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

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

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<v Speaker 1>look at left realist explanations of crime. So what is realism?

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<v Speaker 1>Will realists believe that crime is a real problem that

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<v Speaker 1>requires a real solution. In this sense, they are more

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<v Speaker 1>practical than other sociologists. Left realism developed around the same

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<v Speaker 1>time as right realism in the nineteen eighties, and it

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<v Speaker 1>rejected traditional left wing Marxist views. Left realists claim that

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<v Speaker 1>Marxists are unrealistic in the way that they avoid dealing

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<v Speaker 1>with the very real problem that crime poses for the

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<v Speaker 1>working class. Crime and deviance is the result of being

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<v Speaker 1>unequal and therefore the fault of society and not the individual.

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<v Speaker 1>Left wing views refer to the political views of the left,

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<v Speaker 1>such as the Labour Party. In contrast to the right,

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<v Speaker 1>they tend to focus on issues of power and inequality

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<v Speaker 1>rather than blaming the criminal and deviant individual. They argue

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<v Speaker 1>that people at the bottom are victims of their circumstances

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<v Speaker 1>and that equality should be the goal of society. The

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<v Speaker 1>state should intervene to share out the wealth and ensure

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<v Speaker 1>that everyone has an equal chance in society. Crime and

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<v Speaker 1>deviance is the result of being unequal and therefore the

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<v Speaker 1>fault of society and not the individual. They also argue

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<v Speaker 1>that the law is not applied equally and that crime

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<v Speaker 1>is defined and enforced by those in power. For this reason,

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<v Speaker 1>we can see that Marxism and interactionism are also left

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<v Speaker 1>wing ideas. What about left realist explanations? Then? Left realism

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<v Speaker 1>developed in protest to the right realist ideas of the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighties. Left realists believe that crime is the result

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<v Speaker 1>of poor social and economic conditions, and therefore choose to

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<v Speaker 1>not blame or criminalize, but help disadvantaged groups. Just like

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<v Speaker 1>right realists, left realists believe that crime is a real

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<v Speaker 1>problem and requires a real solution. The first left realist

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<v Speaker 1>that we look at are Roger Matthews and Jock Young,

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<v Speaker 1>and they see the notion of the squad of crime

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<v Speaker 1>as an important reminder that crime arises at an intersection.

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<v Speaker 1>Any understanding of the roles of the offender and the

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<v Speaker 1>victim must be supplemented with an understanding of the role

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<v Speaker 1>of the general public expressed through the media, peers, family,

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<v Speaker 1>and community. The final element of the square of crime

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<v Speaker 1>is the role of the criminal justice system, especially the police,

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<v Speaker 1>and the courts. Matthews and Young argue that criminologists cannot

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<v Speaker 1>look at any one of these factors in isolation, but

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<v Speaker 1>instead should try to understand how they influence each other.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, public opinion can drive government policy and police practice,

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<v Speaker 1>and vice versa. We saw with a moral panic about

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<v Speaker 1>mods and rockers that this influenced the role of the

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<v Speaker 1>police in making more arrests. Whether a person is a

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<v Speaker 1>victim or not depends on the offender and the crime

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<v Speaker 1>and its impact on the victim. A victim of rape

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<v Speaker 1>may be denied their victim status if the police or

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<v Speaker 1>courts failed to get a conviction against the offender. Therefore,

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<v Speaker 1>to fully understand crime, you must look at the four

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<v Speaker 1>elements of the offender, the victim, the general public, and

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<v Speaker 1>the criminal justice system to fully understand how they interact

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<v Speaker 1>with each other and to fully understand why crime occurs.

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<v Speaker 1>The second sociologists we look at for the left realist

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<v Speaker 1>view is John Lee and Jock Young, and they say

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<v Speaker 1>that three factors propel people into crime. Lee and Jung's

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<v Speaker 1>explanation of crime has three elements, relative deprivation, marginalization, and subcultures.

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<v Speaker 1>Relative deprivation refers to a subjective feeling of deprivation an

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<v Speaker 1>individual may feel when comparing themselves to others around them.

