Right Realism

• Right realism believes the individual is responsible for crime - although they do accept that high levels of 'social disorder and low levels of 'social control' are associated with higher crime rates. Right Realism tends to argue that we need to get tough on criminals to reduce crime. Criminals are 'rational actors'.
• Zero Tolerance Policy

  • a strategy that aims to reduce minor offences and more serious crime through relentless order maintenance and aggressive law enforcement against even trivial matters.
• Crime in NYC since 1990s

  • felony arrest rates not including theft rose from 50% to 79%
  • arrests of burglars increased by 10% and burglaries rose from 2.7% to 3.2%
  • arrests of robbers increased by 10% and robberies rose from 5.7% to 5.9%
• Virtuous cycle is a chain of events in which one desirable occurrence leads to another occurrence which further promotes the first occurrence and so on resulting in a continuous process of improvement.
• What can help lower crime rates?

  • situational crime prevention
  • increases in the number of police
  • increases in the size of prison population
  • waking of the crack epidemic
  • legalisation of abortion
• Murray suggests crime is caused by three factors

  • biological differences - Some people are genetically predisposed to crime. They might make use of some of the biological / genetic theories of crime.
  • Inadequate socialisation - people fail to play their expected roles or behave strangely.
  • Rational Choice - individuals rely on rational calculations and make rational choices that result in outcomes aligned with the best for society.
• Murray argued that changes to family structure was responsible for much of the increase in the crime rate in the 1970s and 80s - he largely attributes the growth of crime because of a growing underclass or 'new rabble' who are defined by their deviant behaviour and fail to socialise their children properly. The children of the underclass fail to learn self-control and also fail to learn the difference between right and wrong.
• The underclass has increased because of increasing welfare dependency. Murray argues that increasingly generous welfare benefits since the 1960s have led to increasing numbers of people to become dependent on the state. This has led to the decline of marriage and the growth of lone parent families, because women can now live off benefits rather than having to get married to have children. This also means that men no longer have to take responsibility for supporting their families, so they no longer need to work.
• Murray said lone mothers are ineffective agents of socialisation, especially for boys. Absent fathers mean than boys lack paternal discipline and appropriate male role models. As a result, young males turn to other, delinquent role models on the street to gain status through crime rather than supporting their families through a steady job.
• Increasing crime is effectively a result of children growing up surrounded by delinquent, deviant criminal adults which creates a perfect crimogenic environment. For Murray, the underclass is not only a source of crime, its very existence threatens society's cohesion by undermining the values of hard work and personal responsibility.
• Murray blames the state for the growth of the underclass for giving extremely generous benefits.
• Broken Windows Theory

  Stands for all the various signs of disorder and lack of concern for others that are found in some neighbourhoods.

  This includes include noise, graffiti, begging, dog fouling, littering, vandalism and so on. They argue that leaving broken windows unrepaired, tolerating aggressive behaviour etc. sends out a signal that no one cares.
• Broken Windows Theory

  The police are only concerned with serious crime and turn a blind eye to petty nuisance behaviour, while members of the community feel intimidated and powerless. Without remedial action, the situation deteriorates, tipping the neighbourhood into a spiral of decline. Respectable people move out (if they can) and the area becomes a magnet for deviants.