Left Realism

Question 1

How do left realists criticise Marxists for not taking crime seriously ?

Answer 1

Marxists have concentrated on crimes of the powerful , such as corporate crime . Left realists argue that this is important , but they argue it neglects working class crime and its effects

Question 2

How do left realists criticise neo Marxists for not taking crime seriously ?

Answer 2

Neo Marxists romanticise working class criminals as latter day robin hoods , stealing from the rich as an act of political resistance to capitalism . Left realists point out that in fact working class criminals mostly victimise other working class class people not the rich

Question 3

How do left realists criticise labelling theorists for not taking crime seriously ?

Answer 3

Labelling theorists see working class criminals as the victims of discriminatory labelling b social control agents but left realists argue that this approach neglects the real victims - working class people who suffer at the hands of criminals

Question 4

What does Young believe has led to an aetiological crisis and what does it mean ?

Answer 4

From the 1950’s there was a real increase in crime , especially working class crime which yon argues had led to an aetiolgical crisis
Aetilogical crisis - a crisis in explanation for theories of crime

Question 5

What do critical criminology and labelling theory argue about aetiological explanation ?

Answer 5

Critical criminology and labelling theory tend to deny that the increase was real but instead they argue that it was just the result of increased reporting , or an increased tendency to label the poor , in other words the increase in the statistics was just a social construction not a reality

Question 6

How do left realists criticise critical criminology and the labelling theory on aetiological crisis ?

Answer 6

Left realists argue that the increase in crime was to great to be explained in increased reporting to increased tendency to label the poor like critical criminology and labelling theorists explained
As evidence they use victim surveys such as the British crime survey and many local surveys

Question 7

What did left realists local victim surveys show who is at most risk of crime ?

Answer 7

Left realists found from local victim surveys that disadvantaged groups have a greater risk of becoming victims of crime such as burglary , street crime and violence . For example , unskilled workers are twice as likely to be burgled as other people

Question 8

What are the 3 causes of crime that Left realist Lea and Young recognise ?

Answer 8

-Relative deprivation
-Subculture
-Marginalisation

Question 9

What does relative deprivation mean ?

Answer 9

Relative deprivation refers to how deprived someone is compared to others around them

Question 10

How do Lea and Young argue relative deprivation leads to crime ?

Answer 10

Although people are better off in todays society they are more aware of relative deprivation due to media and advertising which raises everyone’s expectation for material possessions , those who cannot afford them may resort to crime instead

Question 11

What is individualism and how does it increase crime rates ?

Answer 11

Individualism is the concern with the self and ones own individual rights , rather than those of a group , it causes crime by encouraging the pursuit of self interest at the expense of others

Question 12

What does Young believe a combination of leads to crime rates increasing ?

Answer 12

Young believes the lethal combination of relative derivation and individualism leads to increased crime rates

Question 13

What do left realists believe increasing individualism is causing ?

Answer 13

Left realists believe increasing individualism is causing disintegration of families by undermining the values of mutual support and selflessness on which they are based . This weakens the informal controls that such groups exercise over individuals , creating spiral of increasing anti social behaviour , aggression and crime

Question 14

How do left realists believe subcultures leads to crime ?

Answer 14

They believe that different groups may produce different subcultural solutions to relative derivation . Some may turn to crime to close the deprivation gap while others may find that religion offers them spiritual comfort where conformity is encouraged

Question 15

How does marginalisation of unemployed youths lead to crime ?

Answer 15

Due to unemployed youths being marginalised , they have no organisation to represent them and no clear goals but just a sense of resentment and frustration , being powerless to use political means to improve their position , they express their frustration through criminal means such as violence and rioting

Question 16

What does Young argue we are now living in a stage of and how does this make crime rates worse ?

Answer 16

Young argues that we are now living in a stage of late modern society where instability , insecurity and exclusion make the problem of crime worse

Question 17

What time period / name does young state which is the opposite of our late modern society and why did it have low crime rates ?

