Left Realism In Street Crime

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Left realism is a conflict perspective that emerged in the latter half of the 1970’s and beginning of the 1980’s (Linden, 2016). Initially developed by Jock Young, John Lea, and Roger Matthews, left realism encompasses both instrumental Marxism as well as structural Marxism and calls for the need to broaden the focus to include a more in-depth look at the relationship between not only the offender and the police, but the victim and the public as well (Linden, 2016). In the relationship that exists between society and crime, one of the aspects is often overlooked or under-valued as well as arguably under-examined: the victim and their own individualized suffering. Left realism acknowledges the issue that crime, particularly street crime, is …show more content…
Indeed, perhaps what is left realist’s strongest positive, is its highlighting of the victim(s) and their personal suffering as well as overall harm that the offender has caused to the public and more broadly, society. This is because when one acknowledges the effect that is produced by crime against the largely working class and disadvantaged or marginalized groups of society, there exists an opening for opportunity to more justly remedy the issue. Greater emphasis and funding towards rehabilitation of offenders as well as efforts into crime prevention amongst the working-class and other disadvantaged groups, paired with a less narrow focus on issuing punishments by the courts, would be of a benefit in that its non-oppressive and explores other avenues of correcting the crimes that occur all too frequently. It is integral to have law to uphold and reinforce order, but the establishment of it also makes it easier to fall into relying on the law and the subsequent consequences for straying from it rather than exploring other avenues within the establishment of such laws and sentencing practices that can help reduce