Crime : RR Understanding and Tackling Crime

• New Right Realism policy on crime, law and order is tough, relating to concepts of freedom, justice and responsibility, and so they advocate strong and public punishments - hence the notion of zero tolerance.
• The New Right Realists believe that state must tackle crime by making the costs to the criminal outweigh the benefits rather than tackle the causes of crime.
• Two measures to increase the costs of crime are:

  • Target hardening - making it harder to commit crimes
  • Surveillance - making it more likely that criminals will get caught
• Whitelaw advocated the short, sharp, shock treatment for young offenders by placing them in youth centres run on army lines; money was therefore poured into discovering social security fraud whilst at the same time cutting expenditure on tax fraud. Sentences were lengthened, parole was made more difficult to obtain and there was a massive programme of prison building. The law is essentially seen as a back up to social control via the community e.g. 'Neighbourhood Watch'.