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Left & Right Realism - Coggle Diagram
Left & Right Realism
Left Realism
An ideology that focuses on the individual as being responsible for their crimes and argues we need to get tough on criminals to reduce crime.
Causes of crime:
Biological differences between individuals: individuals who engage in crimes are biologically different from their peers -> XYY theory – extra Y chromosome increases aggression & makes a male more likely to commit crime (JWG)
Inadequate Socialisation: poor parenting, lack of supervision & lack of a parent (especially the father) in numerous instances -> lack of socialisation could be due to underdeveloped relationship between parent & child. Weak/Harsh super ego – crime
Offending is a rational choice: potential offenders rationally choose to commit a crime & also the methods used in order to do so -> murderers make a decision on how to attack & kill their victim (Peter Sutcliffe – used a hammer/screwdriver)
Criminals are rational actors who weigh up the risks and rewards before deciding whether to commit crimes.
Evaluation
Strengths
Support for rational choice – Rettig gave students a scenario of an opportunity to commit a crime. Found that the degree of punishment determined whether they chose to commit the crime
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Weaknesses
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Not all crimes are a result of rational decisions -> violent crimes are impulsive, anyone under the influence of alcohol/drugs may be unable to calc the risk/reward
Right Realism
An ideology that argues that inequality is the main cause of crime& we need more community interventions to reduce crime.
Causes of crime:
- Relative Deprivation: the belief a person will feel deprived/entitled to something based on the comparison to someone else -> a financially struggling individual robbing a wealthy individual to feel more equal/get what they feel they are entitled to
- Subculture: a group of people within a cultural society that differentiates itself from the conservative & standard values to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles -> hippies as a sub-culture when cannabis became a part of their identity by the use of the labelling theory
- Marginalisation: treating someone/something as if they are not important / lack of organisations to represent their interests -> unemployed youths have no clear goals/orgs to represent them, have a sense of powerlessness/frustration & resentment of injustice
Crime as a real problem. Main victims are disadvantaged groups. Inequality is the main cause and crime then causes relative deprivation.
Evaluation
Strengths
Draws attention to importance of poverty, inequality & relative deprivation as underlying causes of crime
Draws attention to the reality of street crime and its effects, especially on victims from deprived groups
Weaknesses
Henry & Milovanovic argue it accepts the authorities definition of crime as just being the street crimes of the poor.
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Focuses on high crime inner city areas & gives unrepresentative view & makes crime appear a greater problem that it is