Left Realism

• LR real victims

  Lea and Young

  • the real victims of crime aren't the rich - crime is a problem for the disadvantaged
  • unskilled workers are twice as likely to be burgled - thus its low income groups that are the real victims
• LR relative deprivation

  Lea and Young

  refers to how deprived someone feels in relation to others - leads to crime in order to gain what they feel entitled to

  the rate of criminality is highest in lower classes - believe deprivation is the direct clause - pressure to be economically successful

  argue media and social media rise expectation of those who can't afford material goods
• LR marginalisation

  Lea and Young

  refers to individuals who live on margins of society and cannot take part in society

  marginal groups are those which lack organisation to represent their interest in politics

  argue marginal groups are prone to violence as a form of political protest

  often powerful institutions such as gov and media that creates marginalisation and this leads to feeling left out
• LR problem with police

  • believe police clear up rates are too low to act as a deterrent to crime
  • police depend on public to provide them with info but the police are losing support
  • police tend to use conflict methods such as SAS - this antagonises the community
• LR suggestion to fix police

  • minimal poling should be used
  • public would have power to shape policing through democratically elected bodies
  • stop and search should be abandoned
• LR new labour

  • dealt with social inequality by a firmer approach to hate crime etc
  • New deal for unemployed youth attempts to reduce exclusion of young people at a greater risk of offending
• LR criticism of new labour

  • not in favour of New deal as it did not secure permanent jobs
  • generally new labour missed the point and merely addressed the symptoms of crime rather than tackling underlying causes
• Pros of LR

  • adopts a holistic approach to looking at crime
  • builds on the work of other before them
  • work influential in forming criminal justice policies - suggesting to tackle cause of crime rather than simply punishing those who commit crime
• Criticism of LR

  • ignores the crime of the upper class
  • uses quantitative methods - criticised by interactionists as how can it explore motive
  • not all those who are relatively deprived turn to crime