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<v Speaker 1>Hello and welcome to episode seven of Crime and Deviants

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<v Speaker 1>for the Sociology Show podcast. In this episode, we look

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<v Speaker 1>at new right explanations of crime and deviants. We consider

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<v Speaker 1>wider poor people commit more crime than others, and how

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<v Speaker 1>is crime linked to intelligence and control. The first thing

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<v Speaker 1>to remember about right wing viewpoints is that it's more

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<v Speaker 1>of a political viewpoint. However, these viewpoints have been heavily

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<v Speaker 1>influenced by functionalism. Remember, on the right we have the

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<v Speaker 1>new right view and right realism. Right wing refers to

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<v Speaker 1>those political viewpoints on the right, such as those held

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<v Speaker 1>by the Conservative Party. They tend to believe that equality

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<v Speaker 1>is neither possible nor desirable, and that the most talented

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<v Speaker 1>work hard and should be rewarded for doing so. Remember

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<v Speaker 1>this is called meritocracy. They argue that the state the

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<v Speaker 1>government should not intervene and support those who are struggling,

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<v Speaker 1>but instead individuals should take responsibility for lifting themselves out

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<v Speaker 1>of poverty. In relation to chrime, new right theorists tend

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<v Speaker 1>to blame criminals or deviance for their own situation and

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<v Speaker 1>their own bad choices, citing issues such as poor socialization,

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<v Speaker 1>lack of personal responsibility, and biology as possible reasons. Realists

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<v Speaker 1>who are closely linked to the New Right but not

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<v Speaker 1>exactly the same focus on how a lack of attachment

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<v Speaker 1>to societal norms and a decline in community norms leads

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<v Speaker 1>to crime. Will first focus on the theorist Charles Murray.

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<v Speaker 1>And Charles Murray developed a cultural explanation for criminality by

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<v Speaker 1>focusing on the idea of an underclass rather than subculture.

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<v Speaker 1>Murray states that the underclass does not share the same

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<v Speaker 1>values as other members of society and therefore sees them

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<v Speaker 1>as responsible for a high proportion of crime. He explains

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<v Speaker 1>that their criminality is a result of their rejection of

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<v Speaker 1>mainstream values and norms. Murray states that the underclass's lack

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<v Speaker 1>of commitment to regular employment among men, delinquency among children,

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<v Speaker 1>and drunkenness is what leads them to criminal behavior. Furthermore,

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<v Speaker 1>the high birth rates outside of marriage found in female

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<v Speaker 1>members of the underclass and the lack of a male

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<v Speaker 1>role model leads to poor socialization of children that in

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<v Speaker 1>turn leads to crime. Remember when Murray's talking about the underclass,

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<v Speaker 1>he is talking about a group of people that are

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<v Speaker 1>completely welfare dependent, those that do not have a job

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<v Speaker 1>but purely rely on the income from the government. Murray

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<v Speaker 1>has also worked with someone called Hernstein and Murray and

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<v Speaker 1>Hernstein talk about criminality and intelligence in their book The

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<v Speaker 1>Bell Curve. Murray and Hernstein suggests that criminal involvement is

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<v Speaker 1>linked to intelligence. Low intelligence is linked with poverty, high

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<v Speaker 1>rates of divorce, and illegitimate births. Low IQ is also

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<v Speaker 1>associated with being unemployed, often being injured, and being welfare dependent. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>they argue that low IQ increases the risk of criminal behavior.

