WJEC A 2 Unit 4 Crime and Deviance

WJEC A 2 Unit 4, Crime and Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology

WJEC QUIZ Write a brief description of a crime n Swap with a partner and say how best to deal with/punish that particular crime. n Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 2

Objectives of Chapter 6 n n n That the Right Realism developed out of a failure of sociology to explain and solve the problem of crime. That Right Realism sees crime as stemming from the greedy nature of people, poor socialisation and too easy opportunities. That Wilson 's 'broken window thesis' argues that minor incivilities, if unchecked, quickly lead to more serious crime. That Lea and Young developed Left Realism as a response to Right Realism and the neo-Marxist ideas of Radical Criminology. That Left Realism takes the view that crime is a real problem, especially to the poor and derived, minority ethnic groups and inner-city residents. That Left Realism explains crime in terms of subculture, relative deprivation and marginalisation. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 3

Right Realism originated in the 1970 s particularly by James Q. Wilson (1975, pictured left) and Ernst van den Haag (1975). It developed as a critique of sociological theory which had failed to solve the problem of crime. The basis of Right Realism is a negative view of human nature (that people are naturally selfish and greedy). This aspect of human nature therefore needs to be subject to social controls and socialised into appropriate behaviour. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 4

Rational Choice Theory For Right Realists the solution to crime lies with Rational Choice Theory which has a lot in common with the 18 th. C philosophy concept of utilitarianism associated with Jeremy Bentham (left). Rational Choice Theory was developed by Clarke and Coleman (1980) and argues criminals will engage in crime if the benefits outweigh the costs. The solution is simple: increase the costs of crime (likelihood of being caught and tougher punishments). Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 5

Anti-Sociological Criminology Right Realists particularly oppose any connection Sociologists have made between crime and poverty. They point out that with increased affluence, crime rates have soared. Extending the Welfare State, lack of discipline in education and decline of the traditional family are seen as key factors behind crime increase. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 6

Selfish Human Nature Rising crime levels reflects ineffective and inadequate social control. Permissive attitudes allow selfindulgent and anti-social behaviour. Feckless parenting, absent fathers, lack of discipline in schools, liberal policies of the state have all served to ferment crime. Thursday, March 11, 2021 The result has been spiralling volumes of incivilities: muggings, graffiti, vandalism, car break-ins and theft, assaults, etc. as well as burglaries and robberies. Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 7

Inadequate and Inappropriate Socialisation Right Realists blame crime on inadequate or inappropriate socialisation by key socialisation agencies in society. The non-traditional family, especially single mothers, is viewed as a major factor. Lack of discipline in schools, a mass media that glamorises deviance and crime and the decline in the influence of religious values are other important contributory factors. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 8

Charles Murray New Right theorist Charles Murray (1990, pictured left) argues the underclass are particularly insufficiently integrated into society’s norms and values. He views the underclass as prone to: criminal tendencies, violence, illegitimacy and promiscuity, educational failure and welfare dependency. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 9

Pair up and take turns to ask these questions Explain to me what Right realists think about human nature. n Can you explain what Rational Choice theory entails? n Why is Right realism ‘anti-sociological’ n Tell me some of the things that Right realism blames for increases in crime. n Use the traffic lights to assess their answers. n Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 10

Right Realist Solutions to Crime Reduce opportunities for offending. Increasing the costs to exceed the benefits. Crime control should also fall upon members of the community. Responsible parenting and 'active citizens' who challenge anti-social behaviour. Tough punishment: heavy fines, sentences and advocation of corporal (physical) and capital (death sentence) punishment. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 11

James Q. Wilson and ‘Broken Window Thesis James Q Wilson argues that unless ‘incivilities’ (litter, graffiti, noise levels, vandalism, etc. ) are kept minimal, then wider anti-social behaviour and more serious crimes will follow. He advocates that the police adopt a policy of ‘zero-tolerance’ for even minor crimes (as tried by the Mayor of New York). This reflects Emile Durkheim’s idea that local informal controls are crucial for law and order and A. H. Bottoms’ concept of the ‘tipping’ of problem housing estates. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 12