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<v Speaker 1>Fueled by media images that emphasize consumerism, the working class

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<v Speaker 1>are aware of living in poverty and feel resentful about

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<v Speaker 1>what they could have but can't afford the latest trainers,

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<v Speaker 1>the nicest new iPhone, for example. This leads some to

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<v Speaker 1>commit crime in order to feel less deprived. The second

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<v Speaker 1>reason why some people commit crime is due to margination

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<v Speaker 1>those on the fringes of society. This is people like

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<v Speaker 1>the homeless, the poor, and some ethnic minority groups. They

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<v Speaker 1>may feel abandoned by society and frustrated. Without any status, power,

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<v Speaker 1>or goals. They are excluded from society and lack power economically.

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<v Speaker 1>They also socially lack power that knowing the correct people

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<v Speaker 1>around them, and they politically lack power that lack of

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<v Speaker 1>power to influence decision makers. The third concept is subculture.

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<v Speaker 1>This refers to groups with shared norms and values. The

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<v Speaker 1>formation of a subculture links to relative deprivation and marginalization,

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<v Speaker 1>as those who share a sense of deprivation and marginalization

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<v Speaker 1>will develop subcultures that allow them to cope with this problem,

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<v Speaker 1>many of them turning to crime such as burglary. To

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<v Speaker 1>resolve the issue, we then have Jock Young on his

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<v Speaker 1>own who talked about the move from an inclusive to

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<v Speaker 1>an exclusive society and how this leads to crime. Jock

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<v Speaker 1>Young focused on the way that society excludes increasing numbers

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<v Speaker 1>of people and draws a link between social exclusion and crime.

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<v Speaker 1>He contrasts today's society with the period of the nineteen fifties,

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<v Speaker 1>which are often referred to as the golden Age of

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<v Speaker 1>modern capitalism. It was a period of stability, security, and

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<v Speaker 1>social inclusion, with full employment, a comprehensive welfare state, low

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<v Speaker 1>divorce rates, and relatively strong communities. There was a general

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<v Speaker 1>consensus about right and wrong and lower crime rates. Since

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen seventies, there's been increased in stability, insecurity and

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<v Speaker 1>exclusion have increased de industrialization and the loss of unskilled

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<v Speaker 1>manual jobs. Have increased unemployment and poverty, and the gap

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<v Speaker 1>between the rich and the poor. Many jobs are now

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<v Speaker 1>really insecure, short term or low paid. These changes have

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<v Speaker 1>destabilized family and community life and contributed to rising divorce rates.

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<v Speaker 1>That sense of community has been lost in many different areas.

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<v Speaker 1>All of these changes have contributed to increased marginalization and

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<v Speaker 1>exclusion of those at the bottom, and crime is a

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<v Speaker 1>response to these by some groups. Again coming back to

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<v Speaker 1>Lie and Young, they also have another idea of social

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<v Speaker 1>exclusion of ethnic minoritized groups which could lead to crime.

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<v Speaker 1>Lee and Young believed that the systematic racism which exists,

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<v Speaker 1>especially within the police force, leads to ethnic minoritized groups

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<v Speaker 1>forming defiant subcultures who are forced to live on the

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<v Speaker 1>edge of society. This idea has been discussed through the

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<v Speaker 1>concept of social exclusion and it links to Cloud and

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<v Speaker 1>Owen's work on subcultures. The left note that these socially

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<v Speaker 1>excluded communities are also much more likely to be victims

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<v Speaker 1>of crime too, So, according to left realists, how do

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<v Speaker 1>we deal with this? What are the solutions to crime

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<v Speaker 1>and what sort of social policy should be brought in

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<v Speaker 1>to try and ultimately reduce crime rates in certain areas well.

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<v Speaker 1>The left wing solutions to crime are longer term and

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<v Speaker 1>seek to deal with the deeper structural causes of crime

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<v Speaker 1>in order to remove the need to commit crime. Lee

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<v Speaker 1>and Jung argue that crime can only be reduced by

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<v Speaker 1>reducing income and wealth inequalities, by reducing relative deprivation and

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<v Speaker 1>closing the gap between the rich and the poor. They

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<v Speaker 1>suggest this needs to be done by addressing the economic

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<v Speaker 1>and social conditions such as poverty, unemployment, poor housing, poor education,

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<v Speaker 1>low pay, and racial discrimination. In particular, Lee and Young

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<v Speaker 1>say about the problems of the young and ethnic minoritized

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<v Speaker 1>groups who feel marginalized by society. Left realists argue that

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<v Speaker 1>urban crime, for example, graffiti, theft, violence, and drug use,

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<v Speaker 1>is a response to feelings of marginalization, exclusion, and relative deprivation.