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<v Speaker 1>They argue that people are more likely to commit crime

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<v Speaker 1>if they are not socialized into acceptable behaviors in their

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<v Speaker 1>childhood by their family, so that personal traits such as

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<v Speaker 1>impulsivity and lack of empathy are less likely to be

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<v Speaker 1>controlled and or changed. Murray and Hernstein would argue that

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<v Speaker 1>this explains the high crime rates for members of the

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<v Speaker 1>lower classes, as well as ethnic minoritized groups are found

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<v Speaker 1>to have lower levels of intelligence measured through IQ scores,

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<v Speaker 1>which lead to criminal and or deviant behavior. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>Murray and Hernstein's ideas on IQs have been heavily criticized,

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<v Speaker 1>often seen as discriminatory and not really considering the basic

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<v Speaker 1>factors of what drives people to score well or low

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<v Speaker 1>in IQ tests. Anyway, we then have the ideas of

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<v Speaker 1>Marsland and he builds on the idea of the underclass

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<v Speaker 1>and those that are dependent on welfare benefits. Marslm believes

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<v Speaker 1>that people who are on low income are a result

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<v Speaker 1>of their state being too generous with their benefits and services,

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<v Speaker 1>rather than the individual's inadequacy to work, thus pushing individuals

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<v Speaker 1>to not be self reliant, and therefore they let the

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<v Speaker 1>state take responsibility for their welfare rather than themselves going

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<v Speaker 1>out to work. Marsland calls this a culture of dependency,

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<v Speaker 1>which in itself is deviant because it only applies to

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<v Speaker 1>a small proportion of the population. The overwhelming majority work

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<v Speaker 1>and contribute to the economy through taxes. Marslan further stated

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen eighty eight that crime and deviancy is linked

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<v Speaker 1>to the breakdown of the moral fabric of society. Schools

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<v Speaker 1>and religion have become less effective agents of social control,

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<v Speaker 1>and they have less moral guidelines and less power than

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<v Speaker 1>they used to have. They've lost their authority. It has

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<v Speaker 1>gone according to Marsland. He believes that this has led

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<v Speaker 1>to a decline in morality, and as a consequence, crime

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<v Speaker 1>has increased. Functionists agree that institutions such as the family

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<v Speaker 1>and education makes society and that without them, society breaks down.

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<v Speaker 1>Over the years, the respect for people's positions has changed,

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<v Speaker 1>and deference within society no longer has the impact that

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<v Speaker 1>it used to. A final group of new rights theorists

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<v Speaker 1>is Dennis and Erdos, and they talk about a lack

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<v Speaker 1>of civility. It suggested that there has been a decline

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<v Speaker 1>in civility and respect for authority in communities that are

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<v Speaker 1>characterized by anime and cultural disorganization. Special mention is made

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<v Speaker 1>of fatherless families or absent fathers and its detrimental effect

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<v Speaker 1>on young men denied an appropriate role model. They see

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<v Speaker 1>a decline in family values, in particular a lack of

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<v Speaker 1>discipline both inside and outside the home. Dennis and Erdos

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<v Speaker 1>focus on the decline in informal social control. In the past,

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<v Speaker 1>adults would tut or shun individuals who are misbehaving. They

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<v Speaker 1>tell children off who contravene social norms, But now anything

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<v Speaker 1>goes and hence there is a decline of the social order.

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<v Speaker 1>Civility refers to a society where people know one another

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<v Speaker 1>and reinforce similar values. The right see multiculturalism and postmodern

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<v Speaker 1>life having eroded our civility, leading to higher levels of

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<v Speaker 1>crime and deviance. So the New Right the key words

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<v Speaker 1>to remember are inadequate socialization, culture of dependency, the underclass,

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<v Speaker 1>the Bell curve, welfare dependency, and lack of civility. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>the New Right has been heavily criticized, particularly by groups

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<v Speaker 1>on the left. So left realists and Marxists in particular

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<v Speaker 1>would say that the New Right does not consider the

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<v Speaker 1>impact of society and individuals, and that those people who

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<v Speaker 1>are born into poverty do not choose to be born

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<v Speaker 1>into poverty, and that actually they have been let down

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<v Speaker 1>by the system and structures of society, rather than just

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<v Speaker 1>putting the blame all on the individual itself. Thank you

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<v Speaker 1>very much for listening to this episode. If you've not

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<v Speaker 1>yet listened to episodes one to six, please do go

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<v Speaker 1>back and listen now. Thank you.