Left Realism

Question 1

Runciman explanation of relative deprivations?

Answer 1

Through how deprived individuals feel when compared to others in society

Question 2

How are we more aware of relative deprivation ?

Answer 2

Media

Question 3

What does young believe is cause of crime ?

Answer 3

Relative deprivation mixed with individualism is a major cause of crime

Question 4

How do people react to relative deprivation?

Answer 4

Groups form subcultures as a solution to deal with relative deprivation and some groups may turn to religion or crime as a mean of closing the deprivation gap

Question 5

Criminal subcultures ?

Answer 5

They still subscribe to the values and goals of mainstream society but their legitimate access to them are blocked

Question 6

What does lea and young believe are the causes of crime

Answer 6

Relative deprivation , subculture and marginalisation

Question 7

What does young say about society that we live in ?

Answer 7

We now live in a state of late modernity , where instability , insecurity and exclusion makes crimes worse

Question 8

What policy does Kinsey , lea and young oppose ?

Answer 8

They oppose zero tolerance policing in favour of a multi agency approach where the police are supported by local communities , schools and councils

Question 9

How does young believe we should tackle crime ?

Answer 9

He believes we should tackle crime at structural causes such as poverty, inequality and discrimination

Question 10

What are the criticism of left realism ?

Answer 10

1. Most people are relatively deprived but most don’t commit crime.
2. Left realists ignore corporate crime which is more harmful than street crime
3. They focus too much on inner-city crimes which makes the problems appear worse than they are.
4. it has been criticised as overly deterministic- not all individuals (relates to crit 1 )
5. Rely on quantitative data from official statistics and victims survey but this does not give a true picture of crime rates, nor does it give any in depth explanation of the motives of crime

Question 11

What is left realist view ? And what can they be compared to ?

Answer 11

They can be compared to Marxist as they take a socialist view and are opposed to the inequalities of capitalist society which they see as the root cause of crime
Unlike Marxist though they are reformist rather than revolutionary socialists.
They believe that gradual reforming the best way to achieve equality

Question 12

What does relative deprivation do ?

Answer 12

1. Relative deprivation- how deprived someone feels relative to those around them , if a individual feels that others unfairly have more than them then they may resort to crime.
Modern media( and social media ) allows everyone access to messages of material wealth ( cultural inclusion) which is not attainable to many members of society ( economic exclusion)

Question 13

What do they believe are main causes of crime ?

Answer 13

1. relative deprivation
2. Subcultures
3. Marginalisation

Question 14

What does subcultures do ?

Answer 14

For left realists a subculture is a group solution to the problem of relative deprivation.
Criminal subcultures want society’s materialistic goals but resort to illegitimate means to achieving them

Question 15

What does marginalisation do ?

Answer 15

Powerless groups in society such as the unemployed youth have no organisation to protect their interests like worker unions and no clear goals .
They have a sense of powerlessness which leads to frustration and further pushes them to the edge of society.
Feeling like outsiders can lead to rejection of norms and values resulting indeviant behaviour

Question 16

What do left realists believe the solutions of crime are ?

Answer 16

Democratic And accountable policing ;
Police must become more accountable to local communities and involve them in deciding policing policies and priorities.
Crime control should involve a multi agency approach ( which includes eg social services , schools ) and not just the police
The most important solution is to reduce social inequality
This means policies which provide decent jobs and housing for all