8. Realists explanations

what is realism?

Realists believe that crime is a real problem that requires a real solution.

Right realism developed in the 1980s believe that crime is committed by rational people and is prominent among the norms and values of the underclass. Right realists, focus on how a lack of attachment to societal norms and in particular, a decline in community norms leads to crime.

Left realism reject traditional left wing Marxists views. left realists claim that Marxists are unrealistic in the way they avoid dealing with the very real problem crime poses for the working class. they say crime is the fault of society and not the individual.

Right Realist explanations

1. Wilson and Kelling - crime will flourish in areas of social disorder

   • in their book ‘broken windows’, James Wilson and George Kelling (1982) argued that crime flourishes in situations where social control breaks down.

   • the term ‘broken windows’ doesn’t just refer to broken glass but various signs of disorder and a lack of concern for others living in the community such as litter, vandalism or rowdy behaviour. they argue that leaving ‘broken windows’ unrepaired sends out a signal that no one is taking responsibility for their environment and encourages people to commit more crime.

   • the parallel that Wilson and Kelling draw is with abandoned buildings - where they ask rhetorically, whether anyone had ever seen just one broken window? the answer of course is that once one window is broken they all are. once crime is allowed to happen, it flourishes.

   • Zimbardo ‘proved’ this theory when leaving a damaged vs a non-damaged car in any area - the damaged car was always vandalised more and the normal car was left untouched.

     Criticisms of Wilson and Kelling

   • They provide an explanation as to why criminal or deviant behaviour may get worse but not why it exists in the first place. subcultural theorists such as functionalist A. Cohen and marxist Willis offer an explanation as to why people commit crime, such as adherence to a group’s deviant norms and values.

2. Clarke - Rational choice theory

   • Ron Clarke (1980) argues that the decision to commit crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the likely consequences of being caught.

   • if the rewards of the crime (money) outweigh the costs of the crime (getting caught or punished) then people will commit crime.

   • right realists argue that currently the perceived costs of crime are low and this is why the crime rate has increased.

Criticisms of Clarke

• Postmodernists such as Katz suggest that crime is about thrill, excitement and avoiding getting caught and a ‘revolt against the mundane’ and not a rational choice.

• Postmodernists argue that the thrill and draw of crime is too much for some to resist.

3. Hirschi - attachment to society

   • Travis Hirschi asks why don’t people commit crime?

   • Hirschi focuses sociologists’ attention on what forces lead to social control or hold people’s behaviour in check, rather than what propels them into crime.

   • Hirschi argued that criminal activity occurs when people’s attachment to society is weakened in some way.

   • according to Hirschi there are 4 crucial bonds to society:

     • Commitment: the personal investments that each of us make in our lives. what have we got to lose if we commit a crime?

     • Attachment: to what extent do we care about other people’s opinions and wishes?

     • Belief: how strong is a person’s sense that they should obey the rules of society? for many of us the idea of committing a crime is morally wrong and this alone is reason enough for us not to do it.

     • Involvement: how busy are we? a student or a teacher busy with hours of classes and homework has little time to get involved with crime.

Criticisms of Hirschi

• attachment can actually lead people into crime because of loyalty to their peer group or subculture, rather than preventing crime.

• Hirschi assumes a set of shared values in society, other perspectives such as Feminists would argue that values aren’t shared, but imposed be men in a patriarchal society.

4. Social Policy: Law and order needs to be stronger (Thatcher/Reagan)

   • in the 1980’s in the UK and USA, right realist ideas took hold and governments focused on law and order. They believed that crime occurred if police were not strong enough and punishment was too soft.

   • Policies reflecting this led to the most extraordinary explosion of prison numbers, the prison population in England and Wales reached a record level of 88,300 in 2024 and the UK has the highest prison population per capita in Europe.

   • however, statistics show that as police numbers rise, so do arrests, and high numbers of people in prison has no correlation to low crime rates.

Left wing views on crime

Left wing views refer to the political views of the left such as the labour party. They tend to focus on issues of power and inequality rather than blaming the criminal and deviant. They argue that people at the bottom are victims of their circumstances. Crime and deviance is the result of being unequal and therefore the fault of society not the individual. Marxism and interactionism are left wing ideas.

Left realists explanations

left realism developed in protest to right realist ideas in the 1980’s. Left realists believe that crime is the result of poor social and economic conditions and therefore choose to not blame or criminalise but help disadvantaged groups.

1) Roger Matthews and Jock Young (1992) - the square of crime.

• see the notion of the square of crime as an important reminder that crime arises at an intersection. Any understanding of the roles of the offender (1) and the victim (2) (as known as the actors) must be supplemented with an understanding of the role of the general public (3), expressed through the media, peers, family and community. The final element is the role of the criminal justice system (4) (3 & 4 make up the reactors) especially the police and the courts. Matthews and Young argue that criminologists cannot look at any one of these factors in isolation but instead should try to understand how they influence each other.

• we saw this with the moral panic about mods and rockers that this influenced the role of the police in making more arrests.

Criticisms of the square of crime

• Right realists criticise left realists for over-complicating crime. they would argue that the role of the offender and their lack of attachment to society’s norms and lack of respect for their community are the most important factors and not the victim. Focusing on other elements detracts from the main problem of the offender.

• they would criticise left realists for having sympathy for the offender and trying to find excuses for their behaviour.

2) John Lea and Jock Young (1993) - Three factors propel people into crime.

• Lea and Young’s explanation of crime has three elements: relative deprivation, marginalisation and subculture.

• Relative deprivation refers to a subjective feeling of deprivation an individual may feel when comparing themselves to others.

• some commit crime in order to be or feel less deprived. the second reason why some people commit crime is due to marginalisation.

• those on the fringes of society- the homeless, may feel abandoned by society and frustrated without any status, power or goals.

• they may also feel like they lack power economically, (live in social housing, unemployed) Socially (lack access to opportunities to take part in and Politically (lack power to influence decision-makers).

• the third concept is subculture - those who share a sense of deprivation and marginalisation will develop subcultures that allow them to cope with this problem, many of them turning to crime such as burglary, to resolve these issues.

  Criticisms of Lea and Young

• right wing theorists criticise the left for shifting the blame for crime from the individual to the structure of society. Right realists criticise the left for being too soft on the crime and criminals. they show that not everyone from marginalized and deprived backgrounds commits crime and therefore they suggest crime is an individual choice.

• Murray suggests individuals need to take responsibility for their adhesion to societies morals.

3) Young - the move from an inclusive to an exclusive society leads to crime.

• Young focused on the way that society excludes increasing numbers of people

• he argues the 50’s were the golden age of modern capitalism (it was a period of stability)

• since the 70’s, deindustrialisation and the loss of unskilled manual jobs, have increased unemployment and poverty, especially for the young and some ethnic minorities.

• while many jobs are now insecure, short term or low paid.

• these changes have destabilised family and community life and contributed to rising divorce rates as new right government policies designed to hold back welfare spending on the poor.

Criticisms of Young

• Marxists such as Snider, criticises Young for failing to recognise crimes that have a deeper impact such as white collar crime and organised crime.

• she highlights that left realists tend to focus on street crimes that emphasise the action9s of the working class and ignore the role of powerful groups such as the ruling class.

• ignores the faults of capitalism which allows such inequality to exist in the first place.

4) Social exclusion of ethnic minoritized groups leads to crime (Lea and Young)

• Lea and Young believe that the systematic racism which exists, especially within the police force, leads to ethic minoritized groups forming defiant subcultures who are forced to live on the edge of society.

However, right sing theorists expect individuals to take responsibility for their actions and see this type of theory as an excuse for poor behaviour from some groups according to Murray and Herrnstein.

A survey of prisons in 2012 revealed that:

• 24% had been in care at some point in their childhood

• 41% observed violence in the home.