3855661
Description
Mind Map by Patrick Calvento, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Patrick Calvento
over 8 years ago
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Left/Right Realism
- Right
- What is it?
- Originated in 1970's.Negative view of human
nature, needs to be subject to social control +
socialised into appropriate behaviour
- Developed to explain and solve the
problem of crime, it follows functionalist
assumptions of consensus in which the
belief that the criminal law is there to
protect the lives and properpty of
law-abiding people
- State therefore has a duty to deter
criminal activity and severely punish
those who break the law. They are
concerned with identifying the
'criminal other' and having
appropriate punishments as the
legitimate response to criminal
activity.
- Crime stems from the greedy nature of
people, poor socialisation and too easy
opportunity
- Some new rights theorists are
particularly hostile to rehabilitation
or social work. Stress the need for a
programme to develop self-discipline
among those who might end up as
part of the 'yob culture'
- However there is no unified
perspective and can be divided into
libertarian and authoritarian wings
- Libertarians- have tended
to adopt a
decriminalisation
approach to illegal acts
that have been termed
'crimes without victims'
i.e. drug taking
- Consider that while the
state should be strong, it
should not intervene in
the private affairs of the
individual
- Particularly hostile to traditional
sociological explanations, which
they see as part of an 'excuse
making industry that absolves
criminals of their actions
- See crime as a result of
the free will of the
individual, who is
exercising choice, just like
the many poor people
who choose not to
engage in crime (Bridgette 1989)
- See crime as a result of
the free will of the
individual, who is
exercising choice, just like
the many poor people
who choose not to
engage in crime (Bridgette 1989)
- Particularly hostile to traditional
sociological explanations, which
they see as part of an 'excuse
making industry that absolves
criminals of their actions
- Consider that while the
state should be strong, it
should not intervene in
the private affairs of the
individual
- Authoritarian view draws upong
traditional conservative values in the
approach to criminal activity. Reject
the individualism of the libertarians
and accept that there are important
social values that influence the
incidence of crime. They argue that a
strong moral code in society is a
major deterrence against crime
- Morgan (1978) says that cessation of
socialisation into traditional morality,
as a result of the welfare state's
reluctance to impose social values on
individuals has lead to an increase of
crime
- Only way to combat crime is to
're-moralisation of social life.'
Society must reject relativism and
rediscover the traditional values
such as nuclear family and
abstinence outside marriage
- Critics point out that it is far
from obvious which moral
values act to civilise
individuals and that the
appeal to traditional values
often hides a misogynistic
and homophobic agenda.
- Critics point out that it is far
from obvious which moral
values act to civilise
individuals and that the
appeal to traditional values
often hides a misogynistic
and homophobic agenda.
- Only way to combat crime is to
're-moralisation of social life.'
Society must reject relativism and
rediscover the traditional values
such as nuclear family and
abstinence outside marriage
- Morgan (1978) says that cessation of
socialisation into traditional morality,
as a result of the welfare state's
reluctance to impose social values on
individuals has lead to an increase of
crime
- Libertarians- have tended
to adopt a
decriminalisation
approach to illegal acts
that have been termed
'crimes without victims'
i.e. drug taking
- However there is no unified
perspective and can be divided into
libertarian and authoritarian wings
- Some new rights theorists are
particularly hostile to rehabilitation
or social work. Stress the need for a
programme to develop self-discipline
among those who might end up as
part of the 'yob culture'
- Crime stems from the greedy nature of
people, poor socialisation and too easy
opportunity
- State therefore has a duty to deter
criminal activity and severely punish
those who break the law. They are
concerned with identifying the
'criminal other' and having
appropriate punishments as the
legitimate response to criminal
activity.
