Left Realism

• Lea and Young

  Ethnic differences in stats reflect real differences, in the different levels of offending

  • crime is a result of material deprivation, subcultures and marginalisation
  • racism has led to marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic minorities
  • media promotes relative deprivation, setting materialistic goals that many ethnic minorities can't reach legitimately due to discrimination
• Lea and Young

  Recognise that that racist policing leads to unfair criminalisation of some ethnic minorities

  • even if police are racist, it's unlikely to account for the ethnic differences in the stats
  • police racism can't explain higher conviction rate of blacks compared to Asians, would have to be selectively more racist to blacks
• Lea and Young conclude that:

  • Stats represent real differences in offending between ethnic groups
  • Differences are caused by relative deprivation and marginalisation