Topic 6b: Left Realist solutions to crime Flashcards
Deal with the deeper structural causes of crime 1
The main cause of crime is the deeply unequal nature of capitalist society and its inequalities in income, wealth and opportunity. Left Realists argue that politicians need to address the economic and social conditions that bring about the risk conditions for crime as it is a rational response to a lack of legitimate opportunities. Furthermore Left Realists argue that economic and social reform programmes need to be administered by governments to reduce crime in inner city areas.
Deal with the deeper structural causes of crime 2
These policies have included:
Educational programmes aimed at improving educational success in inner city
Minimum pay legislation to ensure that people are paid a fair wage so that they are not welfare-dependent.
Inequalities in wealth and income need to be reduced.
Economic investment in poorer urban communities is required in order to create jobs.
Deal with the deeper structural causes of crime eval
These ideas have been criticised as being soft on crime and criminals because they imply that crime is the fault of society rather than a choice of individuals. Furthermore, Left Realists fail to explain why the majority of those living in poverty do not commit crime.
Right Realists argue that Left Realists make excuses for criminals and that tighter controls, more effective socialisation of children and more severe punishment will reduce crime.
Improving policing- lea and young
Lea and Young argue that crime can only be reduced with the assistance of local communities but the military-style policing of inner-city communities, particularly black communities, has alienated local populations. For example, stop and search statistics in urban areas suggest that police forces use racial profiling in their attempt to identify criminality and this has led to accusations of institutional racism. Lea and Young argue that the police need to regain the confidence of local communities so that people feel comfortable providing them with information about crime.
Improving policing - Kinsey et al
Kinsey et al. argue the key to police success lies in improving relationships with the community so that the flow of information on which the police rely increases. To achieve this, they propose that minimal policing should be used. they think that the police and the state devote too much of their time and energy to dealing with certain types of crime (drug dealing in inner city areas), and not enough to others. This ‘approach’ to policing distorts the statistics as to the true nature of crime.
Improving policing eval
- It is not surprising that there is a lot of policing in inner city areas as these are the places where there is most violent crime, fear of crime and social disorder. The police are protecting the public and responding to public concerns.
- The police have worked hard at improving their approach to policing inner city areas, especially after the McPherson Report into the Stephen Lawrence murder where the police were accused of institutional racism. For example, more officers from minority ethnic backgrounds have been recruited
Restorative justice 1
Restorative justice involves encouraging offenders to take responsibility for their actions and is supported by Left Realists. Offenders are expected to repair the harm they have done by apologising to their victims and giving something back to the community. Sherman and Strang found that the general public had misconceptions about restorative justice in that they saw it as weak and favouring the offender. However, in contrast, their research discovered that victims of crime generally favoured it because it reduced their fear of crime and their anger towards the offender.
Restorative justice 2
Another aspect of restorative justice is what Braithwaite calls ‘reintegrative shaming’ – this involves the labelling of the act as deviant rather than the person who carried it out. This avoids the negative labelling of the offender as evil while at the same time making them aware of the negative impact of their actions upon others. This encourages the offender to be sorry and ashamed for their actions. Braithwaite argues that re-offending and crime rates tend to be lower in societies where reintegrative rather than disintegrative shaming is the main way of dealing with offenders.
Restorative justice eval
Evidence suggests that the general public associate restorative justice with ‘rehabilitation’ and reform which are seen as favouring the criminal.
Intro
During the 1980’s Marxist and interactionist approaches were criticized for ignoring the fact that crime was actually a problem for many people and that crime rates were increasing. This lead to the creation of realist approaches. Left Realists differ from Marxists in that they do use official statistics to shape their responses to crime. Left realists place a big emphasis on creating practical policies to help reduce crime and its impact on individuals and communities. They focus on the organisation of society, and especially the inequality, disadvantage and poverty that results from this and which creates the environment in which crime might be the norm. These are the three solutions they use.
Conclusion
Feminist criminologists, such as Carlen have argued that Left Realist criminology accepts the establishment’s view of what crime is and so concentrates its attention on issues to do with street crime and burglary. Carlen says Left realists fail to explore the way that society harms women - for example there ought to be much greater stress upon issues of domestic violence, and solutions to it. In reply, Young has claimed that Left Realism has been very concerned with domestic violence and sees it as one of the main problems that must be addressed.
