Left and right realism

Question 1

Realism and types :

Answer 1

Realism focuses on real social problems and the actual reasons people commit crime and can be divided like politics in to left and right factions

Question 2

Right realist explanations of the causes of crime (4) and overall explanation

Answer 2

• Argue crime cannot be functional, consensus is being undermined by particular groups who are selfish and have dysfunctional reasons
  1. Biological theory
  2. control theory
  3. rational choice
  4. Underclass theory

Question 3

Right realist solutions for reducing crime

Answer 3

1. Reducing the liklihood of being a target

2. Tackling perpetrators harshly

Question 4

Biological differences

Answer 4

• Wilson and Hernstein
• People inherit traits that make them more prone to deviance
• 1. Personality and behavioural disorders eg depression, multiple personality disorder etc
• 2. Sex and hormones (Men are more likely to commit crime eg aggressive crime and acts of violence)
• 3. Intelligence (low intelligence means people are more likely to offend eg they cannot tell right from wrong

Question 5

Evaluation of biological differences

Answer 5

• It ignores social influences on people’s behaviour eg upbringing
• Only helps us understand crimes that are linked to a person’s personality or mental sate eg violence

Question 6

Control theory

Answer 6

• Herschi
• Agents of social control are losing authority over people eg church and the family
• Behavioural standards are in decline and we are seeing more deviant behaviour
• Correlation between amount of control a person has and how likely they are to commit crime eg low levels of control = less likely to commit crime eg family and decent employment

Question 7

Evaluation of control theory

Answer 7

• fails to explain why those with high control eg families still commit crime
• Marxists criticise for failing to explain why some people lack control in the first place eg lack of opportunity in capitalism

Question 8

Rational choice theory

Answer 8

• Clarke
• People weigh up the costs and benefits before offending (cost-benefit analysis)
• eg loss of trust, difficulty in employment and loss of freedom in return for status recognition, thrill, revenge and power
• IF rewards outweigh the costs than it makes sense to risk the crime
• Routine theory (Felson)
• The decision to offend is based on
  1. Motivation - the desire to commit crime
  2. Target - an accessible and suitable victim
  3. Absence of a capable guardian - not witnesses and no authority figures

Question 9

Evaluation of rational choice

Answer 9

• Wrongly assumes all crimes are preplanned and rational so it ignores spontaneous offences or ones committed under substance
• Fails to explain the reasoning behind non-utilitarian crimes

Question 10

Underclass theory

Answer 10

• Murray
• The underclass are the unemployed on state welfare
• Single mothers and their illegitimate offspring are the main people behind crime
• the welfare state provides people with perverse incentives for deviant behaviour (rewards for irresponsible activities)
• The absence of a father figure is problematical as boys lack tough love and gravitate towards deviant subcultures to gain attention and status from other males

Question 11

Evaluation of the underclass theory

Answer 11

• Fails to consider some on benefits commit crime for practical reasons eg to survive
• Inaccurate claims are made against those on state welfare eg most are in paid employment and not involved in crime

Question 12

Left realism causes of crime

Answer 12

• relative deprivation theory
• subcultural theory
• marginalisation theory
• Late modernity and social exclusion

Question 13

Right realist solutions for crime

Answer 13

1. Reduce the likelihood of being a target

2. Tackling perpetrators harshly

Question 14

Reducing the likelihood of being a victim (Broken windows and environmental crime prevention)

Answer 14

• Kelling and Wilson (broken windows theory)
• Run down areas are attractive to criminals eg boarded houses which then drives good people out so there are more places for criminals to converge
• communities should take environmental crime prevention strategies (community working together to care for the appearance of an environment) eg cleaning litter which gives the impression that the community cares

Question 15

Evaluation of broken windows theory

Answer 15

• Well kept areas suggest signs of wealth making the area a target

Question 16

Situational crime prevention and designing out crime

Answer 16

• Felson (right realism)
• To prevent crime, targets need to make themselves harder to access by designing out crime eg alarm systems and locks so it is harder to access and less likely to be targeted
• Similar approaches should be taken to general local areas eg street lighting so criminals don’t target the area