Answer 17

He contrasts late modern society with the period of 1950-1960’s which represented the golden age of a modern capitalist society . This was a period of stability , security and social inclusion , with full employment , fairly comprehensive welfare state , low divorce rates and strong communities , there was a general consensus around right and wrong and lower crime rates

Question 18

What are the 3 features of the rising anti social behaviour rate ?

Answer 18

-Blurring the boundaries of crime - so incivilities become crimes . Breaching the anti social behaviour order is itself a crime , thus manufacturing more crime
-Subjective definition -anti social behaviour has no objective definition it is in the eye of the beholder
-flexibility - anti social behaviour orders have been used against people wearing hoodies , making noise , letting of fireworks ,begging etc the subjective definition means the net can be constantly widened

Thus while crime rate is going down , governments have created a new crime wave or anti social behaviour wave to replace it

Question 19

How do left realists believe we should tackle crime ?

Answer 19

Left realists believe we should tackle crime by improving policing and control and deal with the deeper structural causes of crime

Question 20

What do Kinsey , Lea and Young believe about Police clean up rates ?

Answer 20

Kinsey , Lea and young believe police Clean up rates are too low to act as a deterrent to crime and that police spend to little time actually investigating crime so crime rates aren’t decreasing

Question 21

What type of policing are police having to use as a result of police losing public support so aren’t getting the information they need and what is the impact of this ?

Answer 21

As the flow of information dries up , police have to rely on military policing such s swamping an area and using random stop and search tactics . This alienates communities and results in a vicious circle as locals no longer trust the police so don’t provide them with information so the police have no choice but to resort to military policing and so on

Question 22

How do left realists believe the police can improve their relationship with local communities ?

Answer 22

Police need to improve their relationship with local communities by spending more time investigating crime , changing their priorities eg they over police minor drug crime but under police racist attacks and domestic violence and involving the public in making policing policies

Question 23

What do left realists argue the police need the help of to control the crime rates ?

Answer 23

Left realists argue that crime control cannot be left to the police alone but a multi agency approach is needed , this would involve agencies such as local councils , social services , housing departments , schools and leisure services as well as voluntary organisations and victim support and the public

Question 24

What structural causes of crime do left realists believe we need to tackle ?

Answer 24

In left realist view , the causes of crime lie in the unequal structure of society and major structural changes are needed if we want to reduce crime rates
We must deal with inequality of opportunity and the unfairness of rewards , tackle discrimination ,provide decent jobs for everyone , improve housing and community facilities
We must also become more tolerant of diversity and cease stereotyping groups as criminals

Question 25

How are the views of left realists and new labour similar of crime ?

Answer 25

Left realist and new labour have strong similarities on their views of crime as both are tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime
For example , new labours firmer approach to policing hate crimes , sexual assaults and domestic violence along with anti social behaviour orders echoed realist concerns to protect vulnerable groups from crime

Question 26

Evaluation of left realism - criticisms ?

Answer 26

-Henry and Milovanovic argue that left realists accept the authorities definition of crime as being street crime committed by the poor but instead of defining the problem as being one of how powerful groups do harm to the poor
-Marxists argue that it fails to explain corporate crime which is more harmful
-interactionists argue that because left realists rely on quantitative data from victim surveys they cannot explain offenders motives
-their use of subcultural theory means left realists assumes the value consensus exists and crime only exists when this breaks down
-relative deprivation cannot fully explain crime because not all who experience it commit crime . The theory over predicts the amount of crime
-its focus on high crime inner city areas gives an unrepresentative view and makes crime appear to be a greater problem than it is

Question 27

Similarities between right and left realism ?

Answer 27

Both right and left realism see crime as a real problem and fear of crime as rational

Question 28

Differences between left and right realist views of crime ?

Answer 28

Right realists blame individuals lack of self control
Left realists blame structural inequalities