Left realism & crime

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The causes of crime

  • They believe in the accuracy of official statistics & see crime as being caused by inequality & poverty.
  • Relative deprivation - Young; in lethal combination with individualism has led people to commit crime in persuit of self interest, at the expense of others. Society has become a paradox, it is both prosperous & more crime ridden, due to media advertisising & persuit of material possessions (bulimic society).
  • Subculture - Young; criminal groups still subscribe to the values & goals of mainstream society. There are ghettos in the US where people still want to achieve the American Dream, their culture is hooked on Gucci, BMW or Nikes, yet they can only achieve through crime.
  • Marginalisation - Individuals lack the clear goals & organisations to represent their interests politically; unemployed youth may use criminal means to express their frustration, through rioting or violence. 
  • Late modernity - Young; since 1970's there is more unemployment & the reduction of welfare spending has destabilised family & community life. People are culturally included into being encouraged to achieve 'money success' yet are economically excluded.
  • Defining device up - Young; anti-social behaviour (hoodies, fireworks, begging), although subjective is seen as criminal, therefore goverments 'manufacture' more crime through net widening
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Tackling crime

  • Military policing -  Kinsey; the police rely on the public to provide them with info about crimes, yet the police are losing public support in inner cities with high rates of MEG's & young people. As the flow of information dries up, police rely on military policing by 'swamping' the area; using random stop & search tactics, further alienating communities & leading to more distrust.
  • Police must improve their relationship with local communties by spending more time investigating crime & changing their priorities (they over-police drug crime & under-police racist attacks & domestic violence) A multi-agency approach is needed with local council services, schools, victim support, public etc...getting involved in influencing policing policy. 
  • Structural causes - Dealing with inequality of opportunity, tackling discrimination, providing decent jobs & improving housing/community facilities will make a difference. Also being more tolerant of diversity & stop stereotyping whole groups as criminal. 
  • Government policy - New Labour's policy 'tough on crime (hate crimes, sexual assault), tough on the causes of crime' echoed left realist concerns to protect vunerable groups in society. However Young; argues that they only addressed the symptoms of crime, such as anti-social behaviour and didn't focus on the underlying causes. 
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Evaluation

  • Usefulness - Succeeded in drawing attention to the reality of street crime & its effects on victims from deprived groups. 
  • Criticisms - Henry; accepts the authorities definition of street crime as being committed by the poor, instead of defining the problem as being one of how powerful groups do harm to the poor (corporate crime).
  • Interactionists; left realists rely on quantitative data from victim survers, they cannot see offenders motives. 
  • They use the subcultural theory which means they assume that value consensus exists & everyone wants to achieve 'money success'.
  • Over-predicts the amount of crime caused by relative deprivation, not all who experience it commit crime. 
  • Focuses on high-crime inner-city areas, which gives an unrepresentative view, making crime appear a greater problem than it actually is. 
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