Assess the value of the right realist approach to crime and deviance

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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. It has been one of the most influential neo-conservative views, especially in the US, and one of the key right realists is James Q. Wilson, an advisor to President Reagan in the 1980s. It can be argued that these views have also influenced British governments throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and possibly even today. It has also provided justification for widely adopted policies such as ‘zero tolerance’ policing.

   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 searching for 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.

   Right realists criticise other theories of crime for failing to offer any practical solutions to stop the rising crime rate. They also regard theories such as labelling and critical criminology as too sympathetic towards the offender and too hostile to the agencies of law and order. Right realists are more concerned with what they see as realistic solutions to crime rather than causes. However, they do in fact offer an explanation of the causes of crime.

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   Right realists reject the idea put forward by Marxists and others that structural or economic factors are the causes of crime. Instead they argue crime is the product of three causes: individual biological differences, inadequate socialisation and the underclass, and rational choice to offend.

   As it says in Item A, right realists like James Wilson believe some individuals are biologically predisposed to commit crimes. Wilson and Hernstein (1985) 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, ...

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