left realism Flashcards
how is left realism like marxism?
how does it differ from marxism?
they see society as an unequal capitalist one
reformists rather than revolutionary socialists, believing in gradual change rather than violently overthrowing capitalism to achieve equality
taking crime seriously:
marxism
concentrate on crimes of the powerful
left realists argue that this is important but it neglects working class crime and its effects
taking crime seriously:
neo marxism
romanticise working class criminals as robin hood as an act of political resistance against capitalism
working class criminals mostly victimise other working class people, not the rich
taking crime seriously:
labelling theory
see working class criminals as the victims of discriminatory labelling by social control agents
neglects the real victims - working class people who suffer at the hands of criminals
aetiological crisis
a crisis in the explanations for theories of crime
the scale of crime
local victim surveys show that the scale of crime is even greater than what official statistics show
victims may be reluctant to report crime because the police are reluctant to investigate crime dealing with domestic abuse, rape or racist attacks
lea and young - causes of crime:
relative deprivation
crime has its roots in deprivation but is not directly responsible for crime
poverty was rife in the 1930s, but crime was low, and vice versa in the 1950s
runciman’s concept of relative deprivation - how deprived someone feels in relation to others or compared with their own expectations. this can lead crime when people resent others for unfairly having more than them and resort to crime to obtain what they feel they’re entitled to
people are more aware of relative deprivation because of the media which raise people’s expectations for material possessions
for left realists, increasing individualism is causing the disintegration of families and communities by undermining the values of mutual support and selflessness on which they are based. this weakens the informal controls that groups exercise over individuals, creating a spiral of increasingly anti social behaviour
lea and young - causes of crime:
subculture
different groups may produce different subcultural solutions to blocked opportunities
some may turn to crime to close the deprivation gap, others may find that religion offers spiritual comfort - weber’s theodicy of disprivilege, an explanation for their disadvantage
left realists believe that criminal subcultures subscribe to mainstream values and goals such as consumerism. young notes that there are neighbourhoods in the usa where there is full immersion in the american dream, but opportunities are blocked so they resort to street crime instead
lea and young - causes of crime:
marginalisation
marginalised groups both lack clear goals and organisations to represent their interests
groups such as workers have clear goals such as better pay conditions and unions to put pressure on employers and politicians - no need to resort to violence to achieve their goals
young argues that unemployed youth are marginalised since they have no organisation to represent them and no clear goals, just resentment and frustration - expressed through criminal means
late modernity, exclusion and crime
young - features of a late modern society: instability, insecurity and exclusion make crime worse
1950s- golden age because of stability, security and social inclusion, with full employment and a fairly comprehensive welfare state
since the 1970s, insecurity and exclusion have increased, since de industrialisation and the loss of unskilled jobs have increased unemployment especially for young people and minority groups while many jobs are short term and low paid
these changes have destabilised family and community life, as have cuts to welfare spending, excluding those at the bottom
late modernity, exclusion and crime:
relative deprivation
greater inequality between the rich and poor have increased the sense of relative deprivation . young notes the growing contrast between cultural inclusion and economic exclusion as a result of relative deprivation
media saturated late modern society promotes cultural inclusion - even the poor have access to the media’s materialistic and consumerist cultural messages
there is a greater emphasis on leisure, personal consumption and immediate gratification, leading to higher expectations of a good life
despite ideology of meritocracy, the poor are denied opportunities to gain the glittering prizes of a wealthy society
similar to merton’s anomie - society creates crime by setting cultural goals but denying people opportunities to achieve them by legitimate means
greater trend towards relative deprivation in late modernity because it has become more generalised rather than being confined to those at the bottom - widespread resentment towards footballers
changing types of crime
reactions to crime are also changing - late modern society is more diverse and there is less public consensus on right and wrong so boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable become blurred
informal control becomes less effective as families disintegrate
makes public more intolerant and leads to demands for higher penalties
falling crime rate
since the mid 1990s, crime rates have fallen significantly
this is a problem for realist theorists because is suggests that crime is no longer the major threat they had originally claimed
young - because crime is a social construction, it may continue to be seen as a problem
crime survey in england and wales found that 81% thought that crime had risen, not fallen in the least 10 years (2019)
the rising anti social behaviour rate
since the 1990s, governments have aimed to control a widening range of behaviour, introducing asbo (anti social behaviour orders) in 1998 and ipna (injunctions to prevent nuisance and annoyance) in 2015
these measures have key features:
- blurring the boundaries of crime - incivilities become crime which makes more crime
- subjective definition - anti social behaviour has no objective definition
- flexibility - asbos have been used against people wearing hoodies, making a noise, letting of fireworks, flyposting or begging. the subjective definition means the net can be constantly widened
tackling crime:
policing and control
kinsey, lea and young argue that police clear up rates are too low to act as a deterrent to crime - we must deal with the deeper structural causes of crime
police rely on the public to provide them with information about crime (90% percent of crime known to the police are reported by the public) - police losing support so flow of information dries up and the police rely on military policing such as swamping an area and using random stop and search tactics - alienates communities - vicious circle
policing must be made accountable to local communities and deal with local concerns - need to improve relationships with locals by spending more time investigating crime and changing priorities
a multi agency approach is needed - social services, housing departments, schools and voluntary organisations such as victim support
