Reslist theories of crime

Question 1

what is the central idea behind left realism?

Answer 1

• crime is a real problem and one that particularly affects the disadvantage groups who are its main victims

Question 2

relative deprivation as a cause of crime (left realism, Lea and Young)

Answer 2

• where an individual feels that they are provided or something that think other have
• this leads to crime as when people resent or unfairly having more, they can resort to crime to obtain what they feel they are entitled to

LEA AND YOUNG
- argue a paradox is occurring in society where society is more wealthy but also more crime ridden
- so people are better off but also more aware of there deprivation due to media and advertising
- this raises our aspirations for material possessions, if we cannot afford them we turn to crime instead
- combination of deprivation and individualism: people are now more concerned about themselves and their own rights

Question 3

evaluation relative deprivation theory

Answer 3

• reduces the offenders responsibility in committing crime
• not all people who experience relative deprivation go out and commit crime, must be some element of choice

Question 4

marginalisation as a cause of crime (left realism)

Answer 4

• where an individual feels socially excluded, pushed the the edges of society (eg ethnic minorities, working class, young people, people with disabilities)
• marginalised groups lack both clear goals and organisations to represent their interests
• worked have both clear goals (better pay and working conditions) and organisations to represent their interests (trade unions), so do not need to turn to violence to achieve their goals or express their frustration

Question 5

evaluation marginalisation

Answer 5

• not all marginalised groups commit crime, so this cannot be the only explanation

Question 6

subcultures as a cause of crime (left realism)

Answer 6

• a subculture is a groups collective solution to the problem of relative deprivation
• the work of Merton (strain theory), Cloward and Ohlin (differential opportunities) and Cohen (status frustration) explain groups’s reactions to failure to achieve mainstream goals
• criminal subcultures still subscribe to the mainstream values and goals such as materialism and consumerism (eg cultures hooked on gucci, bmw, nike), however opportunity to achieve these goals legitimately are blocked so they resort to street crime instead

Question 7

evaluation subcultures

Answer 7

• cannot account for crimes committed my MC
• cannot fully explain ‘lone wolf’ activity (eg acts committed by a person acting alone)

Question 8

democratic policing to tackle crime (left realism)

Answer 8

• for left realises, the police need the support of the community to tackle crime effectively, 90% of the crimes known to the police are reported by the public, which emphasises the need for police to work with the community
• argue tactics such as stop and search cause hostility due to the unequal distribution of procedures
• introduction of police community support officers (PCSO’s) would help police to build relationships with the public and make people more inclined to trust police and report crimes to tackle criminal behaviour

Question 9

evaluation democratic policing

Answer 9

• Gordon: doesn’t fully tackle the root cause of crime = capitalism
• incredibly difficult for police to earn back trust of certain individuals

Question 10

multi-agency approach to tackle crime (left realism)

Answer 10

• left realises argue it is not just the police’s job to tackle crime, more agencies should be involved to help reduce crime
• eg, youth zones provide children a place to go with friends other than the streets, can be supervised by adults and youth workers
• this prevents young people from being radicalised

Question 11

evaluation multi-agency approach

Answer 11

• difficult for agencies to always work effectively together, hence why some people ‘slip the net’ (eg southport stabbing, criminal was known as high risk but agencies failed to act)

Question 12

tackling the structural causes of crime (left realism)

Answer 12

• left realists argue the cause for crime is relative deprivation
• argue we need to have more people earning good money to reduce the feelings of relative deprivation and in turn, reduce crime
• would be in favour of policies such as education maintenance allowance and compulsory schooling so people gain qualifications and do not have to turn to crime in later life
• also the new deal which provides employment for young people at risk of offending

Question 13

evaluation tackling the structural causes

Answer 13

• right realists would criticise policy that causes reliance on the state and government

Question 14

what is the central idea behind right realism?

Answer 14

• see’s crime (especially street crime) as a real and growing problem that destroys communities, undermines social cohesion and threatens societies work ethic
• right realise criticise other theories for failing to offer practical solutions for tackling crime (eg they view labelling theory and critical criminology as too sympathetic to the criminal and too hostile to law)

Question 15

biological causes of crime (Wilson and Herrnstein, right realism)

Answer 15

• crime is caused by a combination of biological and social factors
• biological differences between individuals make some people more innately and more strongly predisposed to commit crimes than others
• personality traits such as aggressiveness, extroversion, risk taken and low impulse control put some people at a greater risk of offending
• Murray see’s the main causes of crime is low intelligence, which they also see as biologically determined

Question 16

evaluation biological causes of crime

Answer 16

• low intelligence: people won’t be able to commit complex white collar crimes
• biologically determinist: suggest that personal / genetic traits lead to crime occurring, ignores lots of other factors such as the environment

Question 17

socialisation and the underclass (Murray, right realism)

Answer 17

• while biology may increase the chance of an individual offending, adequate socialisation decreases the risk
• for right realists, the best agency of socialisation is the nuclear family, Murray argues that the crime is increasing because of a growing under class in society
• divorces I’ll be becoming more common creating more loan mothers who, for right realists, are incapable of socialising their children correctly
• absent fathers means that young boys are lacking discipline and appropriate male role models
• as a result, young males turn to delinquent role models on the street and gain status through criminal or deviant activities rather than supporting their family through a steady job

Question 18

evaluation socialisation and the underclass

Answer 18

• feminists would argue that this approach shifts the blame of men going out and committing crimes than into women
• too simplistic, doesn’t explain why all don’t commit crime

Question 19

rational choice theory (Clarke, right realism)

Answer 19

• argues the decision to commit crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the likely consequences
• eg if someone was to commit a crime and receive an overly harsh punishment, then the rational choice is to not offend
• whereas if the person wants to commit a crime and receive an unduly lenient punishment, and the rational choice is to offend
• if the benefit of getting away with the crime outweighs the punishment
• this idea uses criminal activity as a choice rather than something caused by external factors such as poverty

Question 20

evaluation rational choice theory

Answer 20

• doesn’t account for irrational and impulsive crime

Question 21

broken windows thesis to tackle crime (Wilson and Kelling, right realism)

Answer 21

• argue that seeing disorderly neighbourhoods encourages more crime to be committed
• this is because it seems that no one cares about the area due to the high crime
• they put forward the idea that if the neighbourhoods look like they are cared for, than people would be put off from committing crime
• so if we ‘ repair the broken windows’ it will prevent more from being smashed

Question 22

evaluation broken windows thesis

Answer 22

• offers no explanation for the first broken window
• left realists criticise as it doesn’t tackle crime, only temporarily fixes an issue

Question 23

target hardening measures to tackle crime (right realism)

Answer 23

• involves protecting yourself from being a victim of crime
• eg CCTV, blue lights in bathrooms to stop people from injecting drugs

Question 24

evaluation target hardening measures

Answer 24

• doesn’t tackle the root cause
• displaces crime to other areas with less target hardening measures

Question 25

zero tolerance policy to tackle crime (right realism)

Answer 25

- right realists argue zero tolerance approaches to crime and deviance will stop crime as it will solve the problem of crime being a rational choice - if the punishments are a lot harsher, the rational choice becomes not to offend - eg the 3 strike law in California, if you commit 3 crimes, you automatically serve a 25 year sentence no matter how tribal the third offence is - this was put forward to deter people from offending or repeat offending

Question 26

evaluation zero tolerance policy

Answer 26

- criticised for giving the police too much power, might abuse this power - leads to overcrowding in prisons, costs taxpayers more money as more prisons must be built or modified