Realist criminology

• Wilson (1975) - Rational choice theory *

  decisions based on a rational calculation of costs and benefits.

  • in drug cartels, individuals engage in illegal activity because the benefits outweigh the risks (money over arrests)
• Taylor et al (1973) - The new criminology

  • crime often has a political motive
  • criminals are not passive puppets whose behaviour is shaped by capitalism
  • argue that criminologists should consider both the immediate and wider political reasons for crime, as well as social reactions
• strengths of the new criminology

  • the effects of labelling, Young (1971) - once labelled deviant, they internalise that label, leading to further deviance
  • Cohen (1966) - delinquent boys, gang culture due to the struggle to meet middle class standards
  • Merton (1938) - the 'typical criminal', influenced by peer group
  • the act itself, Becker (1966) - deviance as a social construction
• weaknesses of the new criminology

  • political activism - law makers focus more on punishment than retribution
  • the wider origins of social reaction, Becker (1966) - what is considered deviant varies across cultures
• criminology

  • moral panic caused by the media
  • criminal behaviour adopted as an identity
• Lea and Young (Left Realists)

  some youths feel deprived compared to their middle-class peers because social factors (eg. poverty) mean that they experience obstacles in gaining access to opportunities
• Evaluation of left realists

  • it fails to account for opportunists crime committed by adults
  • it is undermined by its failure to provide evidence about the motives of criminals
• Wilson - Right Realism (age)

  3 factors explaining crime rates:

  1. young people commit most crimes because they are temperamentally immature and aggressive, they have little to lose by commuting crime due to weak social bonds
  2. potential criminals weigh up the benefits of crime against its cost, policing is poor thus the benefits of crime outweigh the costs
  3. a decline in community spirit may mean that deviance goes unchallenged