This article reviews property crime through the concept of left realism by focusing on the basic principles of left realists. This paper explores the influence of socio-economic and demographic factors on property crime within the framework of left realist theory, highlighting the complex dynamics between these elements and crime rates in England and Wales. It critiques the reliability of crime statistics, suggesting that they might exaggerate or fail to capture the true state of property crime and its relationship with unemployment. The analysis also considers unemployment as a source of relative deprivation, potentially exacerbating property crime and victimization in the absence of adequate opportunities and support systems. However, the paper acknowledges that other factors, such as effective policing, criminal justice measures, and social provisions, may also play significant roles. It further examines how demographic factors, particularly in socially marginalized and economically deprived areas, can contribute to higher rates of property crime and increase the number of victims. Left realism provides valuable insights into the underlying causes of property crime and its victimization, advocating for a comprehensive understanding that goes beyond conventional analyses to address the root conditions of environmental deprivation and their impact on vulnerable communities even though left realism has weaknesses. Keywords: Left realism, property crime, unemployment

ABSTRACT As both first-generation, working-class Canadians from Italian immigrant families we were very much outsiders to the academy when we began our respective university studies in the late 1980s. Today, as third-generation critical criminologists, we strive to bring an intersectional perspective to the classroom and to likewise enable marginalized students to find their voice and position themselves as active subjects, not objects of others’ inquiry. From sharing the insights offered by Left Realism and Zemiology the authors offer an autoethnographic account of teaching crime and justice. In keeping with hooks’ observation that the reality of class differences is starkly revealed in educational settings, this paper seeks to explore the intersections between teaching and learning as a process that involves existential self-reflection towards a critical pedagogy aimed at creating an inclusive teaching and learning space that challenges myths, demythologize power relations, and promotes social justice.

This article revisits the concept of relative deprivation and asks whether it is still useful for criminology. The article traces the way relative deprivation has been used in the past to understand crime and how it has connections to other, more recent, additions to debates on social justice. I argue that relative deprivation has disappeared even in the place that it had become the key explanation for crime—left realism. In so doing, I explore the resurrection of left realism in criminology—what I refer to as “post-millennial left realism”—first, by those who were associated with it originally, and then with Hall and Winlow’s (2015, 2017) shift in emphasis to what they term “ultra-realism.” I maintain that relative deprivation is still a powerful concept for bridging several related areas that should still be central to the concerns of criminology—in part, because it is still a major concern in popular social science and social psychology. Why has it disappeared in criminology? I present an argument that suggests that the absence of certain research methods, such as ethnographic and qualitative or small-scale survey methods, has impoverished our understanding of the lived reality of people experiencing the social transformations of a networked, precarious society. The massive polarization and disruption in politics and social discourse, as well as the worldwide economic, public health, and social transformations (ranging from the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter protests to the COVID-19 global pandemic) have demonstrated the continued relevance and analytical power that relative deprivation, in its elaborated form, brings to questions of crime and justice.

Left realism emerges in the early 1980s as a separate department, or direction within the neo-Marxist critical criminology. It results from dissatisfaction and certain criticisms of the foundations on which critical criminology is built, which left realists call left idealism. Namely, they are called realists because, in their view, crime should be considered in its reality, and the causes that led to criminal behavior should be seriously looked at, which means that leftist realists focus on already experienced realities. Hence, the issues of interest to left realists are the problems faced by certain groups regarding their age, class, sex, race and place of residence. They have some similarities with structural subcultural theories, arguing that crime is a form of subcultural adaptation to lived problems and realities. The basis is that due to material constraints and circumstances, the required cultural goals and aspirations cannot be achieved by legally disposable means. The central postulate of left realism is to reflect the reality of crime, in its origin, nature and influence. This means that crime cannot be romanticized or it cannot be explained as a product of the offender's pathology or other personal characteristics. Real problems related to the crime need to be considered and resolved. In this respect, the issues of left realism are the problems that citizens face, the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, the geographical distribution of crime, as well as the prevalence of crime in certain social areas and sectors of the community. They are particularly concerned about ignoring the crime that is taking place on the streets by truly disadvantaged and marginalized citizens, as well as the crime that takes place behind closed doors, particularly in the family. So, the perspectives of the left realists are that street crime is a serious problem for the working class, working class crime is primarily committed against other working class members, relative poverty feeds the dissatisfaction and that dissatisfaction, in the absence of political solutions creates crime, and crime can be reduced by implementing practical social policies.On the basis of what has been stated, in this paper we will elaborate the critiques of critical criminology stated by the proponents of Left Realism , a Square of crime that offers appropriate solutions for criminal and social response to crime and perspectives of left realism that predominantly rely on community-based policies.