- Developed to explain and solve the
problem of crime, it follows functionalist
assumptions of consensus in which the
belief that the criminal law is there to
protect the lives and properpty of
law-abiding people
- Originated in 1970's.Negative view of human
nature, needs to be subject to social control +
socialised into appropriate behaviour
- Theorists
- WIlson
- "Broken window"- minor crime left unchecked
creates more crime. Advocates that the police
adopt a 'zero tolerance' policy, Reflects
Durkheim's idea that local informal social
controls are crucial for law and order
- Three key factors affecting long-term crime
- Number of young males
- Costs/benefits of
crime
- Inadequate socialisation
into norms and values
- Non-traditional families (SPF) is a
major factor. Lack of discipline in
schools, mass glamourisation of C+D
and the decline in the influence of
religious values are other important
contributory factors
- Non-traditional families (SPF) is a
major factor. Lack of discipline in
schools, mass glamourisation of C+D
and the decline in the influence of
religious values are other important
contributory factors
- Advocates target hardening of deviant
groups and areas through pro-active
policing
- Number of young males
- "Broken window"- minor crime left unchecked
creates more crime. Advocates that the police
adopt a 'zero tolerance' policy, Reflects
Durkheim's idea that local informal social
controls are crucial for law and order
- Clarke and Coleman
- Rational Choice Theory- crime will be caused
if the benefits outweigh the costs. Focus is on
the situational aspects of crime and not in
underlying causes, such as culture or
criminality
- They distinguish
between
'involvement'
decisions and
'event decisions
- Involvement is making the
logical distinction between
initiation, habituation and
desistance, which they suggest
are affected by different sets of
conditions and will need to be
studied separeately
- Event decisions is decision making
by the potential criminal which is
the step-by-step procedures that
lead to the actual act, weighing up
the risks and benefits
- Involvement is making the
logical distinction between
initiation, habituation and
desistance, which they suggest
are affected by different sets of
conditions and will need to be
studied separeately
- They distinguish
between
'involvement'
decisions and
'event decisions
- Rational Choice Theory- crime will be caused
if the benefits outweigh the costs. Focus is on
the situational aspects of crime and not in
underlying causes, such as culture or
criminality
- Charles Murray
- Underclass are insufficiently
integrated into society's N+V.
Viewed as as prone to criminal
tendencies, violence,
illegitimacy and promiscuity,
educational failure and welfare
dependency
- Argue that the concept of the underclass is an ideological
construct designed to segregate a 'deserving poor' from the
'undeserving' to cut down the burden of welfare payments to
the taxpayer. Concentrates only on one small area of welfare
policy+ ignores wider impact of government policy such as
pensioners, the disabled and so on. Real focus of the thesis of
the underclass should be the welfare state in general, not just
the presumed criminal activities of the underclass, which there
is no real evidence.
- Argue that the concept of the underclass is an ideological
construct designed to segregate a 'deserving poor' from the
'undeserving' to cut down the burden of welfare payments to
the taxpayer. Concentrates only on one small area of welfare
policy+ ignores wider impact of government policy such as
pensioners, the disabled and so on. Real focus of the thesis of
the underclass should be the welfare state in general, not just
the presumed criminal activities of the underclass, which there
is no real evidence.
- Underclass are insufficiently
integrated into society's N+V.
Viewed as as prone to criminal
tendencies, violence,
illegitimacy and promiscuity,
educational failure and welfare
dependency
- Ernst Van den Haag
- Very poor view of
humanity, willing to cheat
to 'get on.' Some groups
need to be controlled for
their own
good+society.Therefore he
argues that it is reasonable
for law and order agencies
to target the poor.
Advocates a tough penal
punishment: corporal+
capital
- Very poor view of
humanity, willing to cheat
to 'get on.' Some groups
need to be controlled for
their own
good+society.Therefore he
argues that it is reasonable
for law and order agencies
to target the poor.
Advocates a tough penal
punishment: corporal+
capital
- Wilson and
Herrnstein
- Investigated why some
individuals commit crime
and other do no. Reason is
related to constitutional
factors (some biological)
- Body types such as the muscular
body type=criminal, and that this
runs in families. Such factors
influence the extent to which
individuals can calculate the
rewards associated with the
crime.
- It tends to be
aggressive males
with low intelligence
who seem to commit
crimes in search for
gratification
regardless of
consequences
- Moreover the leniency of the
criminal justice system in
dealing with criminals
reinforces the biosocial
predispositions of a certain
group. This population has been
found predominantly in the
underclass, created through the
dependency culture of the
policies in the 1960's-1970's
- A criticism is that there is a lack of
precision in the concepts (approval of
peers.) They are difficult to
operationalise because they lack
definition and thus impossible to test.
