Left Realism focuses on the exclusion and victimization of the working class. It argues that the working class commits crimes against each other, not the rich, due to relative deprivation and inequality of opportunities. While structural factors like inequality, lack of jobs and poor housing contribute to crime, Left Realism also acknowledges the role of subcultures and individualism in criminal behavior. It supports multi-agency approaches and greater community involvement in policing to curb crime rates. However, simply increasing policing does not address the underlying causes of crime.

1. Left Realism
Late modernity, exclusion and crime
Young: we now live in period of
instability, insecurity + exclusion
Media-saturated late modern
society promotes cultural inclusion
– everyone has access to media
Poor systematically excluded from
achieving same as those of wealth
Relative deprivation downwards –
hard working middle class resent
stereotypical underclass as idle,
irresponsible, living off state
welfare
Tackling crime
Taking crime seriously
Traditional Marxists: concentrate on
crimes of the powerful – LR agree, but,
ignores working class crime + effects
Neo-Marxists: romanticise working
class criminals as modern day Robin
Hoods – LR say working class victimise
working class, not rich
Labelling theorists: say working class
criminals victims of discrimination – LR,
ignores people who suffer at hands of
criminals
Evaluation of left realism
Marxists – fails to explain corporate crime which
is much more harmful
Interactionists – rely on quantitative data from
surveys, need qualitative to understand motives
of criminals
Not everyone with rel. deprivation commits
crime
Tackling structural causes
Must deal ...
- with inequality of opportunity + unfairness of
rewards,
- tackle discrimination
- provide decent jobs for all
- improve housing + community facilities
Left realism and government policy
Similar views to New Labour
Young criticises their policies however i.e. ASBOs don’t recreate good neighbourliness etc.
Tackling crime but not the causes of it
Policing and control
Kinsey, Lea + Young: policed clear up
rates too low, public need to be more
involved
Lose of public support = lose of public
info = more military policing
Multi-agency approach – social
services, housing departments, victim
support, etc
Marginalisation
Lack clear goals and organisation
e.g. unemployed youth
Express their frustration through
criminal means
Subculture
Groups collective solution to the
problem of rel. deprivation
Criminal subcultures still share the
same values + goals of
mainstream society i.e.
materialism + consumerism
Relative deprivation
How deprived people feel in relation to others
Media has made people more aware of rel. deprivation +
risen people’s expectations higher
Young: rel. deprivation + individualism = crime
Increasing individualism causing disintegration of
families, weakens informal controls, leads to crime +
deviance
Young – aetiological crisis (a crisis in explanation) for
theories of crime, theorists choose to ignore things if they
disprove theory
Lea and Young: The causes of crime