Question 17

Evaluation of situational crime prevention and designing out crime

Answer 17

• Doesn’t reduce crime - it just displaces it

- Fails to explain that more burglaries occur in poorer households

Question 18

Tackling perpetrators harshly

Answer 18

• Wilson and Kelling
• Zero tolerance policing (tough stance on smaller crimes) as seen in NYC 1980’s as it shows they mean business
• Prison sentences should be longer but also have a focus on rehabilitating so offenders won’t reoffend

Question 19

Evaluation of zero tolerance policing

Answer 19

• Evidence suggest zero tolerance policies do more harm than good (cause hostile police- community relations)
• Tough sentences are ineffective as reducing crime

Question 20

Left realist crime prevention strategies

Answer 20

• Social and cultural crime prevention

- Community policing

Question 21

Social and cultural crime prevention

Answer 21

• Focuses on social crime prevention eg crime is caused by issues such as inequalities in wealth
• The gov. needs to tackle the structural causes of these inequalities
• Invest in education so good qualifications can be gained so employment is accessible
• Invest in services eg welfare and community centres so people have support networks

Question 22

Community policing

Answer 22

• Police should work on building relations with communities and presenting themselves as caring
• They need to show they are looking out for the interests of ethnic minorities
• They need to build trust so communities will work with the police
• Rename themselves the police service rather than the police force

Question 23

Evaluation of left realist crime prevention strategies

Answer 23

• It is impractical and costly
• It takes away the responsibility of the individuals
• A soft approach can lead to people not fearing the police

Question 24

Evaluation of relative deprivation

Answer 24

• It over predicts the amount of crime that should be occurring (everyone experiences relative deprivation) but not everyone commits crime
• seems to explain the link between a culture of envy and a rise of crime committed for material purposes

Question 25

Relative deprivation

Answer 25

• People feel envious of those who have more
• Society provides better opportunities for mc whilst disadvantaging wc people who are left felling denied
• Thanks to the growing influence of media, people are more aware of their disadvantaged status which adds to the feeling of deprivation
• Those who are individualistic are likely to use crime to access what others have
• They don’t care about the impact on others

Question 26

Subcultural theory

Answer 26

• Groups whose values and actions are at odds from those of wider society so more likely to join subcultures
• There are 2 subcultures :
  1. Conformist subculture (involved in participating in organised religious activity)
  People who have struggled to achieve may find comfort in religion which offers the mediocracy of disprivileged (religious explanation for suffering and rewards in the afterlife)
  2. Deviant subcultures where some are innovative (street crime to access higher levels of wealth)
  This is common in big cities like the USA
  Others are retreatist (give up on achieving goals and participating in withdrawn behaviours)

Question 27

Evaluation of Subcultural theory

Answer 27

• Fails to explain individualised crime or crime not related to strain eg non utilitarian crime
• Lea and Young fail to tell us why some people choose a deviant subculture whilst others choose the conformist approach

Question 28

Marginalisation theory

Answer 28

• young + unemployed are socially excluded and devalued (not respected and pushed out of a community and seen as a burden)
• This leads to status frustration (Irritated by the lack respect they are shown)
• Crime is used as an outlet for frustration (gang related crimes, vandalising properties and drug use)

Question 29

Evaluation of marginalisation theory

Answer 29

• only focuses on crimes committed out of frustration ignoring materialistic crimes
• fails to explain why MC people break the law
• Concept of marginalisation cannot be objectively measured in the first place

Question 30

Impact of late modernity (past 40 years)

Answer 30

• WC communities have been negatively affected by deindustrialisation and immigration
  The decline in industrial jobs leads to unemployment and immigration may displace white WC communities
• This leads to more WC crime
• People face a conflict between desire for cultural inclusion and the experience of social exclusion (Caused by media) which is included in material success
• relative deprivation can occur both upwardly and downwardly (envy of those who have more and envy of those who have less who you perceive to not work as hard eg benefits

Question 31

Evaluation of impact of late modernity on crime

Answer 31

• No definitive evidence to suggest that crime rates are significantly rising as society evolves
• Only focuses on the impact of social change on WC communities and ignores middle class communities and middle class crime