Discuss the Classical School of thought on criminology.

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Nishaa Mckinney X0129538 D315 TMA03

Critically assess the similarities and differences between left and right realism?

In the mid 18th Century, the  of criminology was developed and based on  philosophy. , , and other classical school philosophers argued that people have free will to choose how to act.  In the late 19th century Cesare Lombroso was one of the largest contributors to the . Their concept is that criminal behaviour is caused by internal and external factors outside of the individual's control. The  was introduced and applied to study human behavior, for example phrenology, suggesting that the problem lay in the propensities of individual offenders who were biologically distinguishable from law-abiding . Throughout the early twentieth century, the Chicago School emerged, Sociologisits such as  and  adopted a  approach to studying cities, and assumed that urban neighborhoods with high levels of  often experience breakdown in the  and institutions such as  and .  During the 1980’s and 1990’s New Right Thinkers influenced government political agenda’s, particularly the Conservative party led by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980’s. Thatcher’s intention was to create an economy that was efficient and effective.  Promoting individual self-help and meeting social needs required minimal state intervention in the provision of welfare. This led to the emergence of an enterprise culture, in which personal initiative, risk-taking and capitalism were key features and there were also high levels of unemployment, housing decay and social deprivation. The 1980’s also produced the concept of realist criminology.  The Conservative government was taking a tough stance in the fight against crime, founding measures that would tackle the growing problems, thus inspiring right realism.  In order to remain in the political arena, left wing criminologists developed left realism whilst loosening ties with radical criminologies. (Muncie & McLaughlin, 2004, p49)

The contribution realist theorists make to crime is very complex. Both left and right realists emphasise that the reasoning behind committing crime and the practicalities involved in solving crime is of paramount importance, however they have polarised concepts. Right realism focuses on the emphasis of social control, the inadequacies of the legal system and the lack of self preservation by victims. Left realism, however, stresses the importance of finding the real reasons why people commit crime and the role of poverty and crime.

Realist concepts grew from classicism whereby rational choice and free will were the base concepts (Muncie & McLaughlin, 2004,p7) and from positivism, which suggested that due to biological, psychological and sociological reasons individuals were not responsible for their own actions. (Muncie & McLaughlin, 2004, p9).  Radical criminology, such as interactionism, labeling, Marxism and critical criminology concentrate on processes of criminalisation (Muncie & McLaughlin, 2004,p34).  Such theories study structure, society relations, power and suggest that such factors bring about criminal behaviour; people behave in line with the labels given to them (Muncie & McLaughlin, 2004, p36).  Left Realism is the polar political opposite of . It grew out of , , and Radical Criminology as a reaction against what was perceived to be the Left's failure to take a practical interest in everyday crime, leaving it to the Right Realists to monopolise the  on law and order. Now both sets of Realists seek to educate the public about the 'facts' of crime, but all these 'facts' are politically contested.

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"There is no such thing as . There are individual men and women and there are ". (Margaret Thatcher 1993:626)

Right Realism (also known as New Right Realism, Neo-Classicism, Neo-Positivism, or Neo-Conservatism) is the  polar opposite of Left Realism. It considers the phenomenon of crime from the perspective of   and professes that it takes a more realistic view of the causes of  and , and identifies the best mechanisms for its control. Because the School under-emphasises the causes of crime, it is actually reacting to the phenomenon of crime and seeking to prevent it without a substantial body ...

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