Using the Material from Iten a and Else Were Assess the Value That the Right Realist Apporach to Crime and Deviance (21 Marks)

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the value of the right realist approach to crime and deviance (21 marks)

Right realism sees crime, especially street crime, as a real and growing problem that destroys communities, undermines social cohesion and threatens society's work ethic. The right realist approach to crime is that they reject the idea that structural or economic factors such as: poverty, are the cause of crime. For right realists there approach to crime is that it is the product of three factors: Biological differences, inadequate socialisation and the underclass.

Right realists argue that it is pointless to try and eliminate the mythical 'root causes' of crime, such as poverty and educational underachievement. Instead, they believe focus should be on finding a practical crime control measures. This is achieved through taking a tough stance towards offenders and through control and punishment, rather than rehabilitating offenders or tackling underlying causes of crime.

As shown in item A Right realists such as Wilson have a strong argument towards biological differences. He argues that a strong approach to crime is caused by a combination of biological and social factors. Wilson put forward a biosocial theory of criminal behaviour. An example of this theory is the idea that some people possess innate personality traits such as aggressiveness, low intelligence, and low impulse control that could put them at greater risk of offending.

Another way that right realists see the approach to crime and deviance is that of the ‘under class’ effective socialisation decreases the risk of committing a crime by being able to teach self-control and learn the correct norms and values, right realists see the nuclear family as the best agency for socialisation however Murray argued that the nuclear family is being undermined by the wealth fare state which is therefore creating wealth fare dependency and encouraging the growth of an underclass who fail to...