Realist Theories

Question 1

Introduction

Answer 1

Realists see crime as a real problem to be tackled, and not just a social construction by control agencies (as Taylor, Walton and Young criticise interactionist theories for).

All realists:

• Argue that there has been a significant rise in the crime rate - especially in street crime, burglary and assault.
• Are concerned about the widespread fear of crime and about the impact of crime on its victims.
• Argue that other theories have failed to offer realistic solutions to the problem of crime and they propose what they regard as practical policies to reduce it.

Question 2

Who are right realists?

Answer 2

Politically, RRs are conservatives who favour a tougher approach to crime. They reject the impractical, strategies that seek to tackle underlying causes of crime (such as poverty). They see crime as a rational choice in which criminals weigh up the risks and rewards. RRs therefore focus on situational and environmental crime prevention strategies as means of deterrence.

Emerged in the 1970s and 1980s with the political shift to the right. Margaret Thatcher in the UK, Ronald Reagan in the USA.

These governments favoured rolling back the welfare state together with a strong commitment to law and order.

Question 3

What are the RR causes for crime?

Answer 3

• Biological differences
• Socialisation and the Underclass
• Rational Choice Theory

Question 4

How does biological differences cause crime?

Answer 4

Wilson and Hernstein (1985) put forward a biological theory of criminal behaviour. In their view, crime is caused by a combination of biological and social factors.

They say biological differences between individuals make some people innately more strongly predisposed to commit crime than others. E.g. personality traits such as aggressiveness, extroversion, risk taking and low impulse control put some people at greater risk of offending. Similarly, Hernstein and Murray (1994) argue that the main cause of crime is low intelligence, which they also see as biologically determined.

Question 5

How does socialisation and the underclass cause crime?

Answer 5

Primary socialisation teaches us self control, we internalise moral values or right and wrong. The best place for this is the nuclear family.

The RR Charles Murray (1990) argues that the crime rate is increasing because of a growing underclass, which emerged from the welfare state (over-generous ‘welfare state’), who are defined by their deviant behaviour and who fail to socialise their children properly due to lone parenting. According to Murray, the underclass is growing in both the USA and the UK as a result of welfare dependency.

This welfare state’s ‘generous revolution’ since the 1960s has led to the decline of marriage and the growth of lone parent families, because women and children can life off benefits. Lone mothers are ineffective socialisation agents, especially for boys. Absent fathers mean that boys lack paternal discipline and appropriate male role models. As a result, young males turn to other, often delinquent, role models in the street and gain status through time rather than supporting their families through a steady job.

Evaluation of Murray

• Criticised for basing work on negative stereotypes of working class and ethnic minority groups.
• Ignores structural inequality created by neo-liberal economic policy, including the privatisation of traditional male-dominated industries.
• Existence of underclass can be seen to be reductionist - blaming the victims and suggesting poverty is a lifestyle choice.

Question 6

How does rational choice theory cause crime?

Answer 6

Rational choice theory assumes that individuals have free will and the power of reason. Clarke (1980) says the decision to commit crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the likely consequences. He says people are likely to commit crime if the reasons outweigh the costs.

Question 7

What are RR’s solutions to crime?

Answer 7

• Longer custodial sentences
• Zero tolerance
• Reduce opportunities
• Police
• Welfare policy

Question 8

According to RRs, how is longer custodial sentences a solution to crime?

Answer 8

Tougher and longer prison sentences especially for persistent offenders, including life imprisonment, will teach them effectively not to commit crime again.

Question 9

According to RRs, how is a zero tolerance policy a solution to crime?

Answer 9

Zero tolerance: They advocate a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ policing - cracking down on criminals in terms of punishing behaviour without accepting excuses. Wilson and Kelling’s (1982) ‘Broken Windows’ theory addresses visible signs of damage or decay to a neighbourhood. Lout-level disorder e.g. litter, broken windows, graffiti, and abandoned housing must be tackled quickly (‘mending broken windows’) or else the problems in the are will quickly escalate and increase the level of criminal activity. Even minor misdemeanours must be pursued with the same vigour as serious crimes.

Maintaining appearance of an area key to upholding law and order.

New York in the 1970s and 80s pursued policies of zero-tolerance against undesirable behaviour. Led to gentrification of areas of New York - pricing low income workers out of area.

Between 1993 and 1996 violent crime went down by 51% in New York. (However, research suggests that this would have happened anyway because crime was on a downward trend).

Criticisms of zero tolerance

• Preoccupied with petty street crime and ignores corporate crime, which is most costly and harmful.
• It gives the police free rein to discriminate against minorities, youth, the homeless etc.
• It over-emphasises control of disorder, rather than tackling the causes of neighbourhood decline such as lack of investment.
• Zero tolerance and target hardening just lead to displacement of crime to other areas.

