Left Realism

• Left realists agree with the Marxist view ti at social inequality within capitalism is the main form of crime. They argue that the main victims are often working class, ethnic minorities and women, and that the police take crimes against these g oups less seriously. They see crime rates as being highest in areas of unemployment and deprivation.
• Leading causes of crime

  • relative deprivation - the idea that people are deprived (modernly on in other ways) compared with others in society.
  • marginalisation - occurs when a person or groups of people are less able to do things or access basic services or opportunities.
  • subcultures - argue that certain groups or subcultures in society have values & attitudes that are conductive to crime and violence.
• Strain theory directly links to the three main causes of crime. It focuses on minority groups or the working class.
• Young notes that there is also 'relative deprivation downwards': people who are better off feel resentment against those who are actually worse off, who they see as scroungers.
• People feel like they deserve the same type of treatment the disabled get. ass a result they feel resentment towards them since they don’t know how to redirect emotions.
• Lea and Young found marginalised groups are ones that lack organisations to represent their interests and lack clearly defined goals. For example, unemployed youth are a highly marginalised group.
• Unlike workers, who have clear goals (e.g. better wages) and organisations to give voice to their grievances (such as trade unions), jobless youths have no clear goals or organisations to represent them, instead, they have a sense of por verlessness, frustration and resentment of injustice, which they express through crime such as violence and rioting.
• Subcultures may be a way for marginalised groups to cope with the problem of relative deprivation. Subcultures often share society's materialistic goals but lack the means to achieve them. For example, inner city youths may find that they are denied well paid jobs because of discrimination or the poor quality of education they have received. Crime then becomes the most feasible means of achieving the materialistic goals.
• Left realists favour police reform to create a more consensual force that would better represent the population it polices. If there were genuine consensus policing and the public had more confidence in the police, they would report more crimes. The public would work with the police rather than feel threatened by them and ultimately this would improve the policing for communities and reduce crime.