Right And Left Realism

Question 1

What’s a summary of the Right realist perspective on crime?

Answer 1

That criminal acts are the individuals ultimate responsibility and that (borrowing a functionalist term) normlessness is what you’ll get if society is not tough and deterring.

People are self interested and sometimes unintelligent, this is a reason for crime.
The approach will have imperfect selection but it’s what necessary.

Question 2

What are the 4 key theories of crime from the new right?

+ If you can.
. Their thinkers

Answer 2

Routine activity theory: Felson
. For a crime to happen, the offender must have been motivated and feel accused because of the absence of an authoritative guardian.
Targets must be hardened, potential offenders kept from their impulses and desires.

Broken windows theory: Wilson
. If normlessness is evident, it communicates that criminal acts are lesser or will go unpenalized. We must use powerful social messaging to prevent a spiral of disorder.

Dependency culture and the attrition of family values: Murray.
. Crime is an expression of single parent families lack of discipline and community values instilled.

Question 3

What is the basis of theory around Left Realism?

Answer 3

Left realists are concerned with material reasons for crime inflicted by the conditions of the system.
The premise is that there’s a ‘Aetiological crisis’, prosperity under capitalism and yet crime persists, it has not reached everyone.

Question 4

According to Lea and Young, what are the 3 related causes of crime?

Answer 4

• Relative deprivation: The material security gap between classes created animosity. People look to criminal means to subsist and thrive.
• Subculture of frustration with the system feeds into people’s desire to act against it, manifesting in criminal activity.
• Marginalisation: Normal outlets of frustration for the marginalised are exhausted or unavailable, so they use criminal acts.

Question 5

Young (From Lea and Young), proposed a cultural theory related to the left realist approach.
what?

This is closely related, and might be deemed an expansion on Merton’s strain theory.

Answer 5

Late stage capitalism is unstable, its peak of stability has passed.

However, the ideology we’re subjected to teaches us that it is our own fault we don’t succeed and can’t obtain the lifestyle and symbols of material wealth.
This leads to resentment and people act out or embrace crime.