Right-realism

• Right Realism


  A criminological theory that believes crime is a growing social problem and identifies four key reasons for this
• Charles Murray


  • A leading right realist who believes that everyone is tempted to commit crime but it is the amount of social bonds that prevent us from doing so
• Reasons for crime identified by right realists


  • Cultural
  • Biological
  • Rational choice
  • Weakening of the nuclear family
• Cultural


  People with certain physical characteristics (e.g. low self-control, aggression, low intelligence) are more likely to commit crime
• Biological


  Right realists believe these people are biologically predisposed to commit crime
• Rational choice


  Individuals have free will and some people commit crime as a deliberate and rational decision, weighing up the pros and cons
• Weakening of the nuclear family


  The breakdown of the traditional family structure, with more single parent families, leads boys to turn to crime to gain status and prove their manhood
• Inadequate social control


  A breakdown in social order and a weakening of social constraints on behaviour (other than poverty etc) causes people to commit crime
• Broken windows theory suggests that as more crime is committed, society deteriorates, leading to more crime