They use research into identical twins
to support which leaves it open to
interpretations
- Gibbs (1985) argues that they use
loose labels to describe crimes
which they are concerned,
therefore do not include white
collar crimes, which can help
serve disprove the body type
theory
- Currie (1991) argues that the
leniency of the courts is not
confirmed by the statistics. In
America the rate of
imprisonment in the US rose, as
did the crime rate
- By stressing that human
nature is a partial cause of
crime, they ignore the existence
of different crime rates in
different cities of America and
the world
- Gibbs (1985) argues that they use
loose labels to describe crimes
which they are concerned,
therefore do not include white
collar crimes, which can help
serve disprove the body type
theory
- A criticism is that there is a lack of
precision in the concepts (approval of
peers.) They are difficult to
operationalise because they lack
definition and thus impossible to test.
They use research into identical twins
to support which leaves it open to
interpretations
- Moreover the leniency of the
criminal justice system in
dealing with criminals
reinforces the biosocial
predispositions of a certain
group. This population has been
found predominantly in the
underclass, created through the
dependency culture of the
policies in the 1960's-1970's
- It tends to be
aggressive males
with low intelligence
who seem to commit
crimes in search for
gratification
regardless of
consequences
- Body types such as the muscular
body type=criminal, and that this
runs in families. Such factors
influence the extent to which
individuals can calculate the
rewards associated with the
crime.
- Investigated why some
individuals commit crime
and other do no. Reason is
related to constitutional
factors (some biological)
- WIlson
- Anti-Sociological Criminology
- Right Realists oppose connections
sociologists have made between crime
& poverty
- Extending the
Welfare Statem lack
of discipline in
education, decline of
trad. family values
are seen as key
factors behind crime
increase
- Extending the
Welfare Statem lack
of discipline in
education, decline of
trad. family values
are seen as key
factors behind crime
increase
- Right Realists oppose connections
sociologists have made between crime
& poverty
- Selfish Human Nature
- Rising crime levels
reflects ineffective+
inadequate social
control
- Permissive attitudes
allow self-indulgent +
anti-social behaviour
- Feckless parenting,
absent fathers, lack of
discipline + liberal policies
have increased crime
- Result=spiralling volumes of
incivilities, muggings, graffiti,
vandalism, theft, asssault
- Permissive attitudes
allow self-indulgent +
anti-social behaviour
- Rising crime levels
reflects ineffective+
inadequate social
control
- Solutions
- increase costs of crime
(likelihood of being caught+ tougher
punishments
- Reduce opportunities for offending
- Tough punishment:
heavy fines, sentences +
capital punishment
- increase costs of crime
(likelihood of being caught+ tougher
punishments
- Critique
- Influential on
Government policy in
both the USA and UK.
For example 'zero
tolerance' successfully
adopted in New York
- Counter argument is that where
zero tolerance is introduced, it
simply shifts crime to other areas
- Counter argument is that where
zero tolerance is introduced, it
simply shifts crime to other areas
- Argued that it is a lack of investment in
deprived areas rather than incivilites that
cause crime to arise
- It is easy to pick on scapegoats like single parent
families, victim blaming in general and stigmatises single
mothers. It also stereotypically views SPF's as inadequate
- Marxists argue that concentration on minor
offences means more serious crime is ignored
- Rational choice theory overemphasises the degree to which decisions are
made on calculative grounds, and only focus on the immediate situation of
the individual and ignore wider forces that can influence such as morality,
conformity and social organisation
- Draw attention to the
problems of the statusless
young male in society, whose
masculinity is threatened
- Draws attention to issues of
deterrence and prevention on a
practical level
- Influential on
Government policy in
both the USA and UK.
For example 'zero
tolerance' successfully
adopted in New York
- What is it?
- Left
- What is it?
