Right realist theories of crime

Question 1

What are right realists?

Answer 1

• they are normative theorists such as functionalists, strain and subcultural theories that want to explain why people deviate from
• they see crime as a real problem in society and are most interested in how it needs to be tackled
• have a short, sharp, shock approach to dealing with offenders
• essentially conservatives
• they are concerned with the widespread fear of crime and the impact on victims - suggests that other theories have failed to offer realistic solutions

Question 2

Development of right realist ideas on crime

Answer 2

1) Nothing works
2) Lets get tough
3) Government policy
4) Zero tolerance

• reject the ideas put forward by marxists and structural subcultural theories that factors such as poverty and inequality are the cause of crime
  and believe the theories such as labelling and neo marxists are too sympathetic

Question 3

The causes of crime

Answer 3

-Biological differences
- Inadequate socialisation and the underclass
-Rational choice to offend

Question 4

Causes of crime - Biological differences (Nature)

Answer 4

Wilson and Hernstein
- some people are more vulnerable due to hormones, personality traits that are innate

Hernstein and murray
- low intelligence is a biological factor that makes certain people more vulnerable
- leads to low educational achievement

Question 5

Socialisation and the underclass (murray)

Answer 5

An underclass has been formed which mainly consists of LPF, mainly single mothers
- this fails to adequately socialise children as boys lack a role model and paternal discipline so they are more likely to turn out deviant
- this can leas to them turning to subcultures where they have a male they can identify with - leads to a life of crime

Question 6

Rational choice theory

Answer 6

Free will
- everyone has the rational reasoning to decide if they want to commit a crime - crime happens because people make the active decision to commit it
- link this to strain theory as rational reasoning is economic deprivation

Clarke - people who decide the rewards of crime are higher than the costs, will make a rational choice to commit the crime
Wilson - punishments and consequences linked to committing a crime too low and the long term gain is better than the short term punishment
Felson - absence of a capable guardian makes people more likely to commit crime, having an authority figure who teaches the right morals and values can affect rational choice (link to murray)
Cromwell - Guardians can be formal or informal
formal - police, informal - parents/carers
In USA after hurricane andrew in 1982 informal guardians patrolled the streets to stop looting and crime rates went down during these patrols

Question 7

Costs vs Benefits of committing crime

Answer 7

Costs - prison, fines, master status, isolation

Benefits - can get away with it, help out family issues, increased status, fills desires they might have

Question 8

Tackling crime

Answer 8

• right realists say that getting people to make better rational choices will reduce crime and makes them be fearful and think about the costs outweighing the benefits
  • they want to control, contain and punish offenders and argue that rehabilitation is pointless so there is no excuse cor committing a crime
    
    • CJS took low level crime and anti social behaviour much more seriously than they have in the past - includes ‘3 strikes and you’re out’ offenders could get serious custodial sentences for repeated minor offences
    • believe that low level crime should not be tolerated and severe penalties need to be handed out to give a strong message to people, believe that this would deter more serious crimes and ensure that collective conscious and social solidarity is maintained by clear boundary maintenance

Broken window theory - idea that the way the environment looks will either decrease or increase the amount of crime - link to prevention techniques e.f environmental protection

Question 9

Criticisms of right realism

Answer 9

• does not look at wider issues such as poverty that can cause crime
• over exaggerates rational choice about committing a crime - might be the case for crime linking to money but non violent crime
• puts too much focus on street crime which is an issue but not as serious as some violent crime
• zero tolerance policy can give the police too much power to discriminate against certain groups of people