Left Realist views of Crime and Deviance

Question 1

What are the 3 causes of crime?

Answer 1

1. Relative deprivation
2. Marginalisation
3. Subcultures

Question 2

What is relative deprivation?

Answer 2

As living standards have risen, so have peoples feelings of being deprived compared to others. This can lead to resentment and people turning to crime to achieve what they feel they’re entitled to.

Question 3

What is marginalisation?

Answer 3

Marginalised groups are those people that don’t feel they’re a part of society, and lack the goals are organisations to represent their interests. This leads to a sense of frustration and resentment amongst those groups and this can lead to criminal behaviour which they believe will improve their situation.

Question 4

What are subcultures?

Answer 4

For left realists, a subculture is a collective response to the problem of relative deprivation. For left realists, criminal subcultures still subscribe to the goals and values of society like materialism and consumerism.

Question 5

What are left realists’ views on tackling crime?

Answer 5

In order to tackle crime, you first need to tackle the social problems which lead to crime (e.g. Causes of inequality and deprivation).

Question 6

What are some evaluations of the left realist views of crime and deviance?

Answer 6

• Accepts government definition of crime being street crime committed by poor.
• Interactionists: doesn’t explain the motives due to reliance on quantitative data.
• Assumes a value consensus.
• Relative deprivation can’t explain all crime as not all those that experience it go on to commit crime.
• Focus on high crime inner city areas gives an unrepresentative view of crime and makes it appear a greater problem than it is.