Realist theories Flashcards
What do right realists think?
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
According to right realists, what three factors contribute to crime?
Biological differences
Socilisation and the underclass
Rational choice
Who argues that biological differences contribute to crime?
Right realists
Wilson and Hernstein
How do biologial differences contribute to crime?
Wilson and Hernstein: They argue that some people are biologically disposed to criminal behaviour and that social factors also play a large part
Who argues that socilisation and the underclass contribute to crime?
Right realists
Murray
How does socilisation and the underclass contribute to crime?
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
Who argues that rational choice contributes to crime?
Right realists
Clarke
How does rational choice contribute to crime?
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
How is the new right explanation of crime critisized?
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
How do right realists aim to tackle crime?
By taking measures to make it less attractive
Zero tolerance policy
Who came up with zero tolerance policy?
Wilson and Kelling
Right realists
What is zero tolerance policy?
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
How does Young critisize zero tolernace policy?
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
How is the right realist approach critisized?
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
What do left realists think?
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
Who came up with the idea of aetiological crisis?
Young
What kind of sociologist is Young?
Left realist
What is an aetiological crisis?
Crime has been rising since the 50s and there is no one explanation for it
How do left realists critisize labelling theorists?
They argue that the rise in crime is too big to be explained by negativelly labelling the poor
Which sociologists came up with the left realist causes of crime?
Lea and Young
According to Lea and Young, (left realists) what are the causes of crime?
Relative deprivation
Subculture
Marginalisation
How does relative deprivation cause crime according to Lea and Young
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
How does subculture contribute to crime according to Lea and Young?
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
How does marginalisation lead to crime?
They lack groups to represent their interests so grow frustrated and express this as crime
How has crime changed as we’ve moved to late modernity according to Young?
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
How does Young explain the rise in antisocial behaviour?
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
What do left realists argue about policing?
Police numbers are too low to act as a deterrant for crime and the community must be more involved in determining police priorities
According to left realists, what should police be doing in the community?
Building relationships so they can address local concerns
What evaluative points can be made about left realists?
Fails to explain corperate crime
Doesn’t expalin the motives of offenders
Relative deprivation can’t fully explain crime