James Q. Wilson (continued) Wilson argues there are three key factors affecting longterm crime: Number of Young males (typical deviants) Costs/benefits of crime: Rational Choice Theory Inadequate socialisation into norms/values To deal with this he advocates target hardening of deviant groups and areas through pro-active policing. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 13

Ernst van den Haag (1975) Van den Haag (1975, pictured left) adopts a very poor view of humanity as willing to cheat to ‘get on’ and therefore some groups need to be controlled for their own good and that of society. Like Durkheim, he sees punishment as functional, acting as a deterrent. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Therefore, he argues, it is reasonable for law and order agencies to target the poor! He advocates a tough penal system of punishment: corporal and capital. Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 14

Critique of Right Realism It is influential on Government policy in both the USA and UK. For example 'zero tolerance' has been successfully adopted as a policy in New York. Some argue it is a lack of investment in deprived areas rather than incivilities that cause crime to rise. It is easy to pick on scapegoats like single parent families. Marxists argue that concentration on minor offences means that more serious crime gets ignored by the authorities. Another argument is that where zero tolerance is introduced, this simply shifts crime to other areas. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 15

Key word check Rational Choice theory n Broken windows thesis n Target Hardening n Zero tolerance n Tipping n Pro-active policing n Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 16

Introduction to Left Realism Lea and Young (1984, pictured left) developed Left Realism (with Matthews and Kinsey) partly as a response to Right Realism. And partly in response to neo-Marxist Radical Criminology which Young himself was part of and wanted to distance himself from: subsequently calling it “Left Idealism”. Left Realism sees crime as a real problem for ordinary people and explains it through analysis social and economic relationships, and how some groups become marginalised. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 17

Crime is a Real Phenomenon Left Realism argues the rising crime rate cannot solely be explained by the 'unreliability of official crime statistics’. So, unusually for Sociologists, they are less critical of crime statistics than most, and argue they do reflect typical criminals: young, male, working-class and disproportionately black. They focus on victims as well as offenders, recognising crime is concentrated in the inner-city and sink housing estates. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 18

Ethnicity and Crime Lea and Young tackle Black criminality head on: accepting there has been a real increase in crimes committed by young Blacks. . They accept there exists institutional racism, and a racist 'canteen culture‘ amongst the police. But black criminality also stems from racial discrimination, material deprivation, low wages and unemployment. They see Black youth having particularly high aspirations, but often not able to legitimately achieve these aspirations. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 19

Exam Evaluation Point Compare this aspiration to material goods and styles of life with the ‘Strain theory' (anomic paradigm) of Robert Merton, or the response of the illegitimate career structure to ‘blocked opportunities‘ of Cloward and Ohlin. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 20

Left Realist Origins of Crime Left Realism sees the origins of crime as three fold: Relative deprivation Marginalisation Subculture This explains why young Black working-class males are particularly associated with criminal activity: see next 3 slides. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 21

1. Subcultures Lea and Young argue the subculture of young Blacks is distinctly different from their parents who largely accepted their marginalised position in society. Black youth subculture has high material expectations and aspirations: money and status symbols like flash cars, etc. So because Black youth is so closely enmeshed in values of consumption, style and wealth, this is precisely why they engage in crime – because of blocked opportunities. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 22

Exam Evaluation Point Note the overlap here with the work about young black males by Ralf Nightingale (Philadelphia) and Philip Bourgois (New York). All their work links back to the ideas of Robert Merton and his ‘strain theory‘ (sharing society’s goals but not having means to achieve them). At the same time there may be an element of a marginalised group socialised into its own distinct subcultural set of values: compare to Walter B. Miller's 'focal concerns'. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 23

