CRIME

DEVIANCE&

LEFT REALIST

Lea and Young

• In 1983, the first year of the British Crime Survey, the UK government declared it was irrational to fear crime: the public concern was the product of media sensationalism.

Lea and Young

• Lea and Young refuted this idea claiming that working class, black people and the elderly have a realistic fear of street crime as they were often the victims of such crime.

Lea and Young

• They performed a victim survey in Islington that revealed that the working class residents were thoroughly rational to fear crime.

• Lea and Young are also critical of some Marxist attempts to politicize black working class crime.

• They suggest for many black communities, crime is an unpleasant and harsh day to day reality.

Why do these groups commit crime?

1. Relative deprivation - W/C feel deprived compared to M/C and black youths feel deprived compared to white youths leading to crime.

2. Marginalization – people feel on the outside with no power to change their situation.

3. Subculture – people experiencing the above points may form deviant subcultures.

Solutions to Crime

• Improve policing and control and gain confidence of the local communities

• Deal with the deeper structural causes of crime by reducing inequality by creating jobs and improving housing.

Evaluation• Lea and Young have highlighted the effects of

crime on victims and the underlying causes of crime

However,• There is little empirical evidence to support the

view that young criminals interpret their realities in the way that Lea and Young describe

• Focuses on street crime and ignores white collar crime

RIGHT REALIST

The New Right

• Charles Murray identifies what he terms as the underclass which subscribes to deviant and criminal values rather than mainstream. He lays the fault at single mothers.

• David Marsland argues that the Welfare State is responsible for the emergence of the underclass

The New Right

• Clarke (1980) put forward a rational choice theory where the decision to commit crime is based on a rational calculation of the consequences. Right realists argue that the perceived costs of crime are low and this has increased the crime rate.

Control Theories

• Travis Hirschi argues that most people do not commit crimes as they have four controls in their lives:

1.Attachment – family and relationships2.Commitment – people may lose a great deal3.Involvement – people are engaged in

communities and respect would be lost4.Belief – people have been brought up to respect

rules, beliefs and others.

Criticisms

• Rex, Tomlinson reject the idea of an underclass and claim it is not a voluntary situation. The ‘underclass’ have the same aspirations as rest of population.

• It is doubtful that crime is underpinned by rationality

• Class inequalities in victimization leads to paranoia and gated communities as the rich try to separate themselves from the poor