Realist Theories Of Crime And Deviance Flashcards
Left realists- Causes of crime
Relative deprivation- refers to how deprived people feel in relation to others. People resort to crime to gain what they feel they’re entitled to.
Lea and Young- today’s society compared to past is more wealthier but is also more crime ridden. This tells us although people are better off they’re also more aware of the deprivation due to the media.
+ Useful in explaining why utilitarian crimes occurs. People turn to drug dealing, theft or prostitution as a way to close the gap.
X To deterministic as not all people who experience relative deprivation goes on to commit crime.
Left realists- Causes of crime
Marginalisation- refers to people being pushed out of society or outcasts of society (homeless)
Marginalised groups lack goals and organisation to gain help. Groups such as works often have clear goals (better pay) and organisations (trade unions) to represent them. These groups do not need to resort to violence to achieve their goals.
+ Can be a good explanation of why acts of violence may occur in society. People may turn to vandalism or violence as a way to express their frustration.
X People that aren’t marginalised still commit crime, such as people in power.
Right realists- Causes of crime
Murray- Socialisation and the Underclass.
Argues that crime rates are increasing because of the growing underclass in society. Divorces are becoming more common are creating more lone mothers, who are incapable of socialising their children correctly.
Lack of male disciplinarian- absent fathers mean boys lack discipline and a male role model, therefore turn to crime as their role models are on the street, gain status through criminal and deviant activities.
X Feminists would criticise and see it as an attack on women.
X To deterministic, not all children from single parent families would commit crime.
Right realists- Causes of crime
Clarke- Rational choice theory.
Argue that the decision to commit crime is a choice based on likely consequences.
Crimes that receive over harsh punishments the offender is less likely to offend, however crimes that receive lenient punishments the offender is more likely to offend.
This idea views criminal activity as a choice rather than something caused by external factors such as poverty.
+ This theory is views views offenders as free people who make choices rather than being influenced by external factors.
X LR disagree as Clarke ignores wider issues such as poverty.
Left realists- Tackling crime
A multi agency approach- believe it’s not just the police’s job to tackle crime but other agencies such as schools, social services and local councils too.
PREVENT- strategy to identify vulnerable pupils.
+ Real life example of the MAA such as the PREVENT strategy.
X Miscommunication between agencies as some people lip the net.
Left realists- Tackling crime
Tackling the structural causes of crime.
Links to relative deprivation. People in low paid jobs or being dependent on low amounts of welfare support. We need more people earning good money to reduce the amount of people feeling relative deprivation, and this intern will reduce crime.
+ Many social policies do try and tackle issues such as inequality and poverty. E.g unemployment benefits.
X Can be an expensive process to ensure people get jobs.
Right realist- Tackling crime
Broken window theory- seeing disorderly neighbourhoods encourages crime. Out forward the idea that if neighbourhoods look like they are well cared for and well kept, that people will be put of committing crime. ‘Repair the broken window’ it will prevent more from being smashed
+ This theory has influenced many policies to deter crime such as New York clean car program.
X It doesn’t tackle the root cause of crime e.g poverty.
Right realist- Tackling crime
Through target hardening measures.
Involve protecting yourself from becoming a victim of crime.
Measures- CCTV, security, alarm systems.
+ We have real life example of target hardening measures in society. Many places adopt these measure to deter criminals.
X Doesn’t prevent tackling the cause of the crime and argues it just displaces it to other areas.
