Left Realism Flashcards
How do Left Realists believe crime should be tackled?
Argue that crime control cannot be left to the police alone- 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 as well as the public.
How do Left Realists believe crime should be tackled?
Lea and Young- policing must be made more accountable to local communities and must deal with local concerns. Routine beat patrols are ineffective in detecting or preventing crime, and stop and search tactics cause conflict. The police need to improve their relationship with local communities by spending more time investigating crime, changing their properties and involving the public in making public policy.
How do Left Realists believe structural causes should be tackled?
The causes of crime lie in unequal structure of society and major structural changes are needed Id we want to recuse levels of offending.
For example, Young argues that we must deal with inequality and opportunity and the unfairness of rewards, tackle discrimination, provide decent jobs for everyone and improve housing and community facilities. We must also become more tolerant of diversity and cease stereotyping whole groups of people as criminal.
How can Left Realism be evaluated?
Henry and Milovanovic argue that it accepts the authorities’ definition of crime as being street crime committed by the poor, instead of sifting the problem as being one of how powerful groups do harm to the poor. Marxists argue that is fails to explain corporate crime, which is more harmful even if less conspicuous.
Interactionists argue that, because left realists rely on quantitative data from victims surveys, they cannot explain offenders’ motives. Instead, we need qualitative data to reveal their meanings.
Relative deprivation cannot fully explain crime because not all people who experience it commit crime. The theory over-predicts the amount of crime.