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<v Speaker 1>So what do they believe should happen well, The left

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<v Speaker 1>believe that there should be key educational programs aimed at

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<v Speaker 1>improving educational success and reducing exclusion in inner city areas.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, schemes like Shore Start or the Perry Preschool Project,

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<v Speaker 1>both of which showed the interventions in an early age

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<v Speaker 1>that's children under the age of five and childcare can

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<v Speaker 1>lead to significant reductions in criminal and deviant behavior in

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<v Speaker 1>later life. In the Perry Preschool experiment, the cohort who

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<v Speaker 1>received weekly parental advice plus regular professional childcare were half

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<v Speaker 1>as likely to end up in prison as the control group,

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<v Speaker 1>who were also from deprived neighborhoods that did not receive

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<v Speaker 1>the intervention. Leftrealists also believe that inequalities in wealth and

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<v Speaker 1>income need to be reduced by using more generous welfare benefits.

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<v Speaker 1>We need minimum pay legislation such as the National Living

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<v Speaker 1>Wage to ensure that people have paid a fair wage

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<v Speaker 1>so that they are not tempted to become welfare dependent,

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<v Speaker 1>and the benefits for those that are struggling, such as

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<v Speaker 1>single parent families, should be increased to ensure that no

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<v Speaker 1>one feels the need to commit crime or theft or

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<v Speaker 1>fraud in order to survive. The left also believe that

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<v Speaker 1>we need much better community policing. Kinsey put forward the

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<v Speaker 1>idea of community policing, whereby neighborhoods have officers who are

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<v Speaker 1>regularly patrolling the same areas, forging strong relationships with people

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<v Speaker 1>in an area to improve confidence in the police. Kinsey

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<v Speaker 1>argues that because of the often heavy handed approach taken

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<v Speaker 1>by the police, local communities will not give the police information.

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<v Speaker 1>Lacking the information that is necessary to solve crime, the

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<v Speaker 1>police resort to new policing methods. They drift towards what

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<v Speaker 1>Kinsey call military policing. Without the support of the community,

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<v Speaker 1>the police have to resort to tactics such as stopping

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<v Speaker 1>and searching large numbers of people in an area, or

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<v Speaker 1>using surveillance technology to find suspects. Kinsey argues that the

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<v Speaker 1>key to police success lies in improving the relationships with

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<v Speaker 1>the community so that the flow of information on which

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<v Speaker 1>the police rely increases. To achieve this, Kinsey proposes that

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<v Speaker 1>minimal policing should be used. Kinsey believes that some areas

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<v Speaker 1>are over pleased, such as minor drug offenses, whereas some

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<v Speaker 1>crimes are under police. In other words, he believes that

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<v Speaker 1>the police and the state devote too much of their

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<v Speaker 1>time and energy to dealing with certain types of crimes

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<v Speaker 1>and not enough to others. Crime can only be reduced

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<v Speaker 1>with the assistance of local communities, but the military style

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<v Speaker 1>policing of inner city communities, particularly black communities, has alienated

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<v Speaker 1>local populations. For example, stop and search statistics in urban

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<v Speaker 1>areas suggest that police forces use racial profiling in their

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<v Speaker 1>attempt to identify criminality, and this has led to accusations

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<v Speaker 1>of institutional racism. Lee and Young argue that the police

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<v Speaker 1>need to regain the confidence of local communities so that

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<v Speaker 1>people feel comfortable providing them with the information about crime

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<v Speaker 1>that they need. Left realists also believe in restorative justice.

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<v Speaker 1>Restorative justice involves encouraging offenders to take responsibility for their

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<v Speaker 1>actions and is supported by all Left realists such as

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<v Speaker 1>Lee and Young. Offenders are expected to repair the harm

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<v Speaker 1>they have done by apologizing to their victims and giving

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<v Speaker 1>something back to the community. The restorative justice team will

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<v Speaker 1>organize a meeting between the victim and the offender. If

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<v Speaker 1>both are open to the process of discussing the crime

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<v Speaker 1>and its impact on the victim, than they will meet

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<v Speaker 1>at the moment. Offenders rarely hear face to face impacts

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<v Speaker 1>of what their crime has done to their victims, and

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<v Speaker 1>this can have a lasting psychological effect on the offender.

