Exam Question 2 Flashcards
What is the Introduction of the SCD Exam Q2?
WHAT IS REALISM
Realism is the philosophical claim that reality exists independently of the interpretation of the people observing it. This means the physical world is separate from our interpretation of it. With the social world, people do argue that what materially exists is less significant than the meaning we put on it, which depends on our interpretations and perspectives. Therefore, we can have multiple truths existing at the same time. Two main types of ‘realisms’ have emerged: Left realism and Right realism. The ‘Realism’ they have in common is it belief that official statistics, now supported by victim surveys, correctly so that crime is increasing; a belief that the lives of communities are adversely affected by this ; a belief that something should be done about it, and resources should only be used on a cost-effective basis.
CONTEXT OF REALISM
A lot of realism emerged in the 70s and 80s, when Reagan and Thatcher (both of whom are right-wing) were leaders. This led to the rise of the concept of individualism, where society didn’t have a large influence on behaviour. They argued it was down to choice when crime was committed. Crime was centralised, and punishment, and threats of punishment, were highlighted to reduce crime rates. Crime was increasing. Realist theories don’t have an answer to this fact, and is not claiming there is one. Instead, they try to understand the process to the rise in crime, its impact, and what could be done by the government/police to reduce this (e.g. zero tolerance). The solutions to crime had to go in line with the opinions/views of those in power.
ESSAY INTRO
This exam question will look into both schools of left and right realism, comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences of them. Here, we can see the differences with both; in terms of what they believed influenced the crime increase, how to tackle the crime rates, and what their key theorists believe.
What is Realism (Intro Q2)?
Realism is the philosophical claim that reality exists independently of the interpretation of the people observing it. This means the physical world is separate from our interpretation of it. With the social world, people do argue that what materially exists is less significant than the meaning we put on it, which depends on our interpretations and perspectives. Therefore, we can have multiple truths existing at the same time.
Two main types of ‘realisms’ have emerged: Left realism and Right realism. The ‘Realism’ they have in common is it belief that official statistics, now supported by victim surveys, correctly so that crime is increasing; a belief that the lives of communities are adversely affected by this ; a belief that something should be done about it, and resources should only be used on a cost-effective basis.
What is the Context of REalism, and what do realist theories aim to do (Intro Q2)?
A lot of realism emerged in the 70s and 80s, when Reagan and Thatcher (both of whom are right-wing) were leaders. This led to the rise of the concept of individualism, where society didn’t have a large influence on behaviour. They argued it was down to choice when crime was committed. Crime was centralised, and punishment, and threats of punishment, were highlighted to reduce crime rates.
What do Realist theorists aim to do?
Crime was increasing. Realist theories don’t have an answer to this fact, and is not claiming there is one. Instead, they try to understand the process to the rise in crime, its impact, and what could be done by the government/police to reduce this (e.g. zero tolerance). The solutions to crime had to go in line with the opinions/views of those in power.
what is the DESCRIPTIONS paragraph (Desc Q2)?
Right realism argues that the desires people have dictate their actions. Clarke and Coleman (1980) state how rational Choice Theory comes into play – Theoretically trying to understand and explain why people do what they do, comes with looking wholly at the individual. But they don’t look at things like structure, socio-economic conditions, pressure, inequality, and any outside environmental factors on the individual. It is a conservative view of crime which ever is largely in opposition to strain and labelling theory theories which at the time had dominated Criminological discourse.
In contrast, left realism is the idea that all offenders are a product of their terrible environment. Blame can only become pointed to systematic concepts, and not the offender. Going into detail, left realists consider that the fundamental cause of crime is the feeling of relative deprivation (Runciman, 1966). This refers to how someone feels in relation to others, or compares with their own expectations. This can occur in any social structure, but in western societies, it seems to be more prevalent among the poor. Young (1997) concludes that it is relative deprivation, marginalisation and subculture that impacts crime rates.
What is the Description of right realism (Desc Q2)?
Right realism argues that the desires people have dictate their actions.
Clarke and Coleman (1980) state how rational Choice Theory comes into play – Theoretically trying to understand and explain why people do what they do, comes with looking wholly at the individual.
But they don’t look at things like structure, socio-economic conditions, pressure, inequality, and any outside environmental factors on the individual.
