Left Realism

Question 1

Causes/ elements of crime

Answer 1

• relative deprivation (Lea and Young)
• marginalisation
• subcultures (Lea and Young)
• modernity (Young)
• the square of crime

Question 2

Relative deprivation

Answer 2

• awareness of the differences between the poor and the rich, in which w/c accept their poverty / powerlessness without this knowledge
• Lea and Young; isn’t poverty/ unemployment that directly cause crime despite high unemployment and low crime rates in economic depression Britain

Question 3

Marginalisation

Answer 3

• the situation where certain groups of the population are more likely than others to suffer economic, social and political deprivation
• economic and social deprivation are more common (young people in inner cities/ social housing) suffering deprivation than affluent areas, political marginalisation refers to the fact that there is no way for them to influence decision- making them feel more powerless

Question 4

Subcultures

Answer 4

• draws on Marxist and Merton’s explanation, specific sets of values eg forms of dress and modes of behaviours reflect the problems of those suffering from relative deprivation and marginalisation in subcultures
• Lea and Young; crucial element of subcultures is their location in values of wider society, where subcultures develop bc of member subscribing to dominant values of society which are blocked off (outcome turning to street crime/ burglary)

Question 5

Modernity

Answer 5

• Young; now living in a state of late modernity and since the 1970s, insecurity and exclusion have increased where deindividualisation and loss of unskilled manual jobs have increased unemployment and poverty
• destabilising family and community life (led to increased marginalisation and relative deprivation where higher level of exclusion are changing types of crime and amount- increase in hate crimes eg racism)

Question 6

Square of crime

Answer 6

• earlier explanations failed to see the whole picture and so an understanding of crime requires an examination of four basic elements;
• state (losing fight against cime and less public confidence in police bc of military style)
• informal controls (fears of stigmatisation and rejection ar more likely to reduce crimes than formal sanctions)
• victims (concern for the consequences of crime for victims and neighbourhoods)
• offender (avoid romanticising the criminal)

Question 7

Solutions

Answer 7

• Kinsley, Lea and Young; policy needs to be accountable to local communities, improving police relationships with local communities eg community policing/ services/ centres, CCTV, ethnic minority police officers
• multiagency approach

Question 8

Criticisms of left realism

Answer 8

• Hughes; failed to explain cases of street crime, regurgitates subcultural theory that generated criticisms in the first place- whole notion of society’s shared set of values is questionable
• Box; white collar crime cannot be understood in this approach