Realism and Crime

Question 1

What is the difference between left realism and right realism?

Answer 1

Left realism is associated with Labour Gov policies whereas Right Realism is associated with Conservative gov

Question 2

What do Young and Lea say about crime?

AO1

Answer 2

Founded Left Realism. Believe that they take a realistic approach to crime because:
- they see crime as a serious problem
- see that street crime in particular is on the rise
- urban areas are becoming more dangerous
- official statistics are broadly correct - conducted their own victim surveys and found similar results

Question 3

How can we analyse Young and Lea?

AO3

Answer 3

• Knife crime is on the rise
• Violent crime is highest in Newham and Lambeth - some of London’s poorest and most urbanised areas

Question 4

How can we evaluate Young and Lea?

AO3

Answer 4

Sayer: overfocus on streetcrime and ignore white collar crime which is more costly to society

Question 5

Why do Lea and Young say relative deprivation causes crime?

AO1/2

Answer 5

• People see themselves as deprived in comparison to others and so commit crime to obtain these things
• Lewis et al: the 2011 London Riots were caused by a desire to consume which led to looting

Question 6

How can we analyse relative deprivation?

AO3

Answer 6

Young: WC crime has been made worse by late modernity as we now live in a ‘bulimic society’
- social media forces us to consume a highly idealised expensive lifestyle that we cannot afford
- due to economic circumstance we have to ‘vomit out’ this lifestyle as it is unattainable for us leading to fustration, anger, and ultimately crime

There are 3 features of late modernity which intensify the sense of relative deprivation:
1. Growing individualism - people are now more self-cented rather than community orientated
2. Weakned informal controls - family bonds are waker and people no longer belong to tight-knit communities
3. Increased wealth disparity due to globalisation intensifies bulimic society as the gap between what we consume and reality widens

Question 7

How can we evaluate relative deprivation?

AO3

Answer 7

Chambliss: people feel relative deprivation because capitalism is criminogenic - there is pressure to want more even if you have enough

Question 8

Why do Lea and Young say marginalisation causes crime?

AO1/2

Answer 8

• Some groups are politically/socially on the edge of mainstream society which causes exclusion e.g. unemployment, poverty, in education and policing
• people may commit crimes to release their fustration towards this exclusion
• this is why unions were formed - to give voices to workers and make them feel less marginalised as they have someone to represent them

Question 9

How can we analyse marginalisation?

AO3

Answer 9

• Ethnic minorities still feel marginalised - trade unions are inherently more focused on class issues rather than racial discrimination. Also as ethnic minorities are less likely to be employed they aren’t able to join trade unions and be represented
• 2011 London Riots were a direct response to marginalisation of black people in policing - protesting unlawful shooting of Marc Duggan

Question 10

Why do Lea and Young say subcultures cause crime?

AO1/2

Answer 10

• Subcultures emerge in response to relative deprivation and marginalisation
• Due to inequality criminal and deviant subcultures arise
• e.g. young ethnic minority boys forming gangs due to marginalisation from police and employers - seek status through subcultures

Question 11

How can we analyse subcultures?

AO3

Answer 11

Ken Pryce: endless pressure
- Conducted a participant observation on a large afro-carribean community in Bristol
- Found that second generation afro-carribeans response to inequality was leading to deviant and delinquant subcultures forming
- Identified a variety of subcultures e.g. hustlers, Rastafarians

Question 12

How can we evaluate subcultures?

AO3

Answer 12

Sewell: triple quandary
- Black males are often alienated from mainstream white culture
- This is due to its emphasis on consumerism and the lack of positive male role models in lone parent families
- They feel rejected by society so turn to peers who have also been rejected
- Use media role models such as black rappers who typically reflect gang culture

Question 13

What are the solutions to crime according to Lea and Young?

AO3

Answer 13

• Policing: police rely on info from the public but the relationship with the public is strained so they need to improve it and increase public involvement - this would make people feel less marginalised
• Dealing with deeper structural issues and causes of crime: e.g. poverty, unemployment, racism. Can be done by improving welfare provision and preventing labelling in schools
• Multi agency approach: different agencies working together to tackle crime e.g. schools, charities, police, local council

Question 14

How can we evaluate left realism?

AO3

Answer 14

• Democratic policing would be hard to actually implement - are prisons are currently overcrowded and the police force is understaffed
• They rely on official statistics which overrepresent ethnic minorities and ignore white collar crime

Question 15

What do right realists believe?

AO1

Answer 15

• Crime is a major and growing issue
• Official statistics are broadly correct
• Agree with functionalists that crime has an important societal function
• Blame individuals rather than structural issues for crime

Question 16

What is Clarke’s reason for crime?

AO1

Answer 16

Rational Choice Theory:
- Criminals only commit crime when the benefits outweigh the repercussions
- Thus an individual will commit crime when they have a lower chance of being caught
- The solution is target hardening e.g. bright street lights, neighbourhood watch - situational crime prevention (SCP) this will make the potential costs of commiting crime lower than the benefits

Question 17

How can we analyse Clarke?

