Left realism

• What are left realists?

  Socialists - support labour, collectivists, help the poor.
• What do left realists think about crime?

  see inequality in capitalist society are the root to crime

  main victims are disadvantageous groups - working class minorities, women

  propose to reduce crime by making society more fair
• What do Left Realists say are the cause of crime?

  Relative deprivation

  Subculture

  Marginalisation
• How is relative deprivation a cause of crime?

  How deprived or how badly off people feel to others and 2 things are increasing this

  1. media- produces messages urging everyone to poses high end material - BMW
  2. society is more unequal due to cuts in benefits, unemployment, low pay

  People know they will never be able to achieve high goods and will not receive rewards so resort to utilitarian crimes to afford it

  Also relative deprivation can act downwards - where well off people get jealous of the poor - hate crimes
• How is marginalisation a cause of crime?


  they lack organisations to represent their interests and lack clearly defined goals

  • unemployed youths

  workers have better wages and trade unions to give voice to their grievances

  • jobless youths have nothing

  1. have a sense of powerlessness, frustration + resentment of justice
  2. so express through crime as violence + rioting
• How is subculture a cause of crime?


  Groups way of solving the problem of relative deprivation

  Criminal subcultures share societies materialistic goals but because legitimate opportunities are blocked they resort to crime

  Inner city youths may be denied access to well paid jobs due to discrimination or poor education so resort to crime to access goods they desire

  Some cultures turn to religion to find comfort + explanation of their deprivation (gods will)

  • encourage conformity rather than criminality
• What are some strengths of Left Realism?

  Draws attention to the importance of poverty, inequality + relative deprivation as the underlying structural cause of crime

  Draws attention to the reality of street crime and its effects especially on victims from deprived groups
• What are some limitations of Left Realism?

  Over predicts amount of working class crime

  • not everyone who experiences relative deprivation + marginalisation turns to crime

  Focuses on high crime inner city areas which gives an unrepresentative view and makes crime appear a greater problem than it is.