Deck 14: Realist Criminology

Question 1

Some right realists argue that low intelligence equals involvement in crime.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Critiques of left idealism included accusations of:

A)romanticism
B)utopianism
C)naïve abolitionism
D)naïve anti-empiricism

Answer 2

romanticism
utopianism
naïve abolitionism
naïve anti-empiricism

Question 3

Left realism's central tenets are:

A)To create a theory to explain organised crime
B)To reject tendencies to romanticize crime or to pathologize it
C)to analyze solely from the point of view of the administration of crime or the criminal actor
D)to reflect the reality of crime and not to underestimate crime or to exaggerate it
E)to answer what can be done about the problems of crime and social control

Answer 3

To reject tendencies to romanticize crime or to pathologize it
to analyze solely from the point of view of the administration of crime or the criminal actor
to reflect the reality of crime and not to underestimate crime or to exaggerate it
to answer what can be done about the problems of crime and social control

Question 4

Right realism has two major characteristics:

A)its proponents are usually older
B)it takes an individualised view of crime
C)it appeals to women
D)responses to the crime problem tend to be couched in terms of greater
E)controls and enhanced punishments.

Question 5

Left Realists wanted their surveys to be:

A)easy to read
B)able to prove how many people were falsely imprisoned each year
C)be geographically and socially focused on the most vulnerable parts of the community
D)show that the impact of criminal victimization was the product of the extent of the risk combined with the degree of vulnerability of the victim

Question 6

Other than so-called 'third way' governments such as the New Labour administrations in Britain, who has criticised right realism?

Question 7

What sort of methodological criticisms have been levelled at right realism?

Question 8

What are the criticisms regarding the link right realists made between intelligence and crime?

Question 9

Why is the right realist contention that criminals and non criminals can be distinguished form each other rejected?

Question 10

Which influences gave rise to left realism?

A)the previously exaggerated importance of the victims of crime
B)over concentration on class bound crime
C)feminism
D)changing political circumstances

Question 11

What was Charles Murray's contribution to the debate on crime?

A)He discovered that children whose fathers are in prison become emotionally disturbed.
B)He argued that habitual criminals should be punished more severely
C)He coined the term 'the underclass'
D)He said that welfare should be increased to lone mothers

Question 12

Right realists believe that 'prison works'.

Question 13

Right realists believe that criminal and non criminals are essentially the same.

Question 14

Right realism has not influenced law or policy makers.

Question 15

Right realists do not believe in individual responsibility.

Question 16

Right realism is a criminological approach associated with:

A)the British Labour Party
B)the US Obama administration
C)neoliberal economic policies
D)apolitical approaches

Question 17

As a primarily British development, left realist criminology grew out of:

A)governmental policies aimed at preventing crime
B)a populist movement by UK university students
C)competition with the US to lower crime rates
D)a critique of elements of radical and Marxist approaches

Question 18

What was the methodology the left realists were aiming to use?

A)ethnography
B)statistics
C)accurate victimology
D)geography

Question 19

How did the left realists aim to estimate the 'real' risks of becoming a victim of crime?

A)By using some highly sophisticated statistical models
B)By surveying a very large sample of the population
C)Through the consideration of factors such as fear of crime
D)conduct a risk analysis

Question 20

How do left and right realism differ in their approach to the criminal actor?