Realism

Question 1

Crime is not just a construction

Answer 1

• significant rise in the crime rates
• concerned about the widespread fear of crime and the impact of crime on its victims
• other theories have failed to offer realistic solutions to the problem of crime and they propose what they regard as practical policies to reduce it

Question 2

Differences between realism and previous theories

Answer 2

• they abandon ‘grand theories’ such as Marxism. They are not interested in ‘deep structure causes’ such as capitalism as criminologists can’t get rid of capitalism
• they are more ‘pragmatic’ they as how governments can reduce crime here and now, and work within the constraints of the social system
• you need to know about two types - right and left realism

Question 3

History of realism

Answer 3

• emerged in 70s and 80s - shifting politics to the right - new right governments in the uk and USA
• stripping back of welfare state and ‘get tough’ stance on crime
• right realists = share new right/Neo conservative political outlook and support the politics above
• left realist = socialists and favour different approaches/polices for reducing crime

Question 4

Right realism

Answer 4

• crime threatens society’s work ethic and undermines social cohesion
• James Q Wilson - main right realist think it was special advisor for crime
• criminologists had produced many theories of crime but no workable solutions in curbing the rising crime rate
• practical crime control measures were needed
• more focus on control and punishment rather than rehabilitation or tackling the cause of crime
• labelling and critical criminology = too sympathetic to the criminal
• right realist do make some suggestions about what caused crime although their focus is on how to tackle crime

Question 5

Rational choice theory

Answer 5

• an important element in the right realist theory of crime is the idea that crime is a matter of individual choice - individuals choose to commit crime
• states that most criminals are rational actors. If the criminals calculates that the risk of getting caught is low, that the punishment is caught will not be severe, then they are more likely to commit crime, assuming the reward for doing that crime is high enough. They are rational in that they weigh up the cost and be first in order to assess whether a cri,e is worth committing
  Crime will increase if:
• if crime brings higher rewards relative to working within the rules of society rewards could be a material
• there is no risk of getting caught committing a crime
• there is no punishment for crime

Question 6

Rational choice theory - ‘routine activities theory’

Answer 6

Cohen and felson - ‘routine activities theory’ - argued that in most circumstances social control mechanisms, lack of opportunity and/or the risk of getting caught prevented crime from taking place. Crime therefore needed three conditions to take place:
1. Individuals who were motivated to offend
2. The availability of opportunity and targets
3. The lack of capable guardians such as parents or police who might prevent crime occurring

Most crime in their view was opportunistic, rather than planned in advance. Therefore, if individuals motivated to commit crimes encounter east opportunities to commit them in the routine activities of their daily lives then crime was more likely to occur

Question 7

Evaluation of rational choice theory

Answer 7

• it seems to explain most property crime (which is 80% of crime)
• it holds criminals responsible for their actions (unlike labelling theory)
• it does nit explain crime of emotion or crimes of passion or such crimes that are a ‘spur’ of the moment
• status may sometimes come from the fact that your are prepared to take the risk getting caught

Question 8

Broken windows theory

Answer 8

• based on James Q Wilson and George killings article ‘broken windows’ - described as perhaps the most influential single article on crime prevention ever written
• use of the phrase ‘broken windows’ to stand for all the various signs of disorder and lack of concern for others that are found in some neighbourhoods. This includes noise, graffiti, begging, dog fouling, littering and vandalism etc. they argue that leaving broken windows uk repaired, tolerating aggressive behaviour
• there is an absence of both formal social control concerned with serious crime and turn a blind eye to petty nuisance behaviour, while members of the community feel intimidated and powerless.
• without remedical action, the situation deteriorates, tipping the neighbourhood into a spiral of decline. Respectable people move out (if they can) and the area becomes a magnets for deviants

Question 9

Evaluation of broken windows theory

Answer 9

• supporting - CSEW stats suggest higher levels of crime in poorer areas
• this is mixed evidence of whether high levels of social disorder lead to higher levels of criminality
• the concepts of both social disorder and crime are hard to operationalise (define and measure)

Question 10

The underclass

Answer 10

• Charles Murray argued that changes to family structure was responsible for much of the increase in the crime rate in the 1970s and 80s - he largely attributes the growth of crime because of a growing underclass or ‘new rabble’ who are defined by their deviant behaviour and fail to socialise their children properly. The children of the underclass fail to learn self control and also fail to learn the difference between right and wrong

Question 11

Why has the underclass increased?

Answer 11

• increasing welfare dependency
• decline of marriage and the growth of lone parent families
  According to Murray, lone mothers are ineffective agents of socialisation especially for boys. Absent fathers mean that boys lack parental discipline and appropriate male role models. As a result young males lead to other delinquent role models on the street to gain status through crime rather than supporting their families through a steady job.
• in reading crime is effector a result of children growing up surrounded by delinquent, deviant criminal adults which creates a criminogenic environment
• for Murray, the underclass is not only a source of crime - its existence threatens societies cohesions by undermining the values of hard work and personal responsibility

Question 12

Evaluation of the underclass

Answer 12

• from a Marxist point of view, there may be a deeper structural caused which explain the emergence of the underclass
• there is an ideological bias to the theory - the media exaggerate the crimes of the underclass and the public focus on the reckless underclass and fail to notice the crimes of the elite

Question 13

How should we control crime?

Answer 13

1. Situational crime prevention
2. Zero tolerance policing

Question 14

Situational crime prevention

Answer 14

• focus on the specific point at which potential victims and criminals come together, making it harder for the criminal to commit crime. The set, directly from rational choice theory and involve either reducing the opportunity for people to commit crime or increasing the risk of getting caught when committing a crime
  There are 2 ways you can do this:
  1. Increasing surveillance of the population (monitoring their behaviour and making them aware of the fact they are being monitored)
  2. Target Hardening (making buildings, objects and people harder to kidnap or damage

Question 15

Marcus felson - situational crime prevention

Answer 15

• gives an example of situational crime prevention strategy. The bus terminal in New York was poorly designed and provided opportunity for crimes. Reshaping the physical environment to ‘design out’ crime led to a large reduction of crime.
• another example is where situational crime prevention has been successful is around suicide prevention

Question 16

Strengths of situational crime prevention -

Answer 16

• relatively easy to implement (pragmatic)
• there is evidence this works to reduce crime in built up urban areas
• makes the public feel safer

Question 17

Weaknesses of situational crime prevention

Answer 17

• crimes displacement (just moves crime on to other areas)
• too expensive for rural areas with dispersed populations
• only those wealthy enough can afford it
• it ignores the underlying causes of crime
• surveillance intrudes on civil liberties

Question 18

Environmental crime prevention

Answer 18

• involve changing the broader area or environment in which crime occurs through increasing formal and informal social control measures in order to lamp down on anti social behaviour and prevent an are from deteriorating
• these strategies tend to rely much more heavily on the police than situational crime prevention strategies
• stem directly from Wilson and killings broken windows theory
• examples of ECP policies include zero tolerance policing, ASBOS, curfews, street drinking bans, dispersal orders and three strike rule in America