Crime and deviance - left realism

Lea and Young - 3 causes of crime

• Relative deprivation

• Subculture

• Marginalisation

Runciman - relative deprivation

How deprived one area feels in comparison to other areas or people’s own expectations. The growing capitalist consumer culture has resulted in increased relative deprivation. Links to anomie and strain theory.

Young - subculture

Criminal subcultures may still subscribe to the values and goals of mainstream society such as materialism and consumerism. Many deprived areas of LA have full immersion in the American Dream but no legitimate opportunity structures → turn to crime to achieve.

Young - LR and policy

Many policies are doomed attempts to recreate the Golden Age of the 1950s. ASBOs have not recreated a sense of community; they have largely just addressed the symptoms of crime rather than its underlying causes.