Topic 4 - Realist theories of crime

Question 1

What approach do right and left realists take?

Answer 1

• Right realists share the new right or neo conservative political outlook
• Left realists are socialists and favor quite different polices to reduce crime

Question 2

How do Right realists see crime?

Answer 2

• View crime as a growing problem that weakens social cohesion and undermines society
• Its view is inspired by Wilsons ideas, whose ideas gained popularity in the US and UK supporting the zero tolerance approach to crime
• Reject theories that blame crime on poverty or inequality, they focus on individual responsibility and stricter law enforcement

Question 3

Why do right realists criticise other theories?

Answer 3

• For failing to offer any solutions to the problem of growing crime

Question 4

What do right realists argue about the cause of crime ?

Answer 4

• Reject Marxist idea that crime is caused by poverty
• They instead argue that crime results from three factors, biological differences, inadequate socialisation and rational choice to offend

Question 5

According to Right Realists how does biological differences cause crime?

Answer 5

• Argued by Wilson and Hernstein, who argue that crime is influenced by both biological and social factors
• For example personality traits such as aggression and risk taking increase the likelihood of offending
• Similarly Hernstein and Murray argue that the main cause of crime is low intelligence

Question 6

According to Right realist how does socialisation cause crime?

Answer 6

• Charles Murray argues that crime rates are increasing because of the growing underclass that fails to socialise children adequately
• As right realists believe that the best agency of socialisation is the nuclear family
• He also blames the welfare state for encouraging dependency which leads to a decline in traditional family structures like lone parent families because women and children are able to live off benefits
• Lone mothers , in his view are ineffective socialisation agents, particularly for boys
• Absent fathers mean that boys lack paternal discipline and appropriate male role models, as a result they turn to delinquent role models om the street and gain status through street crime

Question 7

According to Right Realists how does the rational choice theory cause crime?

Answer 7

• The rational choice theory assumes that individuals have free will and the power
• Clarke argues that committing crime is a choice based on rational calculation of risks and rewards
• If the perceived rewards of crime outweigh the risks, then individuals are more likely to offend
• So Right Realists argue that perceived costs of crime are low and this why crime is increasing because there is often little risk of being caught and punishments are more lenient

Question 8

What are the critics of Right realists cause of crime ?

Answer 8

• Ignores wider causes such as poverty
• Does not explain violent crime
• Overgeneralises by blaming single parent families for crime without sufficient evidence

Question 9

What do Right realist believe needs to be done to tackle crime?

Answer 9

• Believe in seeking practical measures to make crime less attractive
• Their main focus is to control, contain and punish the offenders rather than eliminating the cause
• Their strategies include target hardening, which is making crime more difficult such as better security, Increased policing and Zero tolerance policing, which is dealing harshly with minor crimes

Question 10

What do Left Realists believe?

Answer 10

• believe society is an unequal capitalist one like Marxist, however they believe in gradual change rather than the violent overthrow of capitalism

Question 11

What do Left realists criticise ?

Answer 11

• Criticise other sociologists for not addressing the real victims of crime For example
• Marxists for focusing on corporate crime and neglecting street crime
• Neo marxists for romanticising working class criminals and ignoring that they mainly victimise their own communities
• Labelling theorists for viewing criminals as victims of social control but failing to address the actual harm caused by the crime

Question 12

What is the Aeitiological crisis?

Answer 12

• From the 1950s, there was a real increase in crime
• Young argues that this led to an Aetiological crisis which is a crisis in explanation
• For example the critical criminology and labelling theory tend to deny that the increase was real and instead argued that it was just a result of poor reporting
• However left realists argue that the increase was too great to be explained in this way and they believed that the increase was real

Question 13

What are the causes of crime according to left realists?

Answer 13

• Relative deprivation
• Sub-cultures
• Marginalisation

Question 14

According to Left realists how does Relative deprivation cause crime?

Answer 14

• Left realists use Runciman’s concept of Relative deprivation to explain crime
• This is when people compare themselves to others and feel deprived
• This can lead to crime when people resent others for unfairly having more than them and resort to crime to obtain what they feel like they dont have and are entitled to
• However Young argues that crime results not just from RD but with also with a combination of Individualism, which is a focus on self interest over interests of a group
• Thus increasing individualism weakens family and community bonds by undermining the values of selflessness , this as a result leads to crime as it encourages the pursuit of self interest at the expense of others

Question 15

According to Left Realists how does subcultures cause crime?

Answer 15

• LR believe that subcultures is a group solution to the problem of RD
• However different groups react differently, some may turn to crime to close the deprivation gap while others may turn to religion to cope
• LR note that even criminal subcultures largely share mainstream values such as materialism and consumerism

Question 16

According to Left realists how does Marginalisation cause crime?

Answer 16

• Marginalised groups lack both clear goals and organisations to represent their interests
• Groups such as workers have clear goals such as better pay and working conditions and often have organisations such as trade unions to help them, due to this they do not need to resort to violence to achieve their goals
• On the other hand, unemployed youths are marginalised and they have no organisations to represent them and advocate for them
• As a result they resort to violence and crime to express their anger

Question 17

What does Young argue about late modernity, exclusion and crime?

Answer 17

• Young argues that we are now living in a late modern society where instability and exclusion make the problem of crime worse
• This has changed since the 1970s
• argues that the 1950s-60s represented the golden age where there was low crime and stable jobs
• Since the 1970s there has been de industrialisation which has led to increase in unemployment
• argues that the poor are culturally included through the media so they are able to see the materialistic items. And that the poor are economically excluded so they are blocked from achieving wealth legally

Question 18

What do Left Realists believe needs to be done to tackle crime?

Answer 18

• Believe that we must improve policing and control
• Kinsey, Lea and Young argue that policing should focus on gaining community trust rather than relying on military style tactics, because when they do they cause the locals not to trust them and thus don’t provide them with information
• to gain their trust they should spend more time investigating crime and start changing their priorities

Question 19

What is evaluation of Left realism?

Answer 19

• Relative deprivation cannot fully explain crime because not all who experience it commit crime
• Interactionists argue that because left realists rely on quantitative data from victim surveys they cannot explain offenders motives