2. Relative Deprivation Lea and Young argue that frustrated from this disparity between expectations and the reality of lifestyle leads to feelings of relative deprivation. They argue the reality for many young Black males is a choice of unemployment, training schemes or ‘white man’s shit work’ (Stuart Hall). They feel unfairly denied the ‘glittering prizes’ offered to others. This can develop into strategies which can involve deviant and criminal behaviour. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 24

3. Marginalisation Lea and Young argue that marginalisation means the process by which certain groups find themselves on the edge of society. White and Black working-class youth often feel alienated by schools, unemployment, low-wages, the police, etc. Young Black males face marginalisation through prejudice and harassment e. g. , 'military policing‘ (stop and search). They argue this may be the ‘straw that breaks the camel's back’: economic marginalisation is transferred into crime. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 25

Left Realist’s Square of Crime Left Realism takes us beyond the offender and shows concern for victim patterns and formal and informal factors. They argue that crime can only be understood in terms of the interrelationships between these four elements. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 26

Jock Young, Social Change and Crime Jock Young (1997) also has a generic Greater uncertainty and instability in most aspects of life. theory to explain the recent growth in crime. He argues that late modernity is making crime worse in a number of ways: People’s desire for Immediate and personal pleasure. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology Less consensus about moral values A breakdown of informal social controls 27

Can you ? Explain the meaning of relative deprivation? n Explain why marginalisation causes crime? n Give the four aspects of the ‘square of crime’? n Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 28

Left Realism: The Policing Problem Kinsey, Lea and Young (1984) identify a number of problems with contemporary policing. The police too often resort to 'military policing' as a method of solving crime through 'stop and search' policies. This alienates the community from them, recently the Muslim community. They argue that to improve this relationship the public should have more say in shaping police policy. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 29

Left realists Police shouldn’t stop and search n Should focus on racial attacks , corporate crime and domestic abuse n UK has started this sort of thing e. g. neighbourhood policing n TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF CRIME

Left realists Labour have been influenced by the Left realists n Tony Blair’s slogan ‘ tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ comes from Left realist thinking n TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF CRIME

Feminist Solutions Changes in policy n Safer streets n Encouragement for women to speak out n Rape and domestic abuse crisis centres n Better police training n Legislation to protect women at work. n TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF CRIME

Key word check Relative deprivation n Marginalisation n Military policing n Stop and search n Square of crime n Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 33

Critique of Left Realism It only focuses on managing capitalism Its focus on victims as well as offenders is good, adding another dimension to our understanding of crime. However, Relative deprivation or marginalisation cannot explain the motive behind offender’s actions (e. g. white-collar or corporate crime) Equally not all people in relative deprivation turn to crime. It assumes that when society’s values break down crime become more likely – a return to anomie theory and a view not too distant from Right Realism? Thursday, March 11, 2021 Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 34

Objectives for today n n n Work in groups ( either Left or Right Realists) Prepare a poster outlining the perspective including their proposed solutions to crime, key ideas and main researchers. Prepare 3 questions for the opposing team which requires them to answer to criticisms Prepare responses to the criticisms of your own perspective. Present your poster and findings to the class and respond to questions from the other team. 35

Critically assess realist theories of crime and deviance (40) A 01/2 AO 3 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Intro – explain where realism came from. Outline Right realism causes of crime names Outline Right realist solutions to crime names Outline Left realism causes of crime – names Outline Left realist solutions – names Conclusion – which is best? Are they really that different? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Both right and left realism have been influential in policy making e. g Tony Blair’s speech. 2 Criticisms of Right realism and 1 other perspective it supports/conflicts with 2 Criticisms of the solutions using contemporary examples and 1 other perspectives e. g Marxist. 2 Criticisms of Left realism and a 1 perspective which support/conflict. 2 Criticisms of Left realist solutions using contemporary examples and 1 other perspective which supports/conflicts. Deviance Chapter 7: Realist Criminology 36