It is a conservative view of crime which ever is largely in opposition to strain and labelling theory theories which at the time had dominated Criminological discourse.
What is the Description of left realism (Desc Q2)?
In contrast, left realism is the idea that all offenders are a product of their terrible environment. Blame can only become pointed to systematic concepts, and not the offender.
Going into detail, left realists consider that the fundamental cause of crime is the feeling of relative deprivation (Runciman, 1966).
This refers to how someone feels in relation to others, or compares with their own expectations. This can occur in any social structure, but in western societies, it seems to be more prevalent among the poor.
Young (1997) concludes that it is relative deprivation, marginalisation and subculture that impacts crime rates.
What is the TACKLING CRIME paragraph?
To decrease crime rates, right Realism argues that it is important for society to construct a positive ratio of the benefits of non-crime outweighing the benefits of crime. They said there are two ways to do that – when is to make jobs, and legal activity, etc, become increasingly rewarding. The others to make punishment for crime become more severe. They aim to stop crime through various things: they say education and information can change your beliefs, impacting what you to to do. Community crime controls can also help regulate communities. There are formal structures (eg police and law) and informal structures (eg community watches and volunteers) of community crime controls. That’s well as an active community service, they look at the role of parenting; arguing that a nuclear family was crucial to create healthy psychological rearing of children, and you needed of mother and father to be well adjusted and not be a criminal. They also believe in increasing the cost to exceed the benefits, meaning they are ‘tough’ when it comes to the severity of punishment
Although they are focusing on how the individual behaves, they do acknowledge that the environment and upbringing has a psychological effect on the individual, ultimately affecting their behaviour. They actually look at things similar to left Realism on how to commit crime. Left realism looks at two broad approaches to solving crime – intervention, and community-based approaches. Intervention regards identifying groups at risk of committing crime, and taking actions to limit their offending. This includes treatment and read rehabilitation. Community-based approaches involve the local community in combating crime, somewhat similar to community crime controls stated by right realist theories. Looking into community based strategies, Young and Matthews (1992) argue that what should help cut crime includes improving leisure facilities for the young, reducing income inequalities, improving house estate and creating jobs with prospects.
How does right realism takcle crime (TCC Q2)?
- Make the benefits of non-crime outweigh the benefit of crime
- Education & Information
- Community crime controls
- Family and Parenting
1) To decrease crime rates, right Realism argues that it is important for society to construct a positive ratio of the benefits of non-crime outweighing the benefits of crime.
They said there are two ways to do that – one is to make jobs, and legal activity, etc, become increasingly rewarding. The others to make punishment for crime become more severe.
2) They aim to stop crime through various things: they say education and information can change your beliefs, impacting what you to to do.
3) Community crime controls can also help regulate communities. There are formal structures (eg police and law) and informal structures (eg community watches and volunteers) of community crime controls.
4) As well as an active community service, they look at the role of parenting; arguing that a nuclear family was crucial to create healthy psychological rearing of children, and you needed of mother and father to be well adjusted and not be a criminal.
How does left realism takcle crime (TCC Q2)?
(Linnking the 2) Although they are focusing on how the individual behaves, they do acknowledge that the environment and upbringing has a psychological effect on the individual, ultimately affecting their behaviour. They actually look at things similar to left Realism on how to commit crime.
Left realism looks at two broad approaches to solving crime –
- intervention, and
- community-based approaches.
1) Intervention regards identifying groups at risk of committing crime, and taking actions to limit their offending.
This includes treatment and read rehabilitation. Community-based approaches involve the local community in combating crime, somewhat similar to community crime controls stated by right realist theories.
2) Looking into community based strategies, Young and Matthews (1992) argue that what should help cut crime includes improving leisure facilities for the young, reducing income inequalities, improving house estate and creating jobs with prospects.
What are the THOERIES of both realisms?