Question 10

According to RRs, how is reduced opportunities a solution to crime?

Answer 10

Limit the opportunities to commit crime by increasing public awareness, e.g. Neighbourhood Watch Schemes; better locks on doors and windows for homes and cars.

Question 11

According to RRs, how is police a solution to crime?

Answer 11

Increase the presence and power of police officers to deal with criminal behaviour; increase the risk of being caught, e.g. more patrolling police officers; increase the number of CCTV cameras in public places.

Question 12

According to RRs, how is welfare policy a solution to crime?

Answer 12

Change tax and welfare policy so the nuclear family becomes more financially attractive than alternative forms.

Question 13

Evaluation of right realism

Answer 13

✅ A practical solution. Real life application. It has the advantage of being policy-oriented as it offers workable solutions to the problem of crime, something Marxist and interactionist theories fail to do.

✅ Empirical evidence for zero-tolerance. New York was the first city to implement the policy in 1993; it saw a 36% reduction in the violent crime rate between 1993 and 1996, and a 50% reduction over the same period in the homicide rate. This suggests zero-tolerance helps reduce the crime levels. However, Jock Young questions this and argues crime had been falling since 1985, long before the realist zero-tolerance was introduced.

✅ Research support. Based on Home Office research, Flood-Page et al found children (especially males) from lone parent families and step families were more likely to offend than those who lived in a traditional nuclear family. This would support Murray’s views on ‘family decline’ as a factor in the rise of crime and therefore validate right realist ideas. However, they suggest single parenthood is not, in itself, a cause of crime. They argue key factors to consider are the quality of family relationships and levels of parental supervision.

❌ Over-emphasises crime control. Left realists argue right realists place greater emphasis on the control of criminal behaviour and less on tackling the underlying causes of crime. They argue that dealing with social inequality such as marginalisation and relative deprivation are more effective in reducing crime than crime control.

❌ RR approach has little effect. They believe the RR emphasis on punitive action (police and prisons) is ineffective and perhaps counter-productive. For example, the solutions offered by the new right under the Conservative government appeared to have little effect on crime at that time. Evidence would suggest the RR practical solution may not be as effective as it claims.

❌ Ignores the economic origins of crime. Marxists argue the central role of capitalism in causing crime has been played down. Marxists see this approach as an attack on the disadvantaged at the expense of crime committed at the other end of the social spectrum, i.e. white collar crime. In this respect, it ignores the economic origins of crime which may be equally, if not more, harmful (eg pension fraud and domestic crimes) than working class crimes. Partial explanation of crime.

❌ An attack on civil liberties. Hughes (2000) has deep concerns about the RR approach to civil liberties; the maintenance of social order depends on a culture of control. This has alarmed some sociologists who see it as a threat to civil liberties - for example, the widespread use of surveillance techniques (CCTV cameras) as an intrusion of peoples’ privacy. The implication is tougher crime control comes at the expense of our personal freedom, which some people find unpalatable.

Question 14

Who are Left Realists?

Answer 14

LR began in the 1980s and 1990s. They agree with Marxists that society is an unequal capitalist one. Believe in gradual, rather than revolutionary, change. Use other theories as part of their explanation. They draw in Marxism, Neo-Marxism and Labelling theorists.

Marxism - concentrated on crimes of the powerful, such as corporate crime. LR agree that this is important, but they argue that it neglects working class crime and it’s effects.

Neo Marxism - romanticises working class criminals as latter-day Robin Hoods, stealing from the rich as an act of political resistance to capitalism. LR point out that in fact WC criminals mostly victimise other working class people, not the rich.

Labelling theorists - see WC criminals as the victims of discriminatory labelling by social control agents. LR argue that this approach neglects the real victims - WC people who suffer at the hands of criminals.

LR were first to use victim surveys (Islington). This local survey showed that disadvantaged groups were at greater risk of becoming victims of crime. The survey was found to be extremely useful and has now grown into the CSEW.

Question 15

What are the causes of crime according to LR?

Answer 15

• Relative Deprivation
• Subculture
• Marginalisation

Question 16

According to LR, how is relative deprivation a cause of crime?

Answer 16

Relative deprivation. Deprivation in itself is not directly responsible for crime. For example, poverty was rife in the 1930s, yet crime rates were low. By contrast, since the 1950s living standards have risen, but so too has the crime rate.

Runciman’s (1966) concept of relative deprivation refers to how deprived someone feels in relation to others, compared with their own expectations. This leads to crime because people resent others who unfairly have more and resort to crime to obtain what they feel they are entitled to.

