Topic 4 Crime and Deviance: Realist theories of crime

Right realists see crime as a problem as it threatens societys work ethics, destroys communities, and undermines social cohesion. Right realists main idea is to reduce crime

Right realists also criticize other views on crime as they fail to offer practical solutions to it.

For example : labelling and critical criminology is too sympathetic to the criminal and too hostile to law and order

Biological differences: Wilson and Herrnstein (1985)- people are more strongly predisposed to commit crime as some are more extroverted and angry than others                                          Herrnstein and Murray (1994)- main cause is low intelligence which is biologically determined

Socialisation and the underclass: Effective socialisation lowers the risk since it teaches self control and internalising correct values and norms (Murray 1990) said crime is high from parents who dont socialsie kids properly. The underclass grows due to welfare dependancy E.g comes from the decline of marriages and increase of lone parents since the 1960`s.Due to lack of male role model men turn to eachother and get status by crime.    

Rational choice theory: (Ron Clarke 1980) if the rewards of crime outweigh costs people are likely to offend. Right realists see risk as being low of getting caught and punishment soft  (Wilson 1975)if legitimiate opp of jobs were declining someone might want to do crime.                     

Ignores wider structural causes like poverty

Overstates offenders rationality and how far they make calculations before committing crime. Does not explain violent behaviour only utilitarian.

View of rational criminals conflicts with biological and socialisation theory. Lilly (2002) iq accounts for less than 3% differences in offending.

Right realists main focus on how to tackle crime is by making it ugly by controlling and containing offenders.

Crime prevention should reduce rewards and increase cost of crime. E.g target hardening  by using more prisons and more tough sentences to deter. 

ZERO TOLERANCE Wilson and Kelling (1982) crime should be prevented by having zero tolerance where any crime is immediately dealt with. E.g police should control streets to make citizens feel safe

Young (2011) : zero tolerance success was a myth as crime rates in NYC was falling nine years before the policy but powers said it was due to zero tolerance. Police need arrests to justify their existence and police arrestsed people for silly acts to claim this was the cause of decline

.Ignores corporate crime over petty crimes

.Police have free reign to discriminate

.Over emphasises control of disorder rather than tackling causes of neighbourhood decline e.g lack of investment

.Zero tolerance and target hardening lead to displacement of crime in other places

. Alike marxists they see society as unequal and capitalist.

.However they believe in gradual change over violent overthrow of capitalism, we need to explain crime leading to practical strategies over waiting for classless societies.

.Marxists dont take crime seriously as they focus on crime of powerful, neglecting working class crime

.Labelling theory- see wc criminals as victims of labelling by social control agents, this neglects victims of wc suffering in criminal hands

.Neo Marxists- romanticise hard working criminals as robin hood, when wc criminals victimise other wc people not the rich

Aetological crisis (Young 2011) 1950s on wc crime + and nobody could explain it, statistics were social constructs

Local victim surveys show people reporting more crime as it was happening. Scale of crime bigger than statistics, diadvantaged have more risk of being victims

The impact of greater fear of crime is that women are scared to go out at night and lives are taken over. Victims are reluctant to report crime as police are reluctant to deal with it

Lea and Young (1984)

Relative Deprivation- Deprivation is not the direct cause. As in 1950`s lving conditions rose but so did crime in contrast to 1930s. E.g Runciman(1966)- relative dep means you feel more dperived than others so you resort to crime.People are more aware of crime today. Young (1999) indivudaulism causes crime by encouraging self interest at expesne of others. For left realsits indivudalsim is caused by disintergration of families by undermining mutual support values. This creates ASBO`s

Subculture-A subculture is a groups solution to relative deprivation. Some chose crime to close deprivation gaps and others og to relgion. In African communities Pryce (1979) found subcultures like hustlers and Rastas as good people. Criminals still adhere to society goals. Young (2002) said in usa theres ghettos based on american dream but they do it by street crime.

Marginalisation- groups lack golas and organsiations, workers have groups like union so have no need to use violence to get things. Unemplyoed youth are marginalised as nobody represents them so they use violence and have no political power to help

Young (2002) features of late modernity society are instability insecurity and exlusion

The 50s and 60s are Golden Ages as there was stability and securtiy and social inclusion with low divorce, comprehensive welfare and consesnsus on law

Changes to society since the 1970s are that insecurity and exlsuion increased, people are unemployed, New right held back on welfare spending

Theres been an increase in sense of relative deprivation in society as theres ggreater inequality betwee  rich and poor and the spread of free market

The contrasts between cultural inclsuion and economic exlusion:

a.Media saturated modern society promotes cultural inclusion, poor access culture messages

b.More emphasis on lesiure, consumption and higher expcetions ofr good life

c.Poor are denied access to wealthy society

Young’s view of cultural inclusion and economical exclusion similar to Merton’s notion of anomie: this is because society creates crime by setting cultural goals whilst denying people the chabnce to achieve them legitimately

Theres a trend towards relative deprivation in late modernity as people resent the fat cat bankers and footballers, but also downwards deprivation where middle class resent wc for lving off handout

Amounts and types of crime are changing in late modern society as crime is found in social strcture not just bottom. Theres hatred at asylum seekrs due to downwards dep

Theres also hatred to reactions in crime as theres blurring between whats right and wrong. Informal controls are less effective so people want more punishments, less tolerance.

A fall in crime is a problem for realsit theorists as it shows crime isnt a threat

The gov created a crime wave by 1990s inroducing asbos and Ipnas including blurring boundaries of crime, making crime subejctive and making types of asbo flexible- e.g late fireworks

Left realists criticize military style of policing as they rely on public to tell about crimes, police arent connecting with young and ethnic so they use stop and search whuch alieantes and creates mistrust. 

Left relaists say they should investigate crime more and involve publicin making polcing policy.  multui agency approach is needed using local councils, housing, school etc.

Left relasits belleive crime is caused by uneual structure of society and we should deal with the unfairness of rewards and provdie jobs and houses and be more tolerant of diversity. 

Policies introduced by left realsits have been ASBOS and the new deal for unemployed youth and anti trauncing polcies to reverse exclusion to stop young offenders. But Young saw this as lack of community and lack of jobs and have just addressed big problems like dsicrimination and ineqaulity.

Henry (1996) argues it accepts definition of crime as being committed by poor instead of powerful groups harming the poor. Marx say it fails to explain corporate crime

Interactionists argue as lefties rely on qauntitive data from victim surveys they can see offender motives

Use of sbucultural theory means left realsits assume value consesnsu exists and crime only happen ude to its breakdown

Relative dep cant explain crime as not all expereicning it offend. Over predicts amount of crime

Unrepresentative as focus on high crime cities and makes crime a bigger problerm than it is

Left and right are similar as they see crime as a threat and fear is rational

However they are different as right are neo consrervative and left are reformists. 

Rights blame lack of control, left blames strcture ineqaulity. 

Right prirotise social roder, left justice by deomcratic polcing.