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Left Realist Views on Crime - Coggle Diagram
Left Realist Views on Crime
Left Realism argues that crime is a real social problem and disadvantaged groups are the main victims.
Left Realism stems from Marxism and the New Criminology but focuses on finding practical ways to tackle crime as these two theories are too idealistic and have unrealistic ideas about how to solve crime.
They identify 3 main causes of crime: subcultures, marginalisation / social exclusion and, most importantly, relative deprivation.
The Aetiological Crisis: Jock Young (1994)
Young argues people are reporting more crime because there IS more crime. Crime is real and affects w/c the most, they're more likely to be victims of burglary, street crime, violence, have the biggest fear of crime yet are less likely to report it.
This is a lack of explanation for the fact that reported crime rises during economic upturn AND downturn. In the 1950s, interactionists argue the aetiological crisis was due to crime being a social construct- blamed it on increased reporting and labelling
Most victims of crime are w/c, so solutions to all crime must be considered, shouldn't only focus on white-collar and corporate crime as a problem, street crime is more important.
Relative Deprivation
Lea and Young:
deprivation itself is not directly the cause of crime- there is much less deprivation today than in the 1930s but the crime rate is much higher today. It is due to
relative deprivation
: how deprived someone feels in comparison to others or to their own expectations.
The Paradox:
today's society is more prosperous but more crime ridden. Although people are better off they are more aware of material possessions they don't have due to less social segregation, the media and advertising= they feel deprived= commit crime to keep up with everyone else.
Young (1999):
Relative deprivation alone isn't enough to cause crime- it is an issue when combined with individualism. Self-interest at the expense of others causes the crumbling of the family and the community- when such groups no longer have control over individuals this creates a spiral of crime.
Subcultures
Crime is a response to blocked opportunities- it is a reaction to the failure to achieve mainstream goals legitimately. A criminal subculture can be a solution to relative deprivation (illegitimate opportunity structure)
However, criminal subcultures that still subscribe to the mainstream values of materialism and consumerism but lack legitimate opportunities to achieve those goals DO result in crime.
There are
many different subcultural adaptations
to blocked opportunities, not all result in crime. Alternative subcultures such as religious ones may discourage crime or offer spiritual comfort (the
theodicy of disprivilege
- Weber).
Young (2002):
Ghettos in America are fully immersed into the American Dream- a culture hooked on Gucci and BMWs- but they have no legitimate means of achieving these materialistic goals= high crime rates
Marginalisation
This is when people suffer from social exclusion and feel like they have no stake in society as they lack the power or resources to fully participate. Marginalised groups have no clear goals and no one to represent them in society e.g. ethnic minorities, youths, the unemployed.
Workers have clear goals of promotion, better pay, and organisations such as unions to turn to for representation. In comparison, unemployed youth are marginalised= resentment and frustration. Also have no access to legitimate political means to pursue their goals= vent their frustrations through crime.
Globalisation and the exporting of manufacturing jobs to the developing world has increased social exclusion and unemployment in post-industrial countries like the UK, increasing crime.
Solutions
Left realists argue that the most effective way of reducing crime is to tackle the root, social causes of crime through social and community crime prevention.
Strategies:
Policies to reduce material and cultural deprivation:
e.g. Sure Start, Pupil Premium, programmes to reduce social exclusion, to improve employment opportunities, increase cultural capital, increase social mobility etc
Consensus Policing:
Creating police force that better represents the population it polices e.g. more public involvement in choosing senior police officers, public meetings to discuss community issues. This helps build positive relationships between the public and police, they have more confidence in them and are more likely to work with them than feel threatened= crime can be reduced
Increasing Social Cohesion in neighbourhoods
: building a tight-knit community and allowing members to work together to reduce crime e.g. Neighbourhood Watch
Multi-Agency Approach
: police liaise with other agencies e.g. social workers, schools, MPs to form a better understanding of issues facing criminals
Evaluation
Still quite
idealistic
: creating a fairer and more equal society is not easily achieved
Feminists
: if the cause of crime is social exclusion and marginalisation you would expect women to commit more crimes than men in a patriarchal society, but they don't= left realists are malestream and ignore gender as a factor
When reforms were introduced to increase public involvement in electing police, there was
very little turnout
e.g. only 15% voted in the elections in 2012. Reality is that the public have little/ no interest in police and crime commissioners= not effective in improving public-police relations or reducing crime.