Realist theories of crime

What do right realists believe are the causes of crime

1. Biological differences (like personality)

2. Inadequate socialisation

3. An individuals choice to offend

Criticisms of right realists explanations of crime

Ignores structural causes like poverty

Overstates offenders rationality

Contradiction - biological factors but its their choice?

Right realists solution to tackling crime

• zero tolerance

• Surveillance

Criticisms of zero tolerance

• preoccupied with street crime, ignores corporate crimes

• Gives police too much power to discriminate

What do left realists believe are the causes of crime

1. Relative deprivation

2. Subculture

3. Marginalisation (treating groups / people as insignicant)

Left realists solution to tackling crime

• improve policing and control

• Fix structural causes of crime

What is military policing and why have police started using this method more

Because police get 90% of their info from the public, but they are losing public support, so they do military policing - such as swamping areas and doing random stop and searches. But this alienates communities so they stop trusting police, and the cycle repeats.

Criticisms of left realism

• Not everyone who experiences relative deprivation commits crimes

• They rely on quantitive data from victim surveys, so they can’t explain the offenders motives

Comparing left and right realism

Different sides of the political spectrum, but both believe crime to be a serious issue. Left blames structural inequalities and right blames lack of self control