left realism

left realism

1. they believe

   • people are naturally good
   • society is unequal and capitalist
   • gradual social change instead of revolution
   • crime effects the poorest in society
   • crime can only be reduced through having a deep understanding of crime

2. what do they say about crime

   • crime is caused by he economic structure of society
   • they reject earlier left realist explanations
   • Marxists neglect w/c/ crime
   • neo Marxists romanticise crime

3. similarities to Marxism/ Neo

   • capitalism encourages levels of consumption it is unable to deliver to all
   • this means they may be motivated by consumerism/materialism make up the shortfall by the turning to crime
   • revolution and th overthrow of capitalism is unlikely
     • instead gradual change is required along with practical solutions to the crime problem

4. real increase in crime

5. aetiological crisis

   • no one can explain crime

6. victimology

7. fear of crime

8. causes of crime

   • relative deprivation
     • poverty will cause crime if people feel deprived in relation to other
     • the feeling of resentment is more important than the actual poverty
     • media and advertising plays a big part in this
   • subculture
     • if people feel blocked subcultures are a collective solution
     • reaction to capitalist society
     • religion for spiritual comfort
   • marginalisation
     • poverty and unemployment
     • marginalised groups are prone to use violence and rioting to express their frustration because they lack other outlets

9. late modernity- exclusion and crime

   • young- we are now living in the stage of late modern society, where instability, insecurity and exclusion make crime worse
   • he contrasyts todays society with the golden age of modern capitalist society where there was stability, full employment and a stronger welfare state
   • meanwhile greater inequality between rich and poor, spread of free market values encouraging individualism, have incfrased the sense of relative deprivation
   • young also notes the growing contrast between cultural inclusion and economic exclusion ( merton's goals)

10. types of policing

    • military
    • consensus

11. tackling the structural causes

    • we must deal with inequality of opportunity and the unfairness of rewards, tackle discrimination, provide decent jobs. improve housing and community policing. we must become more tolerant of diversity and cause stereotyping whole groups as criminal

12. Government policy

    • similarities with new labour
      • however, they say that new labour have addressed the symptoms but not the root causes

13. evaluation

    • ignores WC crime
    • doesnt acknowledge why
    • overexaggerates crime as it only focuses on cities
    • doesn't acknowledge that there may be be an element of choice
    • too deterministic- not everyone who is poor commits crime
    • bottleneck
    • ignores labelling and the power of the ruling class
    • victim surveys are not reliable