Left Realism Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Left Realism Theory - Essay Example Contribution of Left Realism in the development of criminology can help shape society in a better way. Left Realism set down a marker with the work of Lea and Young (1984). Left realism is a reaction against both left's tendency to neglect victimisation among working class people and the conservatives' extremely harsh social strategies. It is a perspective that attempts to explain and measure street crime and propose short term policies to control it. It is an attack on left idealists who offer simplistic analyses based heavily on instrumental Marxist and feminist views of the state and law, but who ignore street crime and offer no practical proposal for change. One of the basic elements of Left Realism theory is Left realists see working class crime as a serious problem for working class. Working class people are victimised from all directions in a capitalist society. Another element is Relative Deprivation: Poverty experienced as unfair (relative depravation when compared to someone else) creates discontent and discontent when there is no political solution leads to crime. So, relative depravation equals discontent, discontent plus lack of political solution equals crime. One of left realisms most substantial contributions to criminology is the sq