (every element is important)
What do left realists believe are the problems with ASBO’s? 4
Blurred boundaries of crime - more manufactured crime - links to broken windows thesis so therefore suggests that right realist zero tolerance created crime.
Subjective definition - no subjective definition.
Flexibility - net can be constantly widened.
Crime has been going down but government have created a new crime wave through ASBO’s to replace it.
What do left realists suggest to control crime?
Think that military policing creates mobilisation of bystanders so best way to control crime is COMMUNITY POLICE - ask community what they want policed - where implemented 90% of crime was reported to police.
The causes of crime are inequality so major structural changes are needed - get rid of poverty = get rid of crime.
Use labour policies to help poor.
Evaluation of left realism?
- Ignores white collar crime - Henry + Milovanovic - it accept definition of crime as being street crime. (marxists)
- Interactionalists - relies on quantitative data from victim surveys - cannot explain offenders motives.
- Relative deprivation cannot fully explain crime - not all those who experience deprivation commit crime - over predicts amount of crime (deterministic)
- Focuses on high - crime inner city areas - unrepresentative view - makes crime appear greater problem than it is.
Why is crime on the rise and by how much?
8% rise
drops in theft and burglary but crime has moved online.
New categories of crime include: fraud and computer misuse.
What are the situational approaches to crime prevention?
Ron Clarke 1992 - reducing opportunities for crime.
Directed at specific crime - managing and altering immediate environment of crime, increasing effort/risk while reducing rewards e.g. graffiti preventing paint.
LINKS WITH RIGHT REALIST.
Example - Felton 2002 - The Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Evaluation of situational crime prevention?
Crime will change in several forms (displacement theory)
Spatial = moving elsewhere to commit crime
Temporal = committing at different time.
Target = choosing different victim
Tactical = using different method.
Functional = committing a different type of crime.
What is the environment crime prevention?
Based on JQ Wilson broken windows theory.
Zero tolerance - New York - clean car programme.
RIGHT REALIST
What is social and community crime prevention?
Focuses on individual and their social context. The aim is to remove the conditions which predispose them to crime in the first place (long term strategy)
Example - Perry pre - school project.
LEFT REALIST
