Left Realist explanations of crime and deviance

Outline and assess Left Realist explanations of crime and deviance (50) 

1) Relative deprivation

• Refers to how deprived someone feels in relation to others or compared with their own expectations
• Can lead to crim when people feel resentment that unfairly, others are better off than them

Lea & young

• People today are more prosperous than in the past and are more aware of their relative deprivation due to media and advertising, which raise everyone’s expectations of standards of living. E.g. young black Britons may feel that racism is holding them back.

2) Marginialization

• Young people often marginialized
• Frustrated negative treatment by the police and the authorities may result in further feelings of hostility and resentment toward mainstream society, which may spill over into confrontation with authority

3) Subculture

• Working-class & black people who feel relatively deprived or marginalized may form deviant subcultures
• These subcultures react to the perception that society does not value them, be becoming involved in street crimes such as drug pushing, territorial gang violence, anti-social…