Right Realism and crime explanations

Right realism advocates ‘small’ government and considers the phenomenon of crime from the perspective of political conservatism. Right realism assumes it takes a more realistic view of the causes of crime and deviance. Right realists believe crime and deviance are a real social problem that requires practical solutions. It is said that right realism perpetuates moral panics as a means of swaying the public to agree with their views. For example, the media claims that elderly people are scared to be attacked when venturing out, when in actuality crimes against OAP’s are minimal. (0.3 against men 75+ and 0.2 against women aged the same). Right realists believe that official statistics often underreport crime. But right realists believe they are able to paint a more realistic picture of crime and deviance in the UK. Right realists believe that crime is a growing social problem and is largely committed by lower working class male juveniles, often black, in inner city areas. Right realists believe that there are six causes of crime: The breakdown in moral fabric of society; a growing underclass in the UK; a breakdown in social order; opportunity for crime and that some people commit crime as a deliberate and rational choice. As more crime is committed, society itself deteriorates and this in turn leads to more crime. Marsland in 1988 stated that crime and deviancy is linked to the breakdown in the moral fabric of society. Schools and religion have become less effective agencies of social control and that the moral glue of society, which gave it its authority, has gone. Marsland believes that this has led to a decline in morality and as a consequence, crime has increased. Durkheim advocated that institutions such as the family make society and that without them, society breaks down. Over the years, the respect for people’s positions has changed and deference within society no longer has the impact it used to. Some argue that this is because society is