Realist perspectives of crime

Realist perspectives of crime
By Chris Thompson
Sociologytwynham.wordpress.com

Realist Theories of Crime
The previous examples are all positivist in their approach how human behaviour is determined by external forces
In contrast realist criminology maintains behaviour is a matter of free will and individual choice
The notion of determinism is challenged by Realist perspectives of crime
There are two distinct realist perspectives – Right Realists and Left-Realists

Realist Theories of Crime
Realists are primarily concerned with developing responses to a perceived intensity in the public’s fear of crime
Realists challenge many of the ideas put forward by earlier perspectives which are seen as not addressing the real issues of crime
Realists focus on crime which is at the centre of public concern e.g. street crime, violence and burglary
Realists are also concerned with increasing measures of crime control

Right- Realism
Wilson & Hernstein (1985) argued that positivist sociology tended to look for causes external to the individual
Instead Wilson & Hernstein argue that becoming a criminal is a matter of choice of people who had never been properly socialised
Thus Wilson & Hernstein argue that as a society immediate gratification has become paramount and this combined with a lack of self-control through poor socialisation creates the criminal

Right- Realist Theories
From this Wilson & Hernstein point out that a disproportionate amount of crime is conducted by young men living in cities
Combine this with poor socialisation in schools, the family and the wider community affects their behaviour
Along with the effects of contemporary culture of immediate gratification and low impulse control causing reduced self-discipline means they’re more likely to commit crime

Hirschi moved things on a little further with his ‘control-theory’ which examined the temptations people face
We all face temptations to commit crime and devaince said Hirschi but we don’t all succumb to this temptation
This is because most people have strong community ties to key institutions like family and school
He concluded offenders are people with poor self-control, which stems from poor socialisation

Charles Murray also looked at poor socialisation as causing recidivism
Murray’s research into the underclass found common characteristics of the criminal
Illegitimacy, violence, and unemployment
He especially focused on the demise of the nuclear family and the rise of lone-parent families as creating a sub-culture of young people who are lazy, drug addicts and immoral

Right-Realist
Rational choice theorists like Wilson & Hernstein argue for the need to increase the cost of crime (by this they mean the cost of getting caught) by making buildings harder to break into and having more security guards around buildings
Other Right-Realists say the police should focus more on preventing criminal damage through extensive informal social controls, such as working with local communities to prevent criminal damage
Finally more punitive measure such as more prisons and longer prison sentences need to be implemented

Left Realism
Left realism emerged in the early 1980s as a reaction to ‘law and order’ politics of Conservatism and the vacuum in radical left thinking on crime and crime control.
Left realists are critical of perspectives which see longer sentences and more prisons as the solution to rising crime rates.
They oppose the views of ‘left-wing idealists’ such as Marxists, Neo-Marxists and radical feminists. For they see such ‘idealism’ as ignoring real victims of crime.
For example if you’re being attacked by a mugger the last thing you want to hear capitalism reduced his or her opportunity to have the latest mobile phone, so they’ll take yours
This highlights the similarity between the Left and Right Realism

Left Realism
In contrast to right-realism, left-realism was a reaction to the dominant law and order model of right-realism
They accept crime is a problem, especially for women and working class communities
Victims need to be taken seriously
The fear of crime is not irrational
The causes of crime must be given more emphasis by politicians

Left Realism – The Victims
Jock Young used victim surveys to ‘give a voice to people’s experiences of crime’
Left realists accept the data from British Crime Surveys shows the number of victims as being small but......the chances of being a victim are greater in inner-city areas
The Islington Crime Survey found 36% of local residents saw crime as a big issue; 56% worried about being burgled; 46% had been a victim of street robbery. Therefore people living in inner cities were at greater risk

Left Realism – The Offenders
Left realists focus on relative deprivation as most victims of crime are the most vulnerable members of society – for these people crime is very REAL
Jock Young noted how the wealthier a society got crime rates increased because people see themselves as deprived in comparison to others which breeds discontent
Jock Young argued this combination of relative deprivation and individualism is the main cause of crime in modern societies causing anti-social behaviour and widespread aggression

Left Realism – society & rising crime
Changes in the world economy has brought about a decline in unskilled and semi-skilled occupations
This has hit Afro-Caribbeans and other groups of lower working-class males with low levels of educational attainment
This then excludes them from mainstream society through an inaccessible job market and inaccessible areas of society such as security guarded shopping centres and gated communities
While media adverts continually remind them of what they’re excluded from

Left Realism – The cure
Left Realists agree with Right Realists that the police can only do so much
However inside of increasing police powers (formal social control) they say there needs to be more informal social control
Such as jobs with futures; quality housing; quality social services; quality community areas like play areas; which all create a sense of belonging

Evaluating Realist Perspectives
Right realists ignore the fact that the rise in ‘real’ crime rates could be due to changes in recording and reporting of crime
They ignore the increasing gap between the rich and the poor creating resentment (relative deprivation)
Right Realists focus on young males and street crime yet ignore the extent of white collar crimes, domestic crimes and corporate crimes
Does building more prisons and increasing sentences reduce crime? The evidence suggests not.

Evaluating Realist Perspectives
Left Realists rely heavily on victim studies, such studies ignore domestic violence and also crimes where people aren’t aware they’re a victim
Left Realists focus on street crime at the expense of white-collar or corporate crime which is just as harmful
The rise in street crime could be due to an increase in property theft and the need for victims to get crime numbers for insurance and so distort the true extent of street crimes as also it’s easier to report such incidence with the proliferation of mobile phones

Realist perspectives of crime
By Chris Thompson
sociologytwynham.wordpress.com

http://sociologytwynham.com	1604
http://sociologytwynham.wordpress.com	396
http://www.archinet.org.uk	188
https://www.coursesites.com	1
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com	1

Realist perspectives of crime

by Twynham School, Dorset, UK

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

5 Embeds 2,190

Statistics