Left Realism - Crime Flashcards
What do left realists suggest the causes of crime are?
Structural inequalities and perceptions of injustice
What are Lea and Young’s 3 concepts to explain why people turn to crime?
1) relative deprivation - whether people see themselves as deprived compared to others
2) subcultures
3) marginalisation - politically and economically on the edge of society
What are Farrington’s 6 reasons for why people turn to crime? ‘risk factors’
- Low income and poor social housing
- Living in a run down area
- High degree of impulsiveness and hyperactivity
- Low school attainment
- Poor parental supervision with harsh discipline
- Parental conflict and SPFs
How does Kinsley suggest crime can be prevented?
Police need to improve clear up rates, improve relations with the community and spend more time actually investigating crimes
What is the overriding belief of what will reduce crime?
Remove the conditions which cause the individual to commit crime in the first place
What changes do left realists what to see in the police?
Better and more democratic policing
How do left realists argue criminal motivation can be removed?
By tackling social issues such as poverty, unemployment and poor housing:
- improve community cohesions and relations
- support parenting
How do left realists suggests that crimes should be punished?
Offenders should be helped back into the community
- rehabilitation and community service
What are some specific policies that have been influenced by left realists?
- Sure start
- Partners and communities together
- Youth activities
- Community policing
What are Lea and Young’s 4 elements needed in order to better tackle the levels of crime in a community?
1) Social structural factors and formal social control
2) The public and informal social control
3) The role of victims
4) The offenders
What are 4 points of evaluation against the left realist crime prevention strategies?
- Ignore crimes of the powerful + environmental crimes
- right realists argue they are ‘too soft’ on crime
- Not all people in deprived areas turn to crime
- many of the measure suggested, such as Sure start, are very expensive, cost 1 billion a year between 2001-2010
What are 3 weaknesses of left realism?
1) Doesn’t pay much attention to white collar crime
2) Neglects other responses to deprivation apart from crime
3) Relies on victim surveys to measure the extent and fear of crime
What are 3 strengths of left realism?
1) Explains the social causes of crime and recognises that tackling crime means tackling inequalities
2) Recognises most victims are poor and w/c
3) Recognises the importance of community solutions to crime
How does left realism criticise Marxism and New Criminology?
- Not taking crime seriously and reducing it to simplistic moral panics created by capitalism
- Romanticising working class criminals
- Failing to take the victims of crime seriously
What do left realists suggest about who commits crimes and victims?
- W/C commit more crime, especially black youths
- Most crimes have victims and as such people have a fear of crime
