Left Realism

Cost and Option

Realism View on Crime & Deviance (C&D)

  • Jock Young: Agrees with Right Realism (RR), arguing that crime is seriously rising.
  • Wulss: Argues that the left needs to respond to the growing influence of right-wing sentiments in the public.
  • Left Realists see society as unequal under capitalism but advocate reform rather than revolution.
  • They prefer gradual change rather than a violent overthrow of the capitalist state.
  • Traditional Marxists: Focus on the crimes of the powerful. Left realists agree but argue that street crime needs to be addressed as well.
  • Neo-Marxists: Romanticize working-class criminals (e.g., Robin Hood). Left realists point out that the victims of working-class crime are also the working class.
  • Labeling Theorists: Argue that criminals are victims of labeling. Left realists argue that this doesn't focus enough on the actual victims of crime.
  • A key aspect of taking crime seriously is acknowledging that crime has increased since the 1930s.
  • Interactionists, Marxists, and Neo-Marxists seem to argue that the increase isn't real but rather that crime is being reported more (socially constructed).
  • Left realists argue that the increase is too great to be accounted for in this way.
  • Taking crime seriously involves identifying the main victims of crime, namely disadvantaged and marginalized groups.

Causes of Crime According to Left Realism

  1. Relative Deprivation:

    • Lea & Young argue that the root cause of crime is relative deprivation.
    • They define it as how deprived someone feels in relation to others or compared with their own expectations.
    • This leads to crime because people feel resentment that others unfairly have more than them and resort to crime to obtain what they feel they are entitled to.
    • Lea & Young identified that although people are better off, they are now more aware of relative deprivation due to media etc.
    • According to Lea & Young, the lethal combination is relative deprivation and individualism.
    • This causes crime by encouraging the pursuit of self-interest at the expense of others, placing the self first before collective well-being and empathy.
    • Left realists argue that an increase in individualism is causing deprivation (families and communities) by undermining mutual support and selflessness.

  2. Subculture:

    • Criminal subculture is similar to Merton, Cloward & Ohlin, and Cohen's theories.
    • Subculture is seen as a collective solution to the shared problem of relative deprivation.
    • However, different groups may produce different subcultural solutions to this problem; some can be positive.
    • Left realists argue that criminal subcultures still subscribe to the values and goals of mainstream society, such as consumerism and materialism.