left realist theory of crime

• lea and young

  crime and the fear of crime are very real social problems that should be taken seriously and most victims are working class

  therefore, sociologists should consider solutions to all crime and not just white collar/corporate crime
• three causes of crime - lea and young

  they identify a number of causes of crime including subcultures, marginalisation and most importantly relative deprivation
• relative deprivation

  refers to inequality

  the idea that people are deprived compared to others in society
• social exclusion

  people feeling they do not have a stake in society , are on the margins and in the formation of subcultures
• creating social order - left realism

  left realists propose that social order will come from a fairer more equal society

  this requires everyone in society and partnerships to be made between agencies to reduce the problem of crime
• 3 solutions to tackling crime by left realists

  policing and control

  tackling subcultural causes

  influence on government policy
• who spoke about late modernity and bulimic society?

  Young (1999)
• late modernity and bulimic society

  argued that crime is worsened through these changes :

  growing individualism - less sense of community

  weakening of informal social control - less impact on the family, religion etc

  growing economic inequalities - greater divide of classes
• feminist criticism of left realism

  if social exclusion and marginalisation causes crime then it would be expected that women commit more crimes and yet this isn't the case

  feminists would criticise left realism for being 'malestream' and ignoring gender as a factor
• evaluation of the left realist theory

  one problem with the theory is that the proposals are idealistic rather than realistic