What are realist perspectives? How might these perspectives differ from other perspectives in their view of crime?

Answers… what are the questions? Realist perspectives are primarily concerned with developing responses to a perceived intensity in the publics perception of crime. They challenge many of the ideas put forward by earlier theories which they claim are out of touch with the real causes of crime. They are concerned with increasing crime concern and focus primarily on crimes that are of central concern to the public.

Key ideas Who? Lee, Young and Matthews Where? UK What? A criminological perspective which is left wing but believes in working within the existing system to bring about chgange – not as idealistic as Marxism. When? 1980s Why? A response to the New Right (1980s) and the limitations of the new criminology and traditional Marxism

How is Left realism different to other theories? It is similar to Marxism because… It is different to Marxism because… They criticise Marxists as they ignore… To back up this criticism they site They study victims of crime because … Left realism key idea 1: under policing and over policing Over policing is …. Evidence to support that some crimes are over policed is …. Under polcing is …. An example of under policing is… Going further – find recent figures on the above from your own research Left realism key idea 2: the rising crime rate Since WW2 living standards have increased, you would expect that crime would decrease as a result, but crime has increased. Possible explanations for this could be …. - Since WW2 the crime rate has increased, Young explains this in the following way… Left realism key idea 3: crime has 3 key causes Relative deprivation Subculture Marginalisation Left Realism key idea 4: the Square of crime The square of crime is a left realist model of the different factors involved in understanding and explaining crime. Roger Matthews came up with concept and explained that there are 4 key factors which interact which each other, these are …. It has similarities with other theories such as …. Unlike some other theories e.g. Marxism this concept looks at victims, this is important because…. The different aspects interact with each other e.g. Left realism and policy The New Labour (‘97-10) took on some if the ideas put forward by Left Realists e.g. However LR’s such as young say policy on its own isn’t enough, the following is needed also… - Evaluation of Left Realism - fails to explain the causes of street crime - It relies on subcultural theory - Doesn’t look at corporate / organised crime + Relative deprivation is a useful concept in explaining crime…. + It looks ta the effects of street crime… + Has provided some suggestions about policing … + It focusses on victims

Right Realism Key theorists Wilson and Hernstein Similar to – Functionalists – focus on social order Where? Both sides of the Atlantic What they say Argue that becoming a criminal is a matter of choice of people who had never been properly socialised. Crime is not caused by structural causes such as inequality. As a society, immediate gratification has become paramount and this combined with a lack of self control through poor socialisation creates the criminal.

Key theorist – James Q Wilson: rational choice (USA 1975) What did he believe? According to JQW criminals weigh up the risks and benefits of committing crime (rational choice)- *will be covered in more detail in the topic crime prevention. Formal controls are failing…. Key theorists – Wilson and Kelling: broken windows Will be covered in more detail in the topic crime prevention. Informal social control is important because…. The broken window analogy means…. They argue for zero tolerance policing which means…. Key theorist – Cohen and Felson: routine activities Most crime is opportunistic, three conditions are needed for crime to take place… Reasons that have led to a growth in crime in the USA…. The solution in target hardening ….*will be covered in more detail in crime prevention Evaluation of Right Realism + Impact of zero-tolerance policing in New York… + Impact of SCP in Britain and the USA… + Impact of increased imprisonment in the USA… ? – difficulties in isolating causes for drops in crime rates…. The brokejn windows claim has been disputed as a primary cause of crime…. Left relaists such as Lee and Young see zero tolerance as militaristic…. Katz disagrees with the idea of crime being rational *see work on subcultures – thrill… Murray’s claims about an underclass have been disputed… Right Realism and social policy Zero-tolerance policing in the USA- ASBOs in the UK- The rise in the prison population Going further- figures on the increase in the prison population Key theorist: Charles Murray: The Underclass (*see WPW year 12 work) The characteristics of the underclass are…. View on single parenthood…. C+D gets passed down through the generations….