3. Lea and Young
• In 1983, the first year of
the British Crime Survey,
the UK government
declared it was irrational
to fear crime: the public
concern was the product
of media sensationalism.
4. Lea and Young
• Lea and Young refuted this idea claiming that
working class, black people and the elderly
have a realistic fear of street crime as they
were often the victims of such crime.
5. Lea and Young
• They performed a victim survey in Islington
that revealed that the working class residents
were thoroughly rational to fear crime.
• Lea and Young are also critical of some
Marxist attempts to politicize black working
class crime.
• They suggest for many black communities,
crime is an unpleasant and harsh day to day
reality.
6. Why do these groups commit
crime?
1. Relative deprivation - W/C feel deprived
compared to M/C and black youths feel
deprived compared to white youths leading
to crime.
2. Marginalization – people feel on the outside
with no power to change their situation.
3. Subculture – people experiencing the above
points may form deviant subcultures.
7. Solutions to Crime
• Improve policing and control
and gain confidence of the
local communities
• Deal with the deeper structural
causes of crime by reducing
inequality by creating jobs and
improving housing.
8. Evaluation
• Lea and Young have highlighted the effects of
crime on victims and the underlying causes of
crime
However,
• There is little empirical evidence to support
the view that young criminals interpret their
realities in the way that Lea and Young
describe
• Focuses on street crime and ignores white
collar crime
10. The New Right
• Charles Murray identifies what he terms as
the underclass which subscribes to deviant
and criminal values rather than mainstream.
He lays the fault at single mothers.
• David Marsland argues that the Welfare State
is responsible for the emergence of the
underclass
11. The New Right
• Clarke (1980) put forward a rational choice
theory where the decision to commit crime is
based on a rational calculation of the
consequences. Right realists argue that the
perceived costs of crime are low and this has
increased the crime rate.
12. Control Theories
• Travis Hirschi argues that most people do not
commit crimes as they have four controls in
their lives:
1.Attachment – family and relationships
2.Commitment – people may lose a great deal
3.Involvement – people are engaged in
communities and respect would be lost
4.Belief – people have been brought up to
respect rules, beliefs and others.
13. Criticisms
• Rex, Tomlinson reject the idea of an
underclass and claim it is not a voluntary
situation. The ‘underclass’ have the same
aspirations as rest of population.
• It is doubtful that crime is underpinned by
rationality
• Class inequalities in victimization leads to
paranoia and gated communities as the rich
try to separate themselves from the poor
