M3 Crime

• Realist theory on crime?

  See crime as a real problem to be tackled, believe that:

  • there has been a significant rise in crime rates - especially street crime, assault and burglary
  • there is a growing fear of crime and negative impact on victims
  • other theories have failed to offer realistic solutions
• 2 realist approaches?

  • Right realism
  • Left realism
• Charles Murray?

  • New right threat
  • argues the underclass are particularly insufficiently integrated into society's norms and values
  • calls deviant subcultural values of the underclass 'paternalism'
• Ernst van den Haag?

  • adopts very poor view of humanity as is willing to cheat to 'get on' and therefore some groups need to be controlled for their own good - fair for law agencies to target the poor
  • advocates capital and corporal punishment
  • sees punishment as functional, a deterrent
• Why do right realists think people commit crime?

  • Biological differences
  • Socialisation of the underclass
  • Rational choice theory
• Rational choice theory?

  • Developed by Clarke and Coleman
  • Argues criminals will engage in crime if benefits outweighs cost
  • Solution: make costs of crime tougher
• Right Realist solutions to crime?

  • Reduce opportunities for offending
  • Increasing costs to exceed the benefits
  • Crime control should fall upon members of the community
  • Responsible parenting and 'active citizens' who challenge anti-social behaviour
  • Tough punishment: heavy fines, sentences, advocation of cultural / capital punishment
• What is Broken Window Thesis?

  Unless incivilities (litter/grafitti etc) are kept minimal, wider antisocial behaviour and more serious crimes will follow
• Who theorised Broken Window Thesis?

  James Q Wilson
• What does Broken Window Thesis suggest about tackling crime?

  • Advocates the police adopt a 'zero-tolerance' approach for even minor crimes
• What does Wilson argue affects long-term crime?

  • Number of young males
  • Costs / benefits of crime - rational choice theory
  • Inadequate socialisation into norms / values
• How did Wilson propose tackling long term crime?

  Target hardening of deviant groups and areas through pro-active policing
• Zero tolerance?

  • Any sign of deterioration must be dealt with immediately
• Where has zero tolerance been tested?

  • New York in 1994
  • Applauded for reducing crime
  • Young argues 'success' was a myth peddled by politicians / police keen for credit
  • Crime rate had already been falling since 1985
• Target Hardening?

  • Greater use of prison and ensuing punishments follow soon after the offence
  • Make risks outweigh rewards
• Problems with zero tolerance?

  • Preoccupied with petty crime, ignores costly and harmful corporate crime
  • Gives police free reign to discriminate against minorities / youth / homeless
  • Over-emphasizes control of disorder instead of tackling its causes
  • Leads to displacement of crime to other areas
• Critique of Right Realism?

  • Lack of investment causes crime to rise rather than incivilities (in deprived areas)
  • Easy to pick scapegoats like single parent families
  • Marxists argue concentration on minor offences means more serious crime is ignored by the authorities
  • Zero tolerance only displaces crime
• Left realism - crime phenomenon?

  • Argues rising crime rate cannot solely be explained by the 'unrelibility of official crime statistics'
  • Less critical of crime statistics, argue they do reflect typical criminals
  • Young, male, working class, disproportionately black
  • Focus on victims as well as offenders, recognising crime is concentrated in the inner-city and housing estates
• Left realism on crime?

  Sees crime as a real problem for ordinary people and explains it through analysis of social and economic relationships, and how some groups become marginalised
• Ethnicity and crime - left realism?

  • Existence of institutional racism and 'canteen culture' amongst police
  • Stems from racial discrimination, material deprivation, low wages, unemployment
  • Black youth have particularly high aspirations, but aren't able to legitimately achieve them
• Left realist causes of crime?

  • Relative deprivation
  • Marginalisation
  • Subculture
• Left realism - subcultures?

  • Lea and Young: subculture of Young blacks is different from their parents, who largely accepted their marginalised positions in society
  • Black youth subculture has high material expectations and aspirations
  • Black youth is closely enmeshed in values of consumption, style and wealth, this is precisely why they engage in crime (blocked opportunities)
• Left realism - relative deprivation?

  • Lea and Young: frustrated from disparity between expectations and reality
  • Many young black men have to choose from unemployment, training schemes or 'white mans shit work' (Hall)
  • Feel unfairly denied 'glittering prizes' offered to others - can develop into strategies which can involve deviant / criminal behaviour
• Left realism - marginalisation?

  • Lea and Young: the process by which certain groups find themselves on the edge of society
  • White and Black working class youth often feel alienated by schools, police etc
  • Young black males face marginalisation through prejudice and harassment
  • Economic marginalisation is transferred into crime
• Left realism - who found a problem with policing?

  Kinsley, Lea and Young
• What problem do left realists find with policing?

  • Police too often resort to 'military policing' as a method of solving crime through 'stop and search' policies
  • Alienates the community from them, recently the muslim community
  • Argue that to improve this relationship the public should have more say in shaping policy
• What are the four factors in the left realist square of crime?

  • Offenders
  • State
  • Victim
  • Informal controls
• Jock Young on crime?

  Has a generic theory to explain the recent growth in crime. Argues that late modernity is making crime worse
• How does Young argue late modernity is worsening crime?

  • Less consensus about moral values
  • Greater uncertainty and instability in most aspects of life
  • People's desire for immediate and personal pleasure
  • Breakdown of informal social controls
• Left realism - structural causes?

  Unequal structure of society
• Left realism - solution to structural causes?

  • Deal with inequality of opportunity and unfairness of rewards
  • Tackle discrimination
  • Provide decent jobs for everyone
  • Improve housing and community facilities
  • Become more tolerant of diversity and stop stereotyping whole groups as criminals
• Left realism - policing and control?

  • Current police clear-up rates are too low to act as a deterrent
  • Police are losing public support so they don't get information
  • Rely on military policing which further alienates local communities
• Left realism - solutions to policing and control?

  • Police must be made accountable to local communities and deal with local concerns
  • Improve relationships with local communities by spending more time investigating crime and changing their priorities
  • Involve the public more in making policing policy
  • Multi-agency approach is needed: councils, social services housing departments, schools, leisure services
• When has left realism influenced government policy?

  • New Labour - tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime
  • Firmer approach to policing hate crime, sexual assaults, domestic violence, anti-social behaviour and supporting left realist emphasis on protecting vulnerable groups
• Critiques of left realism?

  • Relative deprivation / marginalisation cannot explain motive behind offenders actions (white collar and corporate crime)
  • Not all in relative deprivation turn to crime