Realism

Question 1

LR - Causes of Crime (1/3): Relative Deprivation (Lea and Young)

Answer 1

• People feel they lack things in relation to others
• Turn to crime because they feel unfairly disadvantaged compared to others
• Living in a media-saturated society has led to cultural inclusion for everyone but economic exclusion for the poor
• Aware of what they are missing out on so they turn to crime to get what they feel they deserve
• Growing individualism -> people driven by their own self-interest and the need for immediate gratification
• Commit crime to satisfy their own personal desires

AO3 - not all WC groups commit crime despite their situation

Question 2

LR - Causes of Crime (2/3): Subculture

Answer 2

• A group’s collective solution to the problem of relative deprivation -> get together, form deviant subcultures and commit utilitarian crimes
• Moped crime in London to steal phones from unsuspecting pedestrians to achieve the goals of society even if the legitimate means has been blocked

Question 3

LR - Causes of Crime (3/3): Marginalisation

Answer 3

• Person or group find themselves on the edges of society with no access to rights of services
• Unemployed young people have no clear goals or an organisation to represent them (e.g. union)
• Feel resentful and frustrated so commit non-utilitarian crimes -> riots, vandalism, violence
• Knife crime -> used to assault anyone seen as a threat or in conflicts with drug dealers, able to stand up for themselves even though no one else will (no union representative)

Question 4

LR - Strategies to Prevent Crime

Answer 4

• Improve Policing - improve relationships between the police and local communities (listen and act upon public concerns), increase trust
• Communities have an important role with policing the streets - report crimes and concerns
• Tackle Structural Inequalities in Society - many crimes are a result of social inequalities (unemployment, poverty) so people may feel forced to commit utilitarian crimes to survive
• E.g. Sure Start = programme targeted at parents with children under 4 living in deprived, low income areas, overcome cultural deprivation (learning through play session, help parents with discipline) and economic deprivation (provide children with healthy food and a balanced diet)
• Prevent crime committed by vulnerable groups by ensuring discrimination policies are being enforced, provide decent jobs for everyone and improve housing

AO3 - right realist prevention strategies

Question 5

RR: Rational Choice Theory

Answer 5

• Claim people have free will and decide whether they should commit a crime or not by weighing up the risk of getting caught = make a rational calculation of the likely consequences
• Low risk = more likely to offend/commit the crime (reward outweighs the cost)
• Similar to Felson’s routine activity theory - has to be a motivated offender, suitable target and the absence of a capable guardian
• Prevent crime by increasing the risk of committing a crime = CCTV, increased police presence on the streets
• Reducing Opportunities - Target Hardenening = anti-climb paint, alarms, barbed wire

AO3 - left realists, should tackle social inequalities as poverty and unemployment are more likely to lead to crime, argues crime is pre-mediated and thought out, ignoring crimes of passion or anger (domestic violence)

Question 6

RR: Biological Differences

Answer 6

• Crime caused by a combination of biological and social factors
• Some people are innately more strongly predisposed to commit crime compared to others (personality traits = low impulse control, low intelligence etc.)

Question 7

RR: Charles Murray (The Underclass)

Answer 7

• Argues crime rates are increasing due to a growing underclass who rely on welfare benefits and fail to socialise their children properly
• Children grow up thinking it is okay to rely on welfare benefits, believe there is nothing they can do to change their situation (fatalistic attitude)
• Fail at school and lack qualifications to get a job, turn to crime to get money
• Critical of single parent families headed by lone mothers, boys lack a male role model and turn to criminals on the street to get the tough love they lack at home
• Gain status and money by commiting crimes
• Boys are poorly socialised and will be unlikely to aspire for the instrumental role, turn to crime to achieve material success

Question 8

RR: Strategies to Prevent Crime

Answer 8

1) Situational Crime Prevention - reduce opportunities (target hardening) and increase the risk of getting caught (CCTV)

• Designing-out crime involves police working with developers to reduce crime, improved lighting at night and better landscaping with clear sightlines for passive surveillance

AO3 - leads to displacement of crime to other areas where they won’t be caught
Situational crime prevention unlikely to prevent crimes like domestic violence which happen in the home

2) Environmental Crime Prevention - originate from the broken windows theory, deal with the first signs of crime immediately to prevent it from taking hold

• Zero tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour by taking disorderly drunks off the street straight away

AO3 - community will lose trust in the police and not give them any information which can make the police more frustrated and become more heavy-handed, vicious cycle
Less focus on more serious crimes/crime of the powerful (Marxists)