Realist theories

Question 1

What do right realists think?

Answer 1

The best way to curb crime is through punishment and control. They are less concerned with the causes of crime and more concerned with providing realistic solutions

Question 2

According to right realists, what three factors contribute to crime?

Answer 2

Biological differences
Socilisation and the underclass
Rational choice

Question 3

Who argues that biological differences contribute to crime?

Answer 3

Right realists

Wilson and Hernstein

Question 4

How do biologial differences contribute to crime?

Answer 4

Wilson and Hernstein: They argue that some people are biologically disposed to criminal behaviour and that social factors also play a large part

Question 5

Who argues that socilisation and the underclass contribute to crime?

Answer 5

Right realists

Murray

Question 6

How does socilisation and the underclass contribute to crime?

Answer 6

Socilisation reduces the risk of crime as it involves self control and learning the morals of society.
Murray: The nuclear family does this best and the rise in lone parent families means that boys lack dicipline

Question 7

Who argues that rational choice contributes to crime?

Answer 7

Right realists

Clarke

Question 8

How does rational choice contribute to crime?

Answer 8

Clarke: People have the choice to commit crime and will do so if the benifits outweigh the punishment
Criminals will be deterred by more police officers and harsher sentences

Question 9

How is the new right explanation of crime critisized?

Answer 9

Ignores wider structural causes
Overestimates how rational criminals are and ignores impulsive and violent crime
The idea of biological determinism conflicts with the idea of free will

Question 10

How do right realists aim to tackle crime?

Answer 10

By taking measures to make it less attractive

Zero tolerance policy

Question 11

Who came up with zero tolerance policy?

Answer 11

Wilson and Kelling

Right realists

Question 12

What is zero tolerance policy?

Answer 12

Maintaining the orderly character of neighbourhoods and having no tolerance for vandilism, disorderly behaviour or other crimes. They aim to control the streets so normal people feel safer

Question 13

How does Young critisize zero tolernace policy?

Answer 13

The sucess of the policy in New York was a myth as crime was already falling. Police would then be preoccupied with smaller and smaller crimes until order was maintained

Question 14

How is the right realist approach critisized?

Answer 14

Ignores white collar crime
Gives the police opportunity to discriminate against groups such as youth
Overemphasis on control
Zero tolerance policy just leads to crime moving to other areas

Question 15

What do left realists think?

Answer 15

They agree with marxists that society is unequal but think this should be changed gradually rather than in a revolution
They believe in practical solutions

Question 16

Who came up with the idea of aetiological crisis?

Answer 16

Young

Question 17

What kind of sociologist is Young?

Answer 17

Left realist

Question 18

What is an aetiological crisis?

Answer 18

Crime has been rising since the 50s and there is no one explanation for it

Question 19

How do left realists critisize labelling theorists?

Answer 19

They argue that the rise in crime is too big to be explained by negativelly labelling the poor

Question 20

Which sociologists came up with the left realist causes of crime?

Answer 20

Lea and Young

Question 21

According to Lea and Young, (left realists) what are the causes of crime?

Answer 21

Relative deprivation
Subculture
Marginalisation

Question 22

How does relative deprivation cause crime according to Lea and Young

Answer 22

Media means people are more aware of relative deprivation and more likely to resort to crime to get what they feel entitled to
Combined with individualism to cause high crime rates

Question 23

How does subculture contribute to crime according to Lea and Young?

Answer 23

Status frustration where people turn to crime to acheive the goals set out by society
Black ghettos still aspire to the american dream but have to turn to crime to get it

Question 24

How does marginalisation lead to crime?

Answer 24

They lack groups to represent their interests so grow frustrated and express this as crime

Question 25

How has crime changed as we’ve moved to late modernity according to Young?

Answer 25

Deindustrialisation leads to unemployment and a greater gap between the rich and poor
More relative deprivation
Increase in hate crimes
Crime found in more levels of the social structure
Informal methods of control are less effective

Question 26

How does Young explain the rise in antisocial behaviour?

Answer 26

Governments have introduced orders to control deviant behaviour such as ASBOS which blur the boundary between crime and deviance
They have subjective definitions which gives the police more power

Question 27

What do left realists argue about policing?

Answer 27

Police numbers are too low to act as a deterrant for crime and the community must be more involved in determining police priorities

Question 28

According to left realists, what should police be doing in the community?

Answer 28

Building relationships so they can address local concerns

Question 29

What evaluative points can be made about left realists?

Answer 29

Fails to explain corperate crime
Doesn’t expalin the motives of offenders
Relative deprivation can’t fully explain crime