AO3

Answer 17

SCP is still relevant today anti-homeless architecture is on the rise to prevent the crime of vagrancy. Also technology has allowed shops to have automatic alarms that go off is an unpurchased item is taken out

Question 18

How can we evaluate Clarke?

AO3

Answer 18

SCP focuses on making it harder to commit crime rather than addressing the cause of crime - structural inequality

Question 19

What is Wilson and Kelling’s reason for crime?

AO1

Answer 19

• Visible signs of crime and civil disorder e.g. broken windows, vandalism create an urban environment that promotes even more crime and disorder
• There is never just one broken window - once an area starts to deteriorate law abiding citizens start leaving leading to more crime
• Some areas are “too far gone” - money should be spent saving areas that can still recover
• The solution is zero tolerance polcing - if you punish the first broken window others won’t be broken. Also environmental crime prevention/ communitarianism is needed - the community should take responsibility for preventing their area deteriorating

Question 20

How can we analyse Wilson and Kelling?

AO3

Answer 20

• In 2014 Liverpool began cracking down on street drinking and begging recognising that these were visible signs of disorder that contributed to a general sense of disruption and lead to more serious crimes
• Communitarianism can be seen in the the aftermath of the Southport riots where the community banded together to clean up

Question 21

What is a research example of broken windows theory?

AO2

Answer 21

Keizer et al: field experiment
- left a letter with money visibly in it on the sidewalk
- in a nice, clean street only 13% of passers-by stole the envelope
- in a street with litter it was 25%
- in a street with graffiti it was 27%

Question 22

How can we evaluate Wilson and Kelling?

AO3

Answer 22

• Jackson: it is problematic to blame individuals for commiting crime for letting their area deteriorate when it’s the government’s fault for allowing places to deteriorate due to lack of spending. Structural issues are to blame
• Doesn’t explain why the first window was broken only how it causes other subsequent windows to be broken

Question 23

What is Cohen and Felson’s reason for crime?

AO1/2

Answer 23

Crime is opportunist and not necessarily carefully planned out. Crime is more likely to occur when these 3 elements are in place:
1. Motivation - indiv must have a want/need e.g. money
2. Opportunity - the crime needs to present itself e.g. unlocked car, unattended device
3. Lack of guardianship - inadequate socialisation e.g due to lone parents or abusive household

Question 24

How can we analyse Cohen and Felson?

AO3

Answer 24

2011 London Riots:
- Motivation = shooting of Marc Duggan/ rebelling against police discrimination
- Opportunity = riots led to disorder which made looting much easier
- Guardians = children of lone parents were allegedly the main perpetrators. David Cameron speech: “parents do you know where your children are”

Question 25

How do recent statistics analyse Cohen and Felson?

AO3

Answer 25

Moped crimes more than doubled between 2016 and** 2017** as technological devices became more popular and commonly used - it became increasingly likely that someone would have an expensive device on them which gave more opportunity and motivation for crime.
Once police were given the power to crash into mopeds to prevent crime cases rapidly decreased as their was no decreased opportunity

Question 26

What is Murray’s theory?

AO1/2

Answer 26

• The underclass are the cause of crime
• They are jobless, welfare dependent, lazy, ill-disciplined and most often lone parent
• These parents inadequately socialise their children into these defficient norms and values
• The solution is the elimination of the welfare state - this would force the underclass to get jobs thus giving their childrens positive role models of adults who work and don’t rely on a ‘nanny state’ and so are adequately socialised
• Murray also proposed involuntary socialisation

Question 27

How can we analyse Murray?

AO3

Answer 27

Most looters in the London riots were from lone parent WC homes hence David Cameron’s speech: “parents do you know where your children are?”

Question 28

How can we evaluate Murray?

AO3

Answer 28

• Mooney: “there is not a single scrap of evidence” that lone parent families lead to more crime
• Removing the welfare state would be counterproductive as this would lead to more poverty and so more crime

Question 29

How has right realism impacted policy?

A03

Answer 29

• Zero tolerance policing: being tough on menial crimes
• ASBOs: targetted young people by criminalising domestic disturbanes, loitering
• Support for prisons and harsher sentencing: general position of UK discourse and dominates law and order

Question 30

How can we evaluate right realism?

AO3

Answer 30

• Led to policy that disproportionately impacts ethnic minorities - 2% of all black americans are in prisons - they are being targetted by right realist policy
• Right realists generally speak of a ‘golden age’ of the nation where crime didn’t really exist - this is a myth
• Their solutions are oversimplistic and have practical issues
• Stronger punishments lead to decreases in some crimes but increases in others e.g. property theft has declined but violent crime against an indivudal has increased - people are more likely to use force when breaking and entering since the punishment is severe either way