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<v Speaker 1>Restorative justice is an example of what Braithwaite calls reintegrative shaming.

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<v Speaker 1>This encourages the offender to be sorry and ashamed for

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<v Speaker 1>their actions. The re more shown by the offender makes

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<v Speaker 1>it easier for society and the victim to distinguish the

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<v Speaker 1>offender from the actual offense and to forgive and readmit

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<v Speaker 1>the wrongdoer back into mainstream society. In two thousand and one,

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<v Speaker 1>the UK government funded a seven year research program looking

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<v Speaker 1>into the effectiveness of restorative justice. It found that the

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<v Speaker 1>frequency of reoffending had decreased, and the government had saved

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<v Speaker 1>nine pounds for every one pound spent on restorative justice.

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<v Speaker 1>The final solution for left realist is rehabilitation. Left realists

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<v Speaker 1>propose a very different prison system to what the right

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<v Speaker 1>believer is. Instead of punishment and retribution, the left suggests

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<v Speaker 1>that criminals should actually be well cared for in order

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<v Speaker 1>to resocialize them ready for release. Rehabilitation means giving criminals

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<v Speaker 1>education qualifications, work skills, counseling therapy, addiction therapy, life experiences,

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<v Speaker 1>and opportunities. This solution uses Young's theory that many criminals

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<v Speaker 1>have faced exclusion from mainstream society, and thus they believe

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<v Speaker 1>they have to be fixed to include them back into society.

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<v Speaker 1>This means giving them the skills that they need to

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<v Speaker 1>be like everybody else, rather than the remaining on the

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<v Speaker 1>margins of society. Left realists argue that many criminals are

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<v Speaker 1>themselves victims starting in their early childhood. Forty one percent

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<v Speaker 1>of prisoners had experienced domestic violence as children, twenty four

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<v Speaker 1>had been in the care system, forty percent had a

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<v Speaker 1>relative who had been in prison, and sixty three percent

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<v Speaker 1>have been excluded from school. Forty two percent of those

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<v Speaker 1>had been permanently excluded from school. This shows that people

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<v Speaker 1>who do go to prison have had the most difficult

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<v Speaker 1>upbringings and most prisoners should be seen as victims themselves,

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<v Speaker 1>so in need of care and rehabilitation rather than punishment

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<v Speaker 1>and further exclusion. In some prisons, treats such as outings

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<v Speaker 1>or going to a theme park or a week looking

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<v Speaker 1>after a puppy have been used to teach inmates nearing

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<v Speaker 1>the end of their term in prison about caring and sharing.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition, lefrealists suggests that the prison system should be

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<v Speaker 1>avoided since people who do go to prison often have

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<v Speaker 1>family who are damaged by the removal of a loved one. Therefore,

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<v Speaker 1>they believe that prison should only be there for the

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<v Speaker 1>worst offenders. There are estimated to be ninety thousand children

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<v Speaker 1>in the UK with a parent currently serving time. The

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<v Speaker 1>prison population in England Wales currently sits at roughly ninety

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<v Speaker 1>five to ninety seven thousand prisoners. We have room for

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred thousand prisoners in total. Over the last twenty years,

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<v Speaker 1>the prison population has generally increased significantly, from around sixty

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<v Speaker 1>thousand in the early two thousands to the current record levels.

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<v Speaker 1>Although there was a temporary drop during the COVID nineteen pandemic,

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<v Speaker 1>numbers have since risen again. Overall, the long term trend

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<v Speaker 1>shows a clear increase in imprisonment, reflecting tougher sentencing, longer sentences,

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<v Speaker 1>and a greater use of custody. However, ultimately, the left

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<v Speaker 1>realist would suggest that the prison system does not work,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly when we look at the reoffending rates. To understand

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<v Speaker 1>the major criticisms of the left realist approach, then do

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<v Speaker 1>listen out for episode nine, which is the right realist approach.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for listening, and if you've yet to listen

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<v Speaker 1>to episodes one to seven, please do go back and

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<v Speaker 1>listen now. Thank you.