right realism

Question 1

what are the two types of realism?

Answer 1

left realism
right realism

Question 2

what is realism?

Answer 2

• The realisation that crime is a real, growing social problem which is damaging communities, especially in urban areas.They take crime seriously.
• Crime statistics are realistic- a significant increase has taken place since the 1950s. Focus on public-concern centred crime.
• Realists agree that labelling and Marxist theories are too sympathetic towards the working class criminal.
• Both offer solutions to crime.

Question 3

what are the key ideas of right realism?

Answer 3

• Sees crime as a real and growing social problem which destroys communities and threatens social cohesion
• Very influential in UK and USA
• Associated with the zero tolerance approach to crime and deviance

Question 4

where does right realism come from?

Answer 4

• Corresponded with right wing, neo-conservative governments of the 1970s/1980s
• Shift in perspective: away from causes of crime to focusing on practical solutions and crime control measures.
• We can control crime through control and punishments rather than rehabilitation or tackling other issues such as poverty.

Question 5

Right realism identifies four main causes to influence crime, what are they?

Answer 5

• Bio-social - criminals are biologically different
• Choice - weak punishments mean that crime can be a rational choice
• Cultural - criminals have a deficient culture, product of poor parenting and poor socialisation in general
• Opportunity - too many opportunities for crime - dark alleyways, poorly policed areas

Question 6

murray

biological

Question 6

Wilson and Hernstein

Answer 6

put forward a bio-social theory of criminality claiming crime is caused by a mixture of biological and social factors. Biological differences mean some people are naturally more predisposed to committing crime than others, some people are naturally more aggressive, especially if it benefits them and they see no consequences.
One of the main causes of crime is low intelligence.

Question 7

Bennett, Dilulio and Walters

Answer 7

crime is the result of ‘growing up surrouned by deviant and criminal adults…desgined to rpoduce vicious, predatory criminals

the underclass threatens social cohesion as it undermines the values of hard work and personal responsibility

Question 9

what theory did clarke propose?

Answer 9

rational choice theory

Question 10

clarke

Answer 10

Clarke argues that we are responsible for our own actions. Some people choose to commit crime. They make a rational calculation and weigh up the risks. If the chances of success outweigh the risk of being caught/face punishment, then individuals will commit the crime (as they can get away with it!)

to support - Felson (1998)

Question 11

felson

Answer 11

if a potential offender had a ‘capable guardian’ present, they would make the choice not to offend.

Question 12

what theory did wilson and kelling propose?

Answer 12

broken windows theory