Right Realism

Question 1

Key ideas

Answer 1

Causes of crime – right realists largely blame the individual/deviant (although they partly blame society).

They see inadequate social control as the key to understanding growths in crime.

Question 2

Causes of crime

Answer 2

1) Biological differences

• Wilson and Herrnstein (1985) believe crime is caused by a combination of biological and social factors (biosocial factors).
• Biological traits such as aggressiveness, extroversion, risk taking and low IQ predispose such people to commit crime.

2) Socialisation and the underclass

• Murray (1990) sees the growth of the underclass as the key cause of crime.
• He argues children from fatherless single parent families are inadequately socialised and controlled as they lack a male role model and authority figure.
• Murray also suggests that over-generous welfare has served to create a dependency culture where the underclass have become content to live off benefits and crime as their work ethic has been eroded.
• Murray believes some young males turn to criminal role models on the street and gain status through crime rather than supporting their families through a steady job.

3) Rational choice

• Cornish and Clarke (1986) also believe that crime can be understood as a rational choice, where the benefits outweigh the costs.
• They argue that crime is seen as attractive, especially amongst juvenile offenders, because of a ‘lenient’ criminal justice system which offers ‘soft’ social control.

4) Breakdown in the moral fabric of society

• Marsland (1988) argues that crime and deviance is linked to a breakdown in the moral fabric of society.
• It is suggested that schools and religion have become less effective agencies of social control.
• Marsland believes that this has led to a decline in morality (e.g. knowing right from wrong) and as a consequence crime has increased.

5) Breakdown in social order

• Wilson (1975) suggests that crime is linked to a breakdown in social order in some communities.
• He argues that disorder in certain neighbourhoods (e.g. where unruly behaviour, drug dealing etc are common.) leads to more crime and deviance as sense of community is lost, and with it informal social control (e.g. people fear reporting crime).

6) Opportunity

• Cornish and Clarke (1986) suggest that crime is linked to the situations in which deviants find themselves.
• They argue that individuals commit crime when opportunities present themselves which involve little risk. For example when there is a lack of social control/crime prevention e.g. no window locks.

Question 3

Practical solutions to crime

Answer 3

Right realists favour tougher social control polices that help to deter crime and punish criminals (nb - points match up with suggested causes).

1. No suggested solution.
2. Cuts back welfare benefits.
3. More and longer prison sentences.
4. Citizenship education.
5. Zero tolerance policing.
6. Target hardening e.g. security locks.

Question 4

Evaluation

Answer 4

Flood-Page et al. (2000) offers partial support for Murray’s views on ‘family decline’. They found children (especially males) from lone parent backgrounds and step-families were more likely to offend than those who lived with two natural parents. This suggests there is some validity in the right realist ideas.

Although Flood-Page et al. (2000) show a correlation between family structures and offending, they stress that single parenthood/step-families is not a cause of crime. What is key, is the quality of family relationships and levels of parental supervision.