realist theories

Question 1

right realists - crime is the product of 3 factors

Answer 1

biological differneces

inadequet socialisation

individuals rational choice to offend

Question 2

right realism - the causes of crime - biological differences

Answer 2

Wilson and Herrnstein - put forward a biosocial theory of criminal behaviour
crime is casued by a combination of biological and social factors

biological differences between people make some innately strongly predisposed to commit crime than others

and low intelligence

Question 3

right realism - the causes of crime - socialisation

Answer 3

while biology increases the chance of offending, effective socialisation decreases it
learning self-control
the best agency of socialisation is the nuclear family
Murray - crime is increasing due to the growing underclass who fail to socialise their children properly.
underclass is growing due to welfare dependency and has increased lone parent families

lone mothers are ineffective at socialising boys. they lack male role models so turn to delinquent role models in street gangs

Question 4

right realism - the causes of crime - socialisation AO3

Answer 4

there is no evidence that young people raised in lone-parent families are more likely to commit crime

Question 5

right realism - the causes of crime - rational choice theory

Answer 5

individuals have free will
the decision to commit a crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the likely consequences
if the rewards outweigh the costs = more likely to offend

the perceived costs of crime is low, which is why the crime rate has increased

Question 6

right realism - the causes of crime - Ao3 - ignores wider…

Answer 6

it ignores wider structural causes such as poverty

Question 7

right realism - the causes of crime - rational choice theory AO3

Answer 7

it overstates the offenders rationality and how far they make cost-benefit calculations before committing a crime

doesn’t explain violent crime

Question 8

right realism - the causes of crime - biological differences AO3

Answer 8

it overemphasises biological factors
Lilly et al - IQ differences account for less than 3% of differences in offending

Question 9

right relaism - tackling crime - zero tolerance

Answer 9

any sign of criminal activity must be dealt with immediately

police should focus on controlling the streets so that law-abiding citizens feel safe

it achieved huge reductions of crime after it was introduced in New York

Question 10

right realism - tackling crime - zero-tolerance Ao3 - myth

Answer 10

zero tolerance policy’s success in New York was a myth peddled by politicians and police keen to take the credit for falling crime

but the crime rate in NY had already been falling 9 years before zero tolerance

Question 11

right realism - tackling crime - zero-tolerance Ao3 - free rein

Answer 11

it gives police free rein to discriminate against minorities, youth, the homeless and others

Question 12

how do left realists criticise marxists

Answer 12

they concentrate on crimes of the powerful so they neglect WC crime and its effects

Question 13

how do left realists criticise Neo-marxists

Answer 13

romanticise WC criminals as straling from the rich as an act of political resistance against capitlaism

Question 14

how do left realists criticise labelling theorists

Answer 14

see WC criminals as victims of discriminatory labelling by social control agents.
LR - this approach negates the real victims - WC people

Question 15

left realism - aetiological crisis

Answer 15

there was a real increase in crime and this lead to an aetiological crisis - a crisis in explanation
for example, labelling theorists deny the increase in crime is real and instead its due to increased reporting and social construction

LR argue the increase is real and to great to be explained in this way

Question 16

left realism - 3 causes of crime

Answer 16

relative depriavtion

subculture

marginalisation

Question 17

left realism causes of crime - relative deprivation

Answer 17

but deprivation itself is not directly responsible for crime

refer to how deprived someone feels in relation to others - can lead to crime when someone resents others for unfairly having more than them

people are now more aware of relative deprivation due to the media

RD alone doesn’t lead to crime -it’s the combination of RD and individualism.
it causes crime by encouraging the pursuit of self-interest at the expense of others
it undermines the values of mutual support and selflessness = a spiral of anti-social behaviour

Question 18

left realism causes of crime - subculture

Answer 18

a subculture is a group’s collective solution to the problem of RD

different groups produce different subcultural solutions
some may turn to crime to close the deprivation gap while others may find religion as a spiritual comfort
but some subcultures still conform to the materialism
AO2: there are neighbourhoods in the USA that are fully immersed in the American dream. but opportunities to achieve these goals legitimately are blocked.

Question 19

left realism causes of crime - marginalisation

Answer 19

marginalised groups lack clear goals and organisations to represent their interest

workers have goals so have no need to resort to violence to achieve

but unemployed youth have no one to represent them so feel resentment and frustration

being powerless to use political means to improve their position they express their frustration through criminal means

Question 20

left realism - late modernity

Answer 20

Young
we are now living in the stage of late modern society where instability makes crime worse

deindustrialisation has increased this and unemployment, especially for minority ethnic groups. has destabilised families and increased the exclusion of those at the bottom

greater inequality between rich and poor encourages individualism and RD
There is a contrast between cultural inclusion and economic exclusion as a source of RD:
- media-saturated society promotes materialism

RD is widespread - there’s a resentment at the undeservedly high rewards some get

so crime is found throughout the structure, not just the bottom

reactions to crime are changing - more intolerant of crime

Question 21

AO2: the crime survey found that __% thought crime had risen not fallen in the past 10 years

Answer 21

the crime survey found that 81% thought crime had risen not fallen in the past 10 years

Question 22

Ao2: rising antisocial behaviour rate

Answer 22

crime surveys show a high level of public concern about anti-social behaviour

governments have aimed to control this by ASBOs (anti-social behaviour orders)
has features such as:
subjective definition: anti-social behaviour has no objective definition. its in the eye of the beholder

Question 23

left realism - tackling crime - policing problems

Answer 23

Kinsey, Lea and Young argue there are a number of flaws:
- clear up rate is low
- police rely on a flow of info from the public (90% of crimes known to the police are reported by the public)
but public confidence in the police is decreasing
- without this, police resort to military policing - stopping and searching large numbers of people or using surveillance technology

Question 24

left realism - tackling crime - improving policing

Answer 24

key to police success lies in improving relationships with the community. Kinsey, Lea and Young recommend that:
- the public have more say
- police should spend more time investigating crime

Question 25

left realism - tackling the social causes of crime

Answer 25

LR see the problem of crime as rooted in social inequalities
Young suggests:
- improving lesisure facilities for the young
- raising the livig standards of poorer fmailies

Question 26

left realism - tackling crime - Ao3 - marxist

Answer 26

marxists criticise relaism fo rignoring the ‘real’ causes of crime that lie in the wider capitlaist system and of ignoring crimes of powerful groups

Question 27

left realism - tackling crime - Ao3 - Jones

Answer 27

argues LR fails to explain why some peple who are experience RD turn to crime while others do not

Question 28

left realism and social policy

Answer 28

LR approaches have been put into practise by new labour governments
the police now employ civilians (community police officer) to do routine tasks, thus freeing police officers to investigate crime

Question 29

simialrities between left and right realism

Answer 29

see crime as a real problem
theres a real increase in crime rate

Question 30

differences between left and right realism

Answer 30

RR = neo-conservatives
LR = reformist socialists

RR = blame individual self control for crime
LR = blame structural inequalities