realist theories of crime Flashcards
do right realists accept or reject marxist views
right realists reject the idea put forward by Marxists and others that structural or economic factors such as poverty and inequality are the cause of crime.
According to right realists, what is crime the product of?
individual biological differences, inadequate socialisation, individual’s rational choice to offend
What was Wilson and Hernstein’s theory (right)
biosocial theory of criminal behaviour.
Crime is caused by combination of biological and social factors.
bio differences make some more strongly predisposed to commit crime than others
How did Hernstein and Murray support Wilson and Hernstein?
main cause of crime is low intelligence which they also see as biologically determined.
how does effective socialisation decreases risk of an individual offending?
involves learning self-control and internalising moral values and right and wrong - for right realists, the best agency of socialisation is the nuclear family.
What does Murray argue is the reason for the crime rate increasing?
growing underclass or new rabble of who are defined by their deviant behaviour and who fail to socialise their children properly. The underclass is growing in the USA and the UK due to welfare dependecy. The welfare state’s generous revolution since the 1960s allows increasing numbers of people to become dependent on the state. It has led to the decline of marriage and the growth of lone parent families.
what is rational choice theory?
individuals have free will and the power of reason.
What does ron clarke argue
rational choice theory
the decision to commit crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the likely consequences. If the perceived rewards of crime outweigh the perceived cost, or if the rewards of crime appear to be greater than those of non-criminal behaviour, then people will be likely to offend.
How does Felson support Ron Clarke and rational choice theory?
for a crime to occur, there must be a motivated offender, a suitable target and the absence of a capable guardian. Offenders are assumed to act rationally so the presence of a guardian is likely to deter them.
Criticisms of the right realist explanation of the courses of crime (3)
ignores wider structural causes such as poverty
Overstates offenders’ rationality and how far they make cost-benefit calculations before committing a crime. While it might explain utilitarian crime, it may not explain impulsive / violence crime.
View of criminals as rational actors freely choosing crime conflicts with its claim that their behaviour is determined by biology and socialisation.
what is right realists’ main focus in terms of tackling crime
control, containment and punishment of offenders
Explain Zero Tolerance using a sociologist
Wilson and Kelling’s broken windows article argues that it is essential to maintain the orderly character of neighbourhoods to prevent crime taking hold. Any sign of deterioration such as graffiti or vandalism must be dealt with immediately.
How does Young criticise Zero Tolerance
he argues that its success was a myth peddled by politicians and police keen to take the credit for falling crime. The crime rate in new york has been falling since 1985 - nine years before zero tolerance.
The police need arrests to justify existence and new york’s shortage of serious crime led police there to define deviance up.
Give four other criticisms of zero tolerance
preoccupied with petty street crime, ignoring corporate crime.
Gives police free rein to discriminate against minorities, youth, the homeless.
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 crimes to other areas.
what is the central idea behind left realism
crime is the real problem and one that affects the disadvantaged groups who are its main victims.
Left realists criticise other perspectives for not taking crime seriously. List the perspectives it critiques and explain why.
Marxists - concentrated on crimes of the powerful such as corporate crime. left realists agree that this is important but they argue that it neglects working class crime and its effects.
Neo-Marxists - romanticise working class criminals as latter-day robin hoods, stealing from the rich as an act of political resistance to capitalism. Crime is intra-class.
Labelling theorists - see working class criminals as the victims of discriminatory labelling by social control agents while ignoring the real criminals - the w/c who suffer at the hands of criminals.
What is an aeteological crisis?
Coined by Young
The rise in working class crime led to a crisis in explanation for theories of crime. Critical criminology and labelling theory tend to deny that the increase was real. They argue that that was the just result of increased reporting or increased tendency to label the poor.
What three causes of crime did Lea and Young identify?
relative deprivation
subculture
marginalisation
Explain runciman’s concept of relative deprivation to explain crime
refers to how deprived someone feels in relation to others, or their own expectations. This can lead to crime when people resent others unfairly having more and resort to crime to obtain what they feel they are entitled to.
How does Lea and Young explain the paradox that today’s society is both more prosperous and more crime ridden?
although people are better off, they are now more aware of relative deprivation due to the media and advertising which raise everyone’s expectations for material possessions.
How does Young offer AO3 to his own theory
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.
briefly explain the subcultural theory of crime
left realism
different groups may produce different subcultural solutions to this problem. Some 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 disprivilege - an explanation for their disadvantage.
Explain the marginalisation theory of crime
left realism
unemployed youths are marginalised. They have no organisationn 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 frustration through criminal means.
explain Young’s theory of the correlation between late modernity and crime starting from the 1970s.
since the 1970s, insecurity and exclusion have increased while de-industrialisation and loss of unskilled jobs has increased unemployment especially for young people
young notes the growing contrast between cultural inclusion and economic exclusion as a source of relative deprivation
media saturated late modern society promotes cultural inclusion, even the poor have access to the media’s materialistic, consumerist cultural messages.
There is a greater emphasis on leisure, personal consumption and immediate gratification leading to higher expectations for the good life.
Despite the ideology of meritocracy, the poor are denied opportunities to gain the glittering prizes of a wealthy society.
Explain the second aetiological crisis
since the mid 1990s, the crime rate has fallen substantially. This is a problem for realist explanation, because it suggests that crime is no longer the major threat they had originally claimed.
What method of policing do left realists criticise
military polcing = when the police lose public support, the flow of information dries up and instead they swamp an area using random stop and search tactics, alienating communities and a causing a loss of trust towards the police.
what method of policing aligns with Kinsey, Lea and Young’s argument that polce clear up rates are too low to act as a deterrent in crime and therefore the public need to become involved?
multi-agency approach - involves agencies such as local councils’ social services, housing departments, schools and leisure services, as well as voluntary organisations, and the public.
Give a policy implemented by new labour that echoed left realist concerns to protect vulnerable groups and from crime and low level disorder.
anti-social behaviour orders
new labour’s firmer approach to policing hate crimes, sexual assault and DV
How does Henry and Milovanovic criticise left realism
it accepts authorities’ definitions of crime as being street crime committed by the poor instead of defining the problem as being one of how powerful groups do harm to the poor.
Give five other criticisms of left realism
marxists argue that it fails to explain corperate crime which is much more powerful
Interactionists argue that they cannot explain offender’s motices
use of subcultural theory means left realists assume that value consensus exists
relative deprivation cannot fully explain street crime because not all thosewho experience it commit crimes
focus on high crime inner city area gives unrepresentative view and makes crime appear a greater problem than it is.
