right realism

• right realism


  • views similar to conservative, Neo functionalist or new right perspectives
  • see crime, such as street crime as a growing issue by young people
  • Right realists criticise other theories for failing to offer any practical solutions to the problem of rising crime.
  • regard labelling and critical criminology (Taylor et al) as too sympathetic towards the criminal
  • less concerned to find causes of crime but to provide realistic solutions to stop it
• Clarke - rational choice theory

  • the decision to commit crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the consequences.
  • If benefits appear higher = more likely to offend
• herrnstein and wilson - biological differences

  • believe biological factors make some individuals more susceptible to crime
  • traits such as aggression, low impulse signify people who have a greater risk of offending
  • link to Eysenck psychological theories
  • main cause of crime is low intelligence, which they also see as biologically determined.
  • personality traits: extraversion, neurotic, psychotic
• Charles Murray


  • inadequate socialisation and the underclass
  • argue that welfare policies have undermined the nuclear -families and given an abundance of incentives for people to start single parent families
  • welfare state leads to dependancy culture e.g child benefits, generous maternity and paternity leave (new labour policy)
  • underclass of people live off benefits
  • also argues teen girls see pregnancy as a route to financial support
• zero tolerance policing


  • right realist solution
  • police patrol streets where there are high levels of crime
  • take a 'short, sharp, shock' approach
  • e.g stop and search, surveillance
  • stopping undesirable behaviour e.g prostitution, begging
• wilson and kelling - broken windows theory

  • Maintain orderly perception of neighbourhoods to prevent crimes.
  • If an area looks attractive and stable then people are less likely to start problems there.
  • Any sign of deterioration should be dealt with immediately
• target hardening


  • practical measures used to limit a criminal's ability to commit crime, such as community policing and use of house alarms
  • e.g locking door, creating passcodes, setting alarms, cctv
  • aims to give confidence back to the community, gov can leave responsibility of managing crime to the community and private agencies
  • links to C.ray Jeffrey CPTED approach - crime prevention through environmental design
• 3 strike and your out

  • policy in USA
  • Wilson was special adviser to President Reagan, influenced zero tolerance policies
  • all 3 strikes have to be violent crimes (except for California where the third strike could be any type of crime)
  • law led to overcrowding in prisons
  • led to people being sentenced for life even though their third crime were minor, but due to their previous crimes being violent it led to longer sentences
• causes of crime

  • biological differences
  • socialisation / cultural deprivation
  • rational choice theory
• right realist solutions

  • target hardening
  • zero tolerance policing
• Murray - underclass

  • claims that the crime rate is increasing because of a growing underclass who fail to socialise their children properly.
  • welfare dependency
  • perverse incentives in the welfare system that could encourage lone parenthood and discourage work.
  • absent fathers mean boys lack paternal figure for discipline - turn to delinquency
• felson - routine activity theory

  • argues for crime to occur, there must be a motivated offender, a suitable target and the absence of a guardian (police)
  • as offenders act rationally, presence of police will most likely deter them
• wilson - rational choice

  • ‘If the supply and value of legitimate opportunities (i.e. jobs) was declining at the same time that the cost of illegitimate opportunities (i.e. fines and jail terms) was also declining, a rational teenager might well conclude that it made more sense to steal cars than to wash them.’
• criticisms of right realism

  • ignores wider structural causes e.g poverty
  • doesntly explain impulsive or violent crime - not all offenders act rationally
  • doesn't look a root cause of crime
• NYPD zero tolerance policing

  • first introduced in New York in 1994 and was widely applauded for reducing crime.
  • the city was in the grip of a crack-cocaine epidemic and suffered high levels of antisocial and violent crime. 
  • Within a few years of Zero Tolerance, however, crime had dropped from between 30 – 50%.
• young - myth of zero tolerance

  • argues that its ‘success’ (of NYPD zero tolerance policing) was a myth peddled by politicians and police keen to take the credit for falling crime.
  • the crime rate in New York had already been falling since 1985 – nine years before zero tolerance 
  • claim that they only started arrested people with minor deviancy to make it look like crime rates had decreased