Crime and deviance

Realist theories Crime and deviance

Peer Marking task

By the end of this lesson you will be able to ... • Identify and define the differences between realist and other approaches to crime, • Identify and define the main features of left and right realist approaches to crime, their political context and the similarities and differences between them, • Apply and evaluate the strengths and limitations of right and left realist approaches to crime.

Quiz Using the whiteboards write down your answers to the quiz questions

Question 1 • I believed that crime had some very positive functions. Who am I ? Durkheim

Question 2 • What factors did Merton believe made society unequal. Structural Factors

Question 3 • This is one adaption to the strain of inequality identified by Merton in which individuals accept the culturally approved goals and strive to achieve them legitimately. Conformity

Question 5 • Cohen came up with this key theory which summarises the concept deviance as a lower class phenomenon. Status Frustration

Question 6 • What is the name of the subculture which provides youths with an apprenticeship for a career in utilitarian crime. Criminal

Question 7 • This occurs when a crime or deviant act is publicised in order to create a moral panic. Deviance amplification

Question 8 • The labelling theory has been criticised on this ground as it assumes that once labelled an individual will pursue a criminal career. Deterministic

Question 9 • Although the labelling theory explains how labelling can affect and influence someone towards a life of crime, what does it fail to explain? Why people commit crime in the first place.

Realist theories of crime & deviance • Different to labelling theory and critical criminology which see crime as socially constructed • Crime is a real problem that need to be tackled • They argues that has been a significant rise in crime rate (street crime, burglary & assault) • Fear of crime • Other theories fail to offer realistic solutions to the problem of crime

Emergence of realist approaches • 1960’s & 70’s • Thatcher (UK) Reagan (USA) • These governments favoured reducing the welfare state • ‘Get tough’ stance on crime • Increased use of prison & death penalty in US • ‘short sharp shock’ approach to youth crime

Left Vs Right realism • We can divide realist approaches along political lines • Right realism – share New Right and Neo- conservative political outlook • Left realism – are socialists which favour different policies for reducing crime

Causes of crime

Causes of crime • Right realist reject the idea put forward by Marxists and others that structural or economic factors such as poverty and inequality are the causes of crime, • They will argue against the Marxist theory that the old tend to be poor yet they have very low crime rates, • Thus for the right realist there are three explanations for the causes of crime: • Individual Biological Differences, • Inadequate socialisation and the underclass, • Rational choice to offend

Reading task • You will split into 3 groups and will be required to create the simplest spider diagram which look at your given topic, • You will need to present your spider diagram and explain it to the rest of the group.

Criticism of right realism • Ignores the wider structural causes such as poverty, • Overstates offenders rationality and how far they make cost benefit calculations before committing crime, • Its view that criminals are rational actors freely choosing crime conflicts with the view that their behaviour is determined by their biology and socialisation, • Focus is only on petty street crime and ignores corporate crime, • Zero tolerance policy gives opportunity to the police discriminate against ethnic minority youths, the homeless, etc, • Over emphasises the control of disorder rather than tackling underlying causes of neighbourhood decline such as lack of investment.

Crime and deviance