One right realist thinker is James Q. Wilson (1931-2012). He was a professor at Harvard University, and Conservative member of the Republican party. Along with George L. Kellig, he came up with the broken windows theory. This theory is bashed on the ideology that that if a window in the building is broken and on repaired, all of the rest of the windows would soon be broken. This happens because one unrepaired window is a signal that no one cares to fix them, and so breaking more windows because nothing. This means that if crime can be done without anything being done about it, many will feel more safe to do that crime, as they can get away with it. This theory is backed by Philip Zimbardo’s experiment in 1969. Who arranged a car with no license plate and the Bonnet up to be placed Idol in the Bronx, New York; and Palo Alto, California. The former is a poor area and the other is a rich area. The car in the Bronx was attacked within minutes of his abandonment, and within 24 hours of abandonment everything of value had been stripped from the car. The car in Palo Alto stayed on-task for a week, until Zimbardo deliberately smashed It with a sledgehammer. Soon after, people joined in with the destruction. This helps support the claim that once crime has been started, it will carry on. An issue
Jock Young (1942-2013) was an influential criminologist who worked in both New York and England. He worked closely with members of the Labour Party during the Thatcher years. In 1988 he developed the theory of four dimensional elements of crime being the offender, victim, formal control and informal control. To go into detail, The police force discusses how people have free will, and looks at the relationship between different crimes. For example, rapists are much more likely to kill the victim to, because in proportion, it will lead to a ‘better’ combined punishment. The public is reflected in the positivist school of criminology. Here it looks at all the biological looks into crime, and is associated with eugenics and phrenology. It also looks into pseudoscience. The offender is associated with conservatism. Weber looks into a society where people who worked really hard went to heaven. This led to people always working hard, because not working hard was a sign that you wouldn’t get into heaven. People (especially Conservative Republicans) say that crime happens because we don’t have Jesus, or because of social issues like abortion and homosexuality. The victim section looks at how as more people have disposable income they go out more meaning they are more vulnerable to street climb. Also this leads to the house being empty, leading to more property related crimes.
Right realism theory - broken windows theory
This theory is bashed on the ideology that that if a window in the building is broken and on repaired, all of the rest of the windows would soon be broken. This happens because one unrepaired window is a signal that no one cares to fix them, and so breaking more windows because nothing. This means that if crime can be done without anything being done about it, many will feel more safe to do that crime, as they can get away with it.
Left realism theory
Jock Young (1942-2013) developed the theory of four dimensional elements of crime being the offender, victim, formal control and informal control. To go into detail,
The police force discusses how people have free will, and looks at the relationship between different crimes. For example, rapists are much more likely to kill the victim to, because in proportion, it will lead to a ‘better’ combined punishment.
The public is reflected in the positivist school of criminology. Here it looks at all the biological looks into crime, and is associated with eugenics and phrenology. It also looks into pseudoscience.
The offender is associated with conservatism. Weber looks into a society where people who worked really hard went to heaven. This led to people always working hard, because not working hard was a sign that you wouldn’t get into heaven. People (especially Conservative Republicans) say that crime happens because we don’t have Jesus, or because of social issues like abortion and homosexuality.
The victim section looks at how as more people have disposable income they go out more meaning they are more vulnerable to street climb. Also this leads to the house being empty, leading to more property related crimes.
Realism disadvantages
Although right realism does have some worthy points raised about it, it also comes with a few flawed theories. A example of this comes from Herrnstein and Murray (1994) ‘The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life’, who argue that lower intelligence meant lack of reasoning, leading to more crime. They used an IQ test to prove this, a method that although is widely used, is not a perfect representation of IQ. Also, there are racist undertones to their work. Their idea was constructed in a very white, middle class context. Also, a conclusion was reached about “the observed relationship between low African-American test scores (compared to whites and Asians) and genetic factors in intelligence abilities.”
This being said, left realism also comes with flaws. Although they do aim to make crime be taken seriously, and recognise multiple causes of crime; they rely too much on local surveys to help get their answer, as criticised by Walklate (2007). They also have deterministic views on crime which don’t take individual differences into account.
Right realism disdvantages
Although right realism does have some worthy points raised about it, it also comes with a few flawed theories. A example of this comes from Herrnstein and Murray (1994) ‘The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life’, who argue that lower intelligence meant lack of reasoning, leading to more crime. They used an IQ test to prove this, a method that although is widely used, is not a perfect representation of IQ. Also, there are racist undertones to their work. Their idea was constructed in a very white, middle class context. Also, a conclusion was reached about “the observed relationship between low African-American test scores (compared to whites and Asians) and genetic factors in intelligence abilities.”
