Right Realism Flashcards
1
Q
Right Realism
Right Realism
A
- Sees crime as a real and gorwing problem that destroys communities.
- It undermines social cohesion and threatens society’s work ethic.
- Right realists criticise other theories for failure to offer any practical solutions to rising crime rates.
2
Q
Right Realism
Causes of Crime
A
- They reject the idea put forward by Marxists and others: “structural or economic factors such as poverty and inequality are the cause of crime”.
- For example, right realists point out that old tend to be poor, but have a lower crime rate.
- Crime is a product of three factors: individual biological differences, inadequate socialisation, the individual’s rational choice to offend.
3
Q
Right Realism
Biological Differences
A
- Wilson and Herrenstein put forward a biosocial theory of criminal behaviour.
- He proposed that crime is caused by a combination of biological and social factors and that some people are predisposed to commit crime.
- For example, personality traits such as aggression, extroversion, risk take and low impulse control put some people at greater risk of offending.
- Herrenstein and Murray argue that the main cause of crime is low intelligence, which they see as biologically determined.
4
Q
Right Realism
Broken Windows Theory
A
- When a place that looks run-down it will attract criminal and deviant behaviour.
- Typically, poorer neighbourhoods look more run-down because they are ignored and overlooked by the government/local authority.
- Due to this lack of surrveillance, criminals are more drawn there because the wrongdoer is unlikely to be caught.
5
Q
Right Realism
Rational Choice Theory
A
- Assumes individuals have free will and the power of reason.
- Rational choice theorists suggest that the decision to commit crime is a choice based on rational calculations of the likely consequences (high right, high reward).
- If the rewards outweight the percieved costs, people are more likely to offend.
- Offenders are assumed to act rationally, so the presence of a guardian is likely to deter them.
6
Q
Right Realism
Evaluation
A
- Wilson’s ideas looked to tackle different approaches to criminal behaviour.
- They were mostly based on assumptions of lower-class criminality.
- Argued both biological predisposition and agency influence decision making.
- Ignores the impact of policies out forward by the political right that create conditions for crime.
7
Q
Right Realism
Tackling Crime
A
- Right realists do not believe it is fruitful to deal with the causes of crime.
- Biological factors cannot be changed.
- Instead, they seek practcal measures to make crime less attractive.
- Their main focus is control, containment and punishment rather than eliminating the the underlying causes of offending.
8
Q
Right Realism: Zero Tolerance Policing
Zero Tolerance Policing
A
- Wilson and Kelling argue it is essential to maintain the orderly character or certain neighbourhoods.
- Any sign of deterrioration such as graffiti or vandalism must be dealt with immediately.
- Police should focus on controlling the streets so law-abiding citizens feel safe.
- Supporters of zero tolerance policing claim it achieved huge reductions in crime after it was introduced in New York in 1994.
9
Q
Zero Tolerance Policing: Evaluation
Criticisms
A
- It is preoccupied with petty street crime and ignores corporate crime.
- Give the police free rein to discriminate against minorities, youth or the homeless.
- It over-emphasises control of disorder, rather than tackling the causes of neighbourhood decline such as lack of investment.
- Zero tolerance policing just lead to displacement of crime to other areas.
10
Q
Zero Tolerance Policing: Evaluation
NYC Crime Rate
A
- The NYC crime rate had already been falling 9 years prior, and continued to fall in regions that didn’t have zero tolerance policies.
- Young argues the police need arrests to justify their existence.
- Suggested they took to arresting people for minor deviant acts that had previously ‘fallen outside their net’, relabeling them as worthy of punishment.
- The ‘success’ of zero tolerance policing was just the product of the police’s way of coping with a decline that had already occured.
