Right wing social policy

• ‘Wayward Puritans’ - Erikson (1966)


  “public degradation ceremonies”, eg. cancel culture

  social confrontations of those who transgress community boundaries
• Foucault (1977)


  surveillance is likely to become the most effecting means of regulating behaviour and reducing crime in society
• right wing view on crime

  1. rational choice theory - criminals outweigh potential rewards against the risks, increasing risks can deter crime
  2. broken window theory - maintaining order by addressing minor crime can prevent serious crime
  3. criticism of welfare - generous welfare systems create a dependency culture
• Chambliss (1975)

  • CJS as a tool of control, the legal system criminalises the lower class and overlooks crimes of the powerful
  • crime as resistance to exploitation by the ruling class
  • the police target the marginalised who are unable to resist
  • distraction from exploitation, crime among the lower classes diverts attention from the exploitation they face
• Right Realists

  argue that most low-level crime is not planned
• Clarke (1980) - Situational Crime Prevention (SCP)

  • an anti-crime social policy
  • measures aimed at reducing the routine opportunities for crime
  • focus on increasing the costs or risks of crime so that the opportunities for crime and its benefits are reduced
  • reflects that individuals should take more responsibility for their own safety and welfare
  • women should carry rape alarms and avoid particular neighbourhoods
• Right Realists

  • target hardening will increase the effort a burglar needs to make to commit a crime and increase their risk of being caught and punished
  • encourages CCTV
• Cons of SCP

  • over-focus on street crime, ignoring state crimes which are more costly and harmful
  • violent crimes are motivated by alcohol and drugs rather than rational thinking about the costs and benefits of crime
  • ignores the root causes of crime, eg. poverty
  • surveillance invaded privacy
  • Armstrong (1999) - suggests that camera operators are guilty of sexually profiling and stereotyping young men during surveillance
  • offensive attitudes towards rape, implying it is invited
  • SCP strategies can displace crime rather than reduce it
  • burglars who are deterred by security of middle-class homes will instead burgle the homes of people who cannot afford security