Stengths & Weaknesses of Realist Criminologies

The key theorists of realist criminologies provide what, in their view, are pragmatic assessments of those crimes at the centre of public concern, that is, street crime, violence and burglary. They appear to be less concerned with theorising about defining crime or the power of criminalisation and more interested in actual crime control and containment.

Realist criminologies emerged in the 1970s and 1980s at a time when public concern about crime was a key electoral issue on both sides of the Atlantic. Where previously liberal and reformist arguments and theories had been advanced about, for instance, crime being a social construct, a result of poverty and unemployment or a problem of moral panics, realist theories were firmly planted in the reality of crime, and the human suffering and personal disaster caused by crime.

This essay will explore realist criminologies, outlining the various theories of left and right realism. It will describe the causes of crime, and how best ...