Right Realism and Crime

• Right Realism 


  -Sees crime especially street crime as a growing problem that undermines communities and social cohesion and threatens society's work ethic.And focus on finding a practical method of controlling crime through punishment.
• Causes of Crime


  Crime is the product of three factors:

  -Biological differences

  -Inadequete Socialisation

  -Idividualas Rational Choice to offend
• Biological Differences 


  -Wilson and Bernstein

  -put forward a biosocial theory of criminal behaviour that crime is caused by a combination of biological and social factors.

  -Biological differences make some individuals innately more predisposed to committing a crime than others.

  Personality traits: aggressiveness, extroversion, risk-taking and low impulse control.
• Biological differences-Hernstein and Murray

  -Argue that the main cause of crime is low intelligence, which they also see as biologically determined.
• Socialisation


  Learning self-control and internalising moral values (right and wrong)
• Effective socialisation


  • Decreases the risk of crime
  • The nuclear family is the best structure for this
• Underclass


  Growing and being supported by the Welfare benefit system
• Underclass being supported by Welfare


  Further incentivising lone-parent families
• Lone-parent families headed by a single mother

  • Lack of parental discipline
  • Lack of positive male role models due to ineffective socialisation
• Lack of parental discipline and positive male role models


  Young boys turn to delinquent male role models on the street
• Delinquent male role models on the street


  Their status is gained through crime instead of supporting their families and having a stable job
• Rational Choice theory 


  -Assumes that individuals have free will and the power to reason

  -Clarke argued that the decision to commit a crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the likely consequences.

  • If the perceived rewards of crime outweigh the perceived costs or if the rewards of the crime appear to be greater than those of non-criminal behaviour then people will be likely to offend.
  • Right REalisrs argue that presently the perceived costs of crime are low and this is why the crime rate has increased.
• Tackling Crime


  -Seek practical Measures to make crime less attractive.

  -The main focus is on control, containment and punishment

  -Crime prevention therefore should reduce the rewards and increase the costs of crime to the offender(target hardening)
• Zero Tolerance 


  -Willson and Kellings

  -Broken Windows article

  -it is essential to maintain the order and the character of neighbourhoods to prevent crime from taking hold.Any sign of deterioration such as graffiti or vandalism, must be dealt with immediately.
• Evaluation of Zero Tolerance

  -It is preoccupied with petty street crime and ignores corporate crime, which is more costly and harmful.

  -It gives the police free rein to discriminate against minorities, youths, the homeless and others.

  -It over emphasises control of disorder, rather than tackling the cause of neighbourhood decline such as lack of investment.