Lea and Young explain the paradox that today’s society is both more prosperous and more crime-ridden. People are now more aware of relative deprivation due to the media and advertising, which raises everyone’s expectations for material possessions.

However, relative deprivation alone does not necessarily lead to crime. For Young (1999) ‘the lethal combination is relative deprivation and individualism’. Individualism is a concern with the self and one’s own individual rights, rather than those of the group. It causes crime by encouraging the pursuit of self-interest at the expense of others. Excessive individualisation.

Question 17

According to LR, how is subculture a cause of crime?

Answer 17

The LR view of criminal statistics owes much to Merton, Cohen and Cloward and Ohlin especially their concepts of blocked opportunity and subcultures as a group’s reaction to the failure to achieve mainstream goals. Therefore, for Leftists, a subculture is a groups collective solution to the problem of material deprivation.

However, different groups may turn to crime to close the ‘deprivation gap’, while others may find that religion offers them spiritual comfort and what Weber calls a ‘theodicy of dis-privilege’ - an explanation for their advantage.

Question 18

According to LR, how is marginalisation a cause of crime?

Answer 18

Marginalised groups lack both clear goals and organisations to represent their interests. Groups such as workers have clear goals (such as better pay and conditions) and often have organisations (such as trade unions) to put pressure on employers and politicians. As such they have no need to resort to violence to achieve their goals.

By contrast, unemployed youth are marginalised. They have no organisation to represent them and no clear goals, just a sense of resentment and frustration. Being powerless to use political means to improve their position, they express their frustration through criminal means such as violence and rioting.

Question 19

Late modernity and crime

Answer 19

Young (2002) believes late modernity and how we live today may also be a cause of crime. Young borrows from the ideas of Postmodernists/late modernists such as Beck.

Young says that since the 1970s, there has been an increase in insecurity (Beck) and exclusion of the WC in society, this has led to an increase in criminal behaviour as:

• ‘De-industrialisation’ has led to the decline of unskilled manual jibs which bas resulted in increased unemployments, underemployment and poverty, corresponding at the same time with tougher welfare policies. This, in turn, has led to the destabilisation of family and working class communities and contributed to rising divorce rates, a rise in single-parent families, and absent fathers, resulting in children lacking discipline and a role model, which can lead to delinquent behaviour. All of this has contributed to increased marginalisation and exclusion of those at the bottom.

Question 20

According to LRs, what are the solutions to crime?

Answer 20

• Democratic policing

- Reducing inequality

Question 21

According to LRs, how is democratic policing a solution to crime?

Answer 21

Democratic policing is the opposite of military policing which advocates swamping of an area and heavy policing methods. An effective way is to gain the public’s trust and work with the community to increase/keep the flow of information as 92% of crime known to the police are notified by the public.

Young (1992) suggests families and a range of intermediate institutions, e.g. councils, churches, community organisations, and social services, need to play a role if crime control is to be effective.

Greater use of community service sentences instead of custodial sentences.

Question 22

According to LRs, how is reducing inequality a solution to crime?

Answer 22

LR argue greater state intervention is also needed to deal with the root of crime, such as inequality of opportunity, poverty, poor housing, and unemployment.

We must deal with inequality of opportunity and the unfairness of rewards, tackle discrimination, provide decent jobs for everyone, and improve housing and community facilities. We must also become more tolerant of diversity and cease stereotyping whole groups as criminal.

Question 23

Evaluation of left realists

Answer 23

✅ Community officers. LR have influenced changing government policies. For example, civilians (Community Officers) are now employed to carry out routine tasks of community life, whilst the police pay attention to more serious crimes.

✅ Supporting research study. (Led to the CSEW). Steadily gained empirical support. For example, Jones et al (1986) in their Islington crime survey study demonstrated crime is a real problem for inner-city residents. They found levels of victimisation and fear of crime were high, especially amongst women.

❌ Neglects corporate crimes because of over-reliance on victim surveys. They readily accept official statistics, and therefore are failing to explain white collar and corporate crimes as well as neglecting female subcultural delinquency. Can only partially explain crime.

❌ Lack of research support. Hughes (1991) claims left realists have little empirical research evidence to support their explanations of criminal behaviour. He claims left realists should rely less on victim survey data and more on interviewing of young criminals to get a better understanding of the motives of the offender. This would suggest LR theory may lack validity as it has limited research support.

❌ Marxists critical of the left realist view. LR neglect the crimes of the powerful and white collar crime, due to their emphasis on street crime. Box accepts the view that crime committed by working class offenders is real but the use of selective law enforcement is still an issue.

❌ The new right is critical of left realism. The RR would argue LRs have played down the value of tough responses to crime and would point to the New York ‘zero tolerance scheme’ as an example of successful tough policies.