- Crime is real problem
for ordinary people,
especially to the poor
and derived, ethnic
minor + inner city
residents
- Explains it in terms of subculture,
relative deprivation +
marginalisation, also through
analysis of social and economic
relationships and how they have
become marginalised
- Explains it in terms of subculture,
relative deprivation +
marginalisation, also through
analysis of social and economic
relationships and how they have
become marginalised
- Crime is real problem
for ordinary people,
especially to the poor
and derived, ethnic
minor + inner city
residents
- Theorists
- Lea and Young
- Ethnicity and Crime. Black criminality,
accepting there has been an increas on
crimes committed by young blackss.
Institutional racism+ canteen culture
among the police
- Black criminality also stems from racial
discrimination, material deprivation, low wages
and unemployment. See black youth having
particularly high aspirations, but often not able
to legitimately achieve these aspirations
- Black criminality also stems from racial
discrimination, material deprivation, low wages
and unemployment. See black youth having
particularly high aspirations, but often not able
to legitimately achieve these aspirations
- Relative deprivation
- Argue that frustrated from disparity between
expectations and reality of lifestyle leads to
those feelings. Reality for many young black
males is a choice of unemployment, training
schemes. They feel unfairly denied in the prizes
offered to others. Can involved strategies which
include C+D behaviour
- Crime can occur in any part of the social structure, as
a result of individuals or groups feeling deprived
when they compare their circumstances with those of
other comparable groups. Absolute poverty is
rejected as the sole cause of crime, because when the
poor steal it is necessities not luxuries. Relative
deprivation focuses on individuals in all parts who
feel aggrieved with their share of material goods,
therefore turn to illegal tactics to redress the
unfairness. It is a moral choice in certain conditions
- Crime can occur in any part of the social structure, as
a result of individuals or groups feeling deprived
when they compare their circumstances with those of
other comparable groups. Absolute poverty is
rejected as the sole cause of crime, because when the
poor steal it is necessities not luxuries. Relative
deprivation focuses on individuals in all parts who
feel aggrieved with their share of material goods,
therefore turn to illegal tactics to redress the
unfairness. It is a moral choice in certain conditions
- Argue that frustrated from disparity between
expectations and reality of lifestyle leads to
those feelings. Reality for many young black
males is a choice of unemployment, training
schemes. They feel unfairly denied in the prizes
offered to others. Can involved strategies which
include C+D behaviour
- Marginalisation
- W+B w/c youth often feel
alienated by schools,
unemplyment, low-wages, the
police. Young black males face it
through prejudice + harassment.
Argue that this may be the tipping
point into committing crime
- Important to recognise that
they focus on a number of
causes of crime that vary
according to time, space and
social group. Marginalisation is
likely to be greatest when
unemployment is high. When a
generation has grown up
assuming that unemployment
reflects the failure of the social
system rather than being a
fairely orginary state of affairs,
then marginilisation is most
likely. However this does not
lead to an immediate increase
in crime. Feeling gradually
increases slowly.
- Important to recognise that
they focus on a number of
causes of crime that vary
according to time, space and
social group. Marginalisation is
likely to be greatest when
unemployment is high. When a
generation has grown up
assuming that unemployment
reflects the failure of the social
system rather than being a
fairely orginary state of affairs,
then marginilisation is most
likely. However this does not
lead to an immediate increase
in crime. Feeling gradually
increases slowly.
- W+B w/c youth often feel
alienated by schools,
unemplyment, low-wages, the
police. Young black males face it
through prejudice + harassment.
