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Flashcards in Week Five - Left Realism Deck (2)
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1
Q

What is the Political Context of Left Realism?

A

Political context: 80s, 90s

2
Q

What are the key ideas of Left Realism>

A

Rather than focus on the crimes of the powerful, we focus on crimes of the powerless.

Structural changes in society have caused a disintegration in employment and community cohesion – this explains a rise in crime since the 1960s.

Crime might be socially constructed but it is real

Crime mostly committed by and against poor people

Focused on certain types of crime – e.g. rape, domestic abuse

“Professional criminals engaged in violent crime [are] a quantitatively minor problem when compared to domestic violence… The most likely to commit violence is the man of the house against his wife” (Young, 1986: 22).

Focuses in particular on the notion of relative deprivation - more important as society has become more unequal. Explains why society today is richer but also more crime ridden

Draws on strain theories, sub-cultural / cultural theories and marginalisation, social-exclusion

“The organisation of communities in an attempt to pre-empt crime is of the utmost importance” (Lea and Young, 1984: 267).

Used area based victim studies

Decks in Introduction to Criminology Class (130):