1. James Q Wilson, Charles Murray
Right Realism
James Q Wilson, Charles Murray
Wilson & Kelling 1982
Clarke 1992, Newman 1972

2. Right Realism and Rational Choice
Right realism is based on the right wing view that criminals have made a rational choice to break the law.
People are not forced to become criminals – they have chosen to break the law.
The role of the government is not to eliminate “mythical root causes of crime” such as poverty, but to punish the criminal.
Humans are naturally selfish and greedy – if people receive poor socialisation then crime will be the result
Crime can never be eliminated, merely reduced.

3. Zero tolerance policies
James Q Wilson developed zero tolerance policies whilst working as an advisor to President Reagan in the 1980s but his views were also influential to the British government of that time.
This policy is based on the idea that if small crimes are allowed to go unchallenged then this leads to more serious crimes being committed
Notes on Zero Tolerance

4. “Broken Windows” Theory Wilson & Kelling 1982
High levels of crime occur where informal social control over anti-social behaviour has broken down
If low level anti-social behaviour is prevented then this does not escalate to serious crimes being committed.
Analogy of an abandoned building – once one window gets broken – then all the windows soon get smashed.

5. Situational Crime Prevention
Clarke 1992 advocates policies and practices which make it difficult for crime to be committed.
People will commit offences when the benefits of offending outweigh the costs.
Newman 1972 introduced the idea of “defensible space” – the design of streets and houses could make them safer.
“Target Hardening” – improving security, CCTV

6. Evaluation of crime prevention theories
Garland (2001) argues that situational crime prevention policies merely limits the extent and impact of crime and ignores the underlying causes of crime
Crime Displacement – crime merely shifts to a less well monitored area or the type of crime may change
Alongside crime prevention other actions must be considered such as Early Intervention programmes and programmes that involve the communities involved
Take notes from pages 392 & 393 in the text book
Read handout on Perspective from the Right and answer summary questions