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.