Left and Right Realism

Right Realism
1. Theorists
  1. Wilson & Hernstein
    1. Why some individuals commit crime and others don't. Degrees of criminatlity.
      1. Constitutional factors: Biological, environmental and social.
        Body types: mesomoprhic is associated with the criminal.
        Aggressive males with low intelligence who commit crime for immediate gratification.
        Population found in the underclass, created through the dependency culture of the permissive policies.
  2. Wilson
    1. Broken Window Thesis
      1. Unless incivilities are kept minimal then wider anti social behaviour/serious crimes will follow.
        Zero- tolerance for even minor crimes.
    2. Factors affecting long term crime:
      1. No. of young males
        Cost/benefits
        Inadequate socialisation
  3. Clarke & Coleman
    1. Rational Choice theory
      1. Criminals will engage in crime if benefits outweigh costs
        Increase costs: likelihood of being caught, tougher punishments
  4. Charles Murray
    1. Underclass insufficiently integrated into norms/values.
      1. Paternalism: deviant subcultural values of underclass
        Prone to criminal tendencies. eg: violence, illegitimacy and promiscuity, educational failure and welfare dependency.
  5. Ernst Van Den Haag
    1. Poor view of humanity. Some groups need to be controlled for their own good.
      1. Argues its reasonable for law and order agencies to target the poor.
        Tough penal system of punishment. Corporal and Capital
2. What is it?
  1. Developed as a critique of sociological theory which failed to sole the problem of crime
3. Solutions
  1. Reduce opportunities for offending
  2. Increase costs
  3. Tougher punishments
4. Anti- Sociological Criminology.
  1. Oppose connection between crime and poverty.
    1. Increased affluence = Increased crime rates.
      1. Key Factors increasing crime: Extended welfare state, lack of discipline in education and decline in traditional family.
5. Selfish Human Nature.
  1. Rising crime levels - ineffective and inadequate social control.
    1. Permissive attitudes > Self indulgent anti social behaviour.
      1. Feckless parenting, absent fathers, lack of school discipline, liberal policies - all ferment crime.
6. Inadequate & Inappropriate Socialisation.
  1. Blame this as being the cause of crime.
    1. Major Factor: Non traditional family, especially single mothers.
      1. Lack of school discipline, mass media glamorization of C&D and decline in religious values..
7. Critique
  1. Influencial on Governement policy in the USA and UK.
  2. Zero tolerance - Successfully adopted in New York.
  3. Some argue that a lack of investment in deprived areas rather than incivilities that rise crime rates.
  4. Easy to pick on scapegoats - single parent families.
  5. Marxists - concentration on minor offences mean more serious crime gets ignored.
  6. Zero tolerance simply shifts crime.
Left Realism
1. What is it?
  1. Developed as a response to Right Realism and partly in response to Neo-marxist radical criminology.
  2. Sees crime as a problem for ordinary people, explains through analysis social & economic relationships.
2. Theorists
  1. Lea & Young
    1. Black youth have high aspirations but often not able to achieve.
      1. Accept an increase in Black criminality.
        Institutional racism and racist canteen culture amongst the police.
  2. Kinsey, Lea & Young
    1. The policing problem: Police too often resort to military policing
      1. Alienates the community from them
        Public should have more say, this will improve relationship.
  3. Jock Young
    1. Late modernity has caused an increase in crime.
      1. Less consensus about moral values
        Breakdown of informal social controls
        People's desire for immediate & personal pleasure.
        Greater uncertainty & instability in aspects of life.
3. Critique
  1. Recognition of multiple causes
  2. Focus on victims
  3. Relative deprivation and marginalisation can't explain the motive behind actions.
  4. Not everyone in relative deprivation turns to crime.
  5. Assumes when values break down crime is more likely.
4. Origins of crime
  1. Relative Deprivation
    1. Frustrated from difference between expectations and reality.
      1. Reality: Unemployment, training schemes or 'white man's shit work' (Stuart Hall)
  2. Marginalisation
    1. Process where certain groups are on the edge of society
      1. Working class youth alienated by schools, unemployment, low wages & police.
        Economic marginalisation > crime
  3. Subculture
    1. Black youth subculture has high material expectations and aspirations.
      1. Engage in crime because their opportunities are blocked.

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Left and Right Realism

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	Created by Sara Murray over 8 years ago