Realist theories of crime Flashcards
Realist view of Crime
-see crime as a real problem to be tackled and not just a social construction created by control agencies
Argue there has been a significant rise in crime rate especially in street crime , burglarly and assault.
Other theories failed to offer realistic solutions to the problem of crime
Right Realist
Share new right or neo corservative political outlooks
Left Realists
Left Realists are socialists and favour quite different policies for reducing crime
Right Realism view of crime
a real problem in society- it destroys communities and
undermines social cohesion.
Has been influential in the uk and usa For instance it provided justification for widely adopted policies such as zero tolerance of street crime
Right realists aren’t concerned with the causes of the crime, they want realistic solutions to it.
* Views align with 1970/80s neo-conservative governments.-For example policy makers argued that nothing works as no workable solutionst to curb the rising crim rate when there was many theories of crime
Causes of Crime according to Right realists
-Biological Differences
-Socialisation and the underclass
-Rational Choice theory
Causes of Crime: Biological Differences(RIght Realism)
Wilson and Herstein-crime is caused by biological and
social factors, such as those with
traits like aggressiveness and low
impulse control being more likely
to offend.
Herrnstein & Murray (1994)-
argue the main cause of crime is
low intelligence, which they say is
biologically determined.
Causes of Crime :socialisation and underclass(Right Realism)
Biological factors may increase the offending risk, but socialisation brings it down
because we learn self control and morals of right/wrong.
* Right realists argue the nuclear family socialises the best.
* Murray (1990)- crime rate is increasing because of a growing underclass who don’t
socialise their children properly.
* He says they’re growing because of welfare dependency- causing a decline in
marriage and a rise in dependent lone mothers/children and unemployed men that
don’t support their family.
* Finally, Murray ties this into crime by saying lone mothers don’t socialise their
children properly and children have no male role models, so they become street
criminals.
Causes of Crime :Rational choice theory
This theory assumes all individuals have free will and
power of reason when making decisions.
* Clarke (1980)- the decision to commit crime is a choice
based on a rational calculation of the consequences.
* The greater the cost, the less likely to commit, the
greater the reward, the more likely to commit.
* Right realists believe the costs of the crime are too
small, which is why crime rates have gone up
* Routine activity theory- Felson (2002) argues for a
crime to happen there must be a motivated offender, a
suitable target (person/property), and no capable
guardian (like police).
Dealing with Crime Right realists
Do not believe it is fruitful to try to deal with causes of crime such as biological and socialisation differences since these cannot easily be changed.
crime, we need practical action
that makes crime unattractive.
* Right realists focus on controlling, containing and punishing offenders.
This means crime prevention policies should reduce the
rewards/increase the costs of offending. Example- target hardening,
where punishments are used more and much sooner after the offence
has happened (this maximises the punishment’s deterrence.)
crime, we need practical action
that makes crime unattractive.
*
Example of Dealing with Crime Right realists
Wilson & Kelling (1982)- zero tolerance policy needs to be in place.
The police need to focus on controlling the streets so law-abiding
people feel safe, and signs of deterioration (crime) need to be dealt
with immediately by harsh punishment.
criticisms of Dealing with Crime (right realists)
Young (2011)- argues the New York example of zero tolerance policy is a myth. The crime rate had been
falling 5 years before the policy was introduced, and in the shortage of serious crime, NY police widened
their net and made arrests on minor offences that they normally wouldn’t acknowledge. This means the
success was actually the police dealing with a decline that already happened.
* Preoccupied with petty street crimes, ignore more harmful and costly crimes like corporate crime.
* Enables police to discriminate against minorities, homeless, youths, etc.
* Overemphasis on controlling disorder instead of fixing causes of neighbourhood decline.
* Zero tolerance and target hardening lead to displacing crime to a different area.
Left Realists
Crime is a real problem that especially effects disadvantaged
groups as they’re the main victims. Left realists say other
theorists don’t take crime seriously.
* Marxists are too focused on the crimes of the powerful,
neglecting WC crime and its effects.
* Neo-Marxists romanticise the WC as Robin Hoods who steal from the rich/resist capitalism- ignoring that WC crime often victimises other WC people.
* Labelling theorists see criminals as victims to unfair labelling by social control agents- ignoring the real victims (WC people who criminals make suffer).
* Taking crime seriously means recognising who is most affected by crime, like unskilled workers being 2x more likely to be burgled, and that equality will be achieved through gradual change.
Left Realist -Lea and Young
three causes of crime
Relative Deprivation
Subculture
Marginalisation
Cause of Crime(LR): Relative Deprivation
Young argue crime has its roots in deprivation, though it doesn’t directly cause crime-
EG: high poverty and low crime rate in 1930s. But
rise in crime and living standards by the 50s.
* Relative deprivation is how deprived we feel in
relation to others/compared to our expectations.
People may resort to crime to get what they feel is
theirs.
* Lea & Young- society today is prosperous and
crime ridden because though we’re more well off,
media and ads shows us our relative deprivation
and raised our expectations of what we should
have, which encourages crime.
Subculure :cause of crime to Left realists
Left realists see this as a group response to
relative deprivation.
* Groups have different subcultural solutions
to this problem, such as closing the
deprivation gap through crime, or using
religion/spiritual comfort to explain their
disadvantage.
* Left realists argue criminal subcultures still
have mainstream goals/values like
materialism and consumerism.
* Young (2002)- USA ghettos had the
American dream culture, but used crime to
achieve them.
Marginalisation :Cause of Crime for left realist
Marginalised groups lack clear
goals/organisations to represent
their interests.
* EG: workers have clear goals like
better conditions/pay, and use
organisations like trade unions to
pressure employers/politicians.
* However- unemployed youths
are marginalised because they
don’t have these things, only
frustration and resentment,
which they release through
crime- violent behaviour and
rioting.
Left Realists: Tackling Crime
Policing and Control
Tackling the Structural causes
Left Realism and Government policy
Left Realists Tackling Crime:Policing and Control
Kinsey Lea & Young (1986)- argue police
clear up rates are too low to deter
crime, and say the public should be
more involved in determining police
priorities and style of policing.
* Military policing- police usually rely on
public’s info in investigating crime, but
this is declining because the public don’t
support the police. Therefore, they rely
on military policing, ‘swamping’ areas,
using random stop and search tactics,
etc. This loses them police support with
youths and ethnic minorities especially.
* Left realists argue policing must be
made accountable by local communities
and deal with local concerns and
investigating crime and involving them
in policing policy.
* There should be a multi-agency
approach in crime control, involving
police, local councils, social services,
housing, schools, the public and
voluntary organisations.
Left Realist Tackling Crime :Tackling structural causes
Tackling the structural causes:
* Left realists don’t see
improved policing/control as
the main solution, because
crime lies in the unequal
structure of society.
* This means major structural
changes are needed to reduce
crime, like dealing with the
inequality of opportunity and
unfairness of reward, tackle
discrimination, give everyone a
decent job and access to
facilities and housing.
* We also need to embrace
diversity and stop stereotyping
whole groups as criminal.
Left Realist Tackling Crime:Left Realism and Government policy
- They have had more influence on policy
than most theories of crime, and their
ideas align with 1997-2010 New Labour
government- tough on crime, tough on
the cause of crime. - New Labour’s ASBOs and firmer
policing of hate crimes/sexual
assault/domestic violence are left
realist ideas of protecting vulnerable
groups from crime. - Young- says these policies are trying to
recreate the golden ages of the 1950s,
as ASBOs addressed ‘symptoms’ like
anti-social behaviour but didn’t
recreate a sense of community.
Evaluation of Left Realists
Henry & Milovanovic
(1996)- left realists accept the definition
that crime is a WC issue rather than addressing crimes of the powerful.
* Interactionalists- left realists rely on quantitative data from victim surveys, meaning they can’t explain
offender’s motives.
* relative deprivation can’t fully explain crime because not everyone turns to it.
Young (2002):Late modernity exclusion and crime
(2002)- we’re in late modernity, where
factors like instability, insecurity and exclusion have
made crime worse.
* Insecurity and exclusion started rising in the 70s, and
de-industrialisation and loss of unskilled jobs has
raised unemployment rates.
* People in these circumstances have to turn to crime
to survive, which is why crime rates are up.
* Relative deprivation is also increasing- the poor
resent rich careers like bankers/footballers, and the
MC see the ‘underclass’ as idle and living off the
state.
* This individualism means society’s reactions to crime
are varied, which blurs the boundary of right and
wrong behaviour- so informal control like the family
is less effective, and the public is intolerant of crime
and demand harsh punishment.
* Late modern society has high crime rates but a low
tolerance of crime.
