Left Realism Flashcards
What does relative deprivation refer to?
W.G.Runiciman Concept
How deprived someone feels in relation to others or compared to their own expectations
What can relative deprivation lead to?
Crime when people feel resentment that others unfairly have more than them and resort to crime to obtain what they feel they are entitled to
Why is a subculture created?
A groups collective solution to the problem of relative deprivation
What can different subcultures create?
Different subcultures/groups create different solutions - some may turn to crime to close the deprivation gap
What do criminal subcultures still subscribe to?
The values and goals of mainstream society (materialism)
What do marginalised groups lack?
Both clear goals and organisation to represent their interests
What happens to unemployed youths that are marginalised?
They have no organisation to represent them and no clear goals, just a sent of resentment and frustration - express this through criminal means - football hooliganism/conflict subcultures
What does Young say about exclusion?
We are living in the stage of late modern society, where instability, insecurity and exclusion makes the problem of crime worse
What have Left Realists influenced?
Government policy (more than most theorists of crime)
What do Left Realists argue about solutions to crime should be/do?
Tough on crime
Tough on causes of crime
Firmer approach of the policing
Tackle underlying causes
Who do Left Realists argue should control crime?
Cannot be left to the police alone
Public need to be more involved
What do Kinsey, Lea and Young say about policing and control?
Police clear up rates are too low so can’t act as a deterrent
Police spend too little time investigating crime
Public need to help determine priorities (bottom up approach)
What is the cause of crime?
Unequal structure of society - major structural changes are needed if we want to reduce levels of offending
What do Left Realists argue solutions need to tackle to reduce structural causes of crime?
Equality
Opportunity
(unemployment, poverty)
Name 3 weaknesses of this theory (inc. what Interactionalists say)
Focuses on high crime in inner city areas - unrepresentative view
Not all that experience relative deprivation commit crime
Interactionalist - because left realists rely on quantitative data from victim surveys, they cannot explain offenders motives - need qualitative data for this