Challenges facing contemporary law enforcement: Enhancing public confidence and trust in the police by icorporating the ‘Left Realism’ theory of justice into modern criminal justice policies and practices Does the ‘left realism’ theory of justice, which acknowledges the importance of crime prevention, but supports the increased involvement of the public and victims in the criminal justice process, pose an option for policy makers to consider for ensuring that crime declines continue and that public trust and confidence in the police can improve? Many police organizations in western democracies have experienced reductions in street and violent crime rates over the last two decades. This enhanced effectiveness, which has been observed in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom since the mid-1990s, has been correlated with the increased use of technology and the employment of proactive, arrest-oriented strategies. In many jurisdictions, resources have been transitioned away from highly touted community policing efforts to investigative and enforcement units. While many law enforcement experts and administrators have viewed these initiatives as a ‘smarter’ form of policing, some advocates for predominantly minority neighborhoods have frequently alleged racial and ethnic bias and other abusive conduct at the hands of the police, most notably in larger metropolitan centers. The purpose of this paper will be to examine and identify practical options for direct community and victim engagement after highlighting legislation and practices that have been shown to increase transparency and police legitimacy in some western democracies. The findings of this review will support the need to enhance public and victim involvement in criminal justice processes as emphasized within the ‘left realism’ perspective.

The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics. Lisa L. Miller. New York: Oxford University Press (2016). 272pp. £26.49hb ISBN 9780190228705

The renewal of the Left realist tradition in criminology is vital for a critical understanding of crime and criminal justice in the context of a dominant neoliberalism. Left Realism presented two core components: the local democratic community control of policing and crime prevention and the analytical ‘square of crime’. Two strategies for renewing the tradition are contrasted: the re-elaboration and updating of the core concepts or the incorporation of new themes – specifically critical realist philosophy – from outside the original paradigm. While these two are not mutually exclusive I argue that most of the proposed critical realist innovations are already present in the core concepts of Left Realism and that it is here, in the focus on struggles for local democracy and in the deconstructive tradition of the ‘square of crime’, that the future for Left Realism lies.

Since its birth in the mid-1980s, as a major variant of critical criminology, Left Realism continues to ebb and flow. Furthermore, not all Left realist contributions are alike and some are subject to very heated debates. The fact remains, however, that Left Realism is ‘alive and well’. Of course, given that I devoted 26 years of my life (much of it with Martin D Schwartz) to the realist project, I could easily be accused of being biased. Nonetheless, some contemporary empirical support for my claim is the recent publication of Roger Matthews’ (2014) book Realist Criminology. The main objective of this volume is to use this offering as a ‘launching pad’ or ‘springboard’ for broader analyses of the relevance of Left Realism to critical criminology as we know it today. Matthews’ piece is the lead article. Following this are six others that, in part, address his monograph and that also point us to new directions in Left realist ways of knowing. In keeping with the spirit of the International Journal of Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, the authors constitute an international cadre of progressive scholars, including me, Joseph Donnermeyer, Steve Hall, Russell Hogg, John Lea, Claire Renzetti, and Simon Winlow. It cannot be emphasized enough, though, that this special issue is not a ‘love-in’ and there is no ‘party line’ here. All of the authors have strong positions on topics of major concern to academics and activists seeking new ways of thinking critically about crime, law and social control.

At its inception Left Realism argued the need to develop a radical social democratic approach to crime. I argue that its contribution and continuing relevance primarily lies in this political project, the need for which has not dissipated. But this can only be advanced as an integral component of a more general renewal of social democratic ideas and politics that challenges the hegemony of neo-liberalism. This is far from guaranteed. The possibilities and challenges after the global financial crisis are considered. I argue for a rethinking of some core themes from early Left Realism to (as I see it) better complement the task of social democratic renewal in the present.

Using Roger Matthews’ (2014) book Realist Criminology as a launching pad, this article points to some timely issues that warrant attention from Left Realism. Special attention is devoted to rebuilding the Left realist movement and to some new empirical directions, such as critical studies of policing, adult Internet pornography, and rural women and girls in conflict with the law.

Critical criminology must move beyond twentieth-century empiricist and idealist paradigms because the concepts and research programmes influenced by these paradigms are falling into obsolescence. Roger Matthews’ recent work firmly advocates this position and helps to set the ball rolling. Here we argue that Matthews’ attempt to use critical realist thought to move Left Realism towards an advanced position can help to put criminology on a sound new footing. However, before this becomes possible numerous philosophical and theoretical issues must be ironed out. Most importantly, critical criminology must avoid political pragmatism and adopt a more critical stance towards consumer culture’s spectacle. A searching analysis of these issues suggests that, ultimately, criminology is weighed down with obsolete thinking to