sociological theories - left realism

Question 1

what is left realism?

Answer 1

• left realists see the INEQUALITY IN CAPITALIST SOCIETIES as the root cause of crime
• left realists look at what causes INDIVIDUALS to commit crime

Question 2

who are the victims of crime according to left realists?

Answer 2

• working class
• ethnic minorities
• women
• crime rates are highest in working class areas with high levels of UNEMPLOYMENT and DEPRIVATION
• police take crimes against these victim groups less seriously

Question 3

what is MARGINALISATION?

Answer 3

• groups on the edge of society
• marginalised groups lack organisations to represent their interest and lack defined goals
• e.g. unemployed youths are a highly marginalised group - may commit crime as a group to help them gain materialistic goods

Question 4

what is RELATIVE DEPRIVATION?

Answer 4

• how deprived someone feels in relation to others around them
• relative deprivation is the root cause of crime
  relative deprivation is influenced by
• the media - people aspire to material possessions as seen in adverts
• society is becoming more unequal due to unemployment, low pay

Question 5

what are SUBCULTURES?

Answer 5

• left realists believe some subcultures turn to crime to solve the problem
• criminal subcultures share society’s materialistic goals because legitimate opportunities are blocked e.g. no well paid jobs and therefore resort to crime

Question 6

solutions to crime according to left realists

Answer 6

• left realists argue that in order to tackle crime, we must look at improving policing and control, as well as dealing with deeper structural causes of crime
• community policing, community service, community centres, CCTV, ethnic minority police officers

Question 7

STRENGTHS of left realism

Answer 7

• draws attentions to the importance of poverty, inequality, and relative deprivation as the causes of crime
• looks at victims
• looks at why individuals might commit crime

Question 8

WEAKNESSES of left realism

Answer 8

• focuses on crime as “street crimes of the poor”
• fails to explain crime committed by non-working class
• over predicts amount of working-class crime
• not everyone who suffers relative deprivation and marginalisation commit crime
• not everyone who is working-class commit crime and not everyone who commits crime are working-class