Week Five - Left Realism Flashcards
What is the Political Context of Left Realism?
Political context: 80s, 90s
What are the key ideas of Left Realism>
Rather than focus on the crimes of the powerful, we focus on crimes of the powerless.
Structural changes in society have caused a disintegration in employment and community cohesion – this explains a rise in crime since the 1960s.
Crime might be socially constructed but it is real
Crime mostly committed by and against poor people
Focused on certain types of crime – e.g. rape, domestic abuse
“Professional criminals engaged in violent crime [are] a quantitatively minor problem when compared to domestic violence… The most likely to commit violence is the man of the house against his wife” (Young, 1986: 22).
Focuses in particular on the notion of relative deprivation - more important as society has become more unequal. Explains why society today is richer but also more crime ridden
Draws on strain theories, sub-cultural / cultural theories and marginalisation, social-exclusion
“The organisation of communities in an attempt to pre-empt crime is of the utmost importance” (Lea and Young, 1984: 267).
Used area based victim studies