Argue that this may be the tipping
point into committing crime
- Subculture
- The subculture of young
blacks is disticntly different
from their parents who
largely accepted their
marginalised position in
society
- Black youth subculture has high material
expectations and aspirations: money and status
symbols like cars. Because this is closely enmeshed
in values of consumption, style and wealth, this is
precisely why they engage in crime- because of block
opportunities
- Young (1994) argues that the
working-class subculture has a macho
definition of masculinity that focuses on
danger and risk taking, therefore
contributes to certain types of crime in
the community, from public incidents to
wife beating. Currie (1985) also argue
that certain aspects of subcultural life,
are connected to potential criminal
behaviour. Not be used to stereotype
SPF's as 'criminal' but a realistic attempt
to address and solve factors that, for
some subcultures are connected to
crime
- Young (1994) argues that the
working-class subculture has a macho
definition of masculinity that focuses on
danger and risk taking, therefore
contributes to certain types of crime in
the community, from public incidents to
wife beating. Currie (1985) also argue
that certain aspects of subcultural life,
are connected to potential criminal
behaviour. Not be used to stereotype
SPF's as 'criminal' but a realistic attempt
to address and solve factors that, for
some subcultures are connected to
crime
- Black youth subculture has high material
expectations and aspirations: money and status
symbols like cars. Because this is closely enmeshed
in values of consumption, style and wealth, this is
precisely why they engage in crime- because of block
opportunities
- The subculture of young
blacks is disticntly different
from their parents who
largely accepted their
marginalised position in
society
- Explains why
young black
working-class
males are
particularly
associated with
criminal activity
- Ethnicity and Crime. Black criminality,
accepting there has been an increas on
crimes committed by young blackss.
Institutional racism+ canteen culture
among the police
- Jock Young
- Social Change and Crime. Argues
that late modernity is making crime
worse in a number of ways
- Greater
uncertainty
and
instability in
most aspects
of life
- People's
desire for
immediate
and personal
pleasure
- Less
consensus
about moral
values
- Breakdown of
informal social
controls
- Greater
uncertainty
and
instability in
most aspects
of life
- Social Change and Crime. Argues
that late modernity is making crime
worse in a number of ways
- Lea and Young
- Crime is a real phenomenon
- Rising crime rate
cannot solely be
explained by the
'unreliability of official
crime statistics.
- Therefore less critical of
crime statistics than
most, argue that they do
reflect typical criminals,
young, male, working
class and
disproportinately black
- Focus on victims
as well as
offenders,
recognising in
crime is
concentrated in
the inner-city and
sink housing
estates
- Focus on victims
as well as
offenders,
recognising in
crime is
concentrated in
the inner-city and
sink housing
estates
- Therefore less critical of
crime statistics than
most, argue that they do
reflect typical criminals,
young, male, working
class and
disproportinately black
- Rising crime rate
cannot solely be
explained by the
'unreliability of official
crime statistics.
- The Policing Problem
- Police too often resort to
'military policing' as a
method to stop crime
through 'stop and search'
policies
- Alienates the community
from them, recently the
Muslim community. To
improve this the public
should have more say in
shaping police policy.
- Alienates the community
from them, recently the
Muslim community. To
improve this the public
should have more say in
shaping police policy.
- Police too often resort to
'military policing' as a
method to stop crime
through 'stop and search'
policies
- Square of Crime
- Beyond the offender and
shows concern for victim
patterns and formal and
informal factors. Argue
that crime can only be
understodd in terms of
the interrelationships
between these four
elements
- Beyond the offender and
shows concern for victim
patterns and formal and
informal factors. Argue
that crime can only be
understodd in terms of
the interrelationships
between these four
elements
- Critique of Left Realism
- Recognition of multiple
causes of crime, as it focuses
on victims as well as
offenders, adding antoher
dimension to our
understanding of crime
- However, relative deprivation
or marginalisation cannot
explain the motive behind the
offender's actions (white
collar or corporate crime
- Not all people in
relative
deprivation turn
to crime
- Assumes that when
society's values break down
crime becomes more likely- a
return to anomie theory
which is not too distant from
Right Realism
- Left realists are concerned to modify
the impact and reduce the fear of
crime. They do so with reformist
traditions of the working class and aim
to empower them to make their
situation better. Suggest that the
formation of local community groups
to act as defenders of the community
is the way forward (Einstadter 1984))
- Left realists have also been involed in suggesting practical
schemes to help victims of crime, victim support schemes and
victim-offender programmes (Matthews 1992) A further
measure advocated is for ordinary people to become more
involved in structures of power such as the magistrates courts,
so their voices can be heard
- Recognition of multiple
causes of crime, as it focuses
on victims as well as
offenders, adding antoher
dimension to our
understanding of crime
- What is it?
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