Outline and assess the Realist explanation of crime.

Outline and assess Realist explanation of crime and deviance. (50 marks)
Left Realists provides a casual explanation for crime. Left Realists look at the individual and the causes which could have led them to commit crime. Right Realism comes from a New Right perspective which looks at the causes of crime and what can be put in place to deter criminals. The term ‘crime’ means behaviour that breaks the law. For example, someone who commits a crime such as murder or rape is considered a criminal. And the term ‘deviance’ refers to behaviour that the majority see as different from the accepted norms of society. For example, wearing a bikini is suitable at the beach but, it would not be appropriate to wear it at work. Left Realists such as Jock Young direct their aims on street crime that is committed by young people in urban areas. Young uses his victim survey to suggest that working class and black people, especially elderly women, have a realistic fear of street crime as they report that they are the victims of these crimes. Left Realist theory identifies three causes of crime.
The first cause they identified is ‘marginalisation’; this is when young people feel they have little or no power to change their situation so they are frustrated by the negative treatment by the police which may result in further feelings of hostility and resentment towards mainstream society. Gibbs and Merighi say that black communities are marginalised in terms of poverty, housing, education and jobs and this could lead to anger and frustration and which eventually leads to crime. This refers to the individuals who live on the outskirts of society therefore cannot take part in society.
The second cause is ‘relative-deprivation’; this refers to how deprived someone feels in relation to others, or compared with their own expectations; this can lead to crime when people feel resentment that, unfairly, others are better off than them. Lea and Young state that ethnic minorities feel resentment due to relative-deprivation as they see the police are unfair and biased in their community. This refers to some individuals being relatively deprived in comparison to others and this therefore leads to injustice and resentment.
The third and last cause is ‘subcultures’ and this is when young working-class and black people experience the feelings of ‘relative-deprivation’ and ‘marginalisation’; this makes them form a deviant subculture since they believe that society does not value them. Messner and Golden found that where racial discrimination and profiling existed, deep violent subcultures flourished. This refers to groups of young people, often ethnic minority groups who form subcultural groups in inner city areas.
Left Realists argue that the only ways to cut crime are to improve policing and control. Lea and Young state that crime can only be reduced with the help of local communities. However, military-style policing has separated local communities. For example, stop and search statistics in urban areas suggests that the police use racial profiling to catch criminals, which led to complaints of institutional racism. The only solution for this is that the police need to regain the confidence of local communities so that people feel comfortable providing information about crime.
However, Lea and Young have been criticised because they do not explain why the majority of working-class and African-Caribbean youth do not turn to crime. The theory only focuses on subcultural criminal responses and does not explain crimes such as burglary, which is committed by individuals rather than gangs. It also focuses exclusively on street crime and largely ignores white-collar and corporate crime such as fraud and others.
Right Realists see crime especially street crime as an increasing problem that weakens and destroys social cohesion. Right Realists believe that people are selfish, individualistic and greedy so they assume that people are ‘naturally’ motivated towards criminal behaviour if it can further their interests and/or if there is little chance of getting caught.
The ‘Underclass’ theory, is a distinct lower-class subculture that exists, below the working-class, which contributes to deviant and criminal values rather than normal values and spreads this deficient culture to their children via socialisation. Marsland argues that the welfare state is responsible for the emergence of this ‘underclass’ because ‘welfare dependency’ has undermined people’s sense of commitment and obligation to support one another. People who belong to the ‘underclass’ are apparently work-shy, choosing to live off state benefits rather than work.
The ‘Rational choice’ theory, according to Clarke, is that the decision to commit crime is a choice based on a rational intention of the likely consequence. This basically means that the costs of crime are low, so almost every crime can be done by any person, which is why crime rate has increased. For example, if the rewards of crime outweigh its costs or if the rewards of crime appear to be greater than those of non-criminal behaviour, then people will be more likely to commit crime.
The ‘control’ theory, according to Hirschi, is that people are generally sensible in terms of their actions and choices and consider the costs and benefits of their behaviour. Hirschi also states that most people do not commit crimes, as they have four controls in their lives. The cost of crime (being caught and punished) outweighs the economic and personal benefits. There are four controls: ‘attachment’, ‘commitment’, ‘involvement’ and ‘belief. Hirschi suggests that these controls prevent many people from turning to crime. As people get older, they begin to acquire these controls.
Functionalists, such as Durkheim argues that crime will always happen in society and it is advantageous as some minor crimes are worth enduring as a safety controller as it prevents serious crimes taking place. Functionalists state that Realists need to stop wasting their time to find solutions to reduce crime because they say how crime will not stop and this benefits society greatly.
In conclusion, Realism is a useful theory for understanding why crime is committed in urban areas and why people commit crime by taking into accounts most of the factors such as social class and ethnicity. However, Rex and Tomlinson reject the idea of the ‘underclass’ as a deviant subculture that is voluntarily unemployed and devoted to criminal behaviour. They point out that poverty is often caused by factors beyond the control of the poor, for example, global recession and government policies.