Left Realism

Question 1

Left Realism general view

Answer 1

 See financial struggle as the source of
crime, like Marxists
 Reformists, not revolutionists, unlike
Marxists
 Believe Marxists wrongly ignore crimes of
the working class
 Believe Neo-Marxists over-romanticise
working class crime
 Believe Labelling Theory ignores the true
victims of crime
 Main victims of crime are disadvantaged
groups, statistically
 There has been a real increase in crime.
This has led to an aetiological crisis: there
is no explanation

Question 2

Lea and Young - 3 causes of crime

Answer 2

• relative deprivation
• subculture
• marginalisation

Question 3

relative deprivation

Answer 3

relative deprivation leads to crime because people who are deprived resent others having more material goods than them, thus resorting to illegitimate means to achieve the same level of materials.

Question 4

Subculture

Answer 4

Subcultures form as a collective solution to relative deprivation, and some may turn to crime in order to close the ‘deprivation gap’.

Question 5

Marginalisation

Answer 5

Marginalised groups (such as the unemployed) lack clear goals and organisations to represent them, which leads to frustration and resentment. In turn, they express this frustration through criminal acts such as violence and rioting.

Question 6

Young - late modernity and crime

Answer 6

Since late modernity, the problem of
working class crime is due to…
 Harsh welfare, job insecurity, poverty
 Destabilisation of family and community
life  weakening of informal social
controls

Question 7

Young

Answer 7

 Crime is now found at all economic levels
 There is resentment against lower groups
e.g. unemployed, asylum seekers…
 Less consensus about what is acceptable
 Public demands harsher formal controls
 High crime, low crime tolerance

Question 8

Kinsey, Lea and Young – policing and control

Answer 8

Policing must be made accountable to local communities, and need to improve their relationship with such communities by spending more time investigating crime, and involving the community in making policing policy.

Question 9

Reducing inequality

Answer 9

Reduce inequality of opportunity, discrimination and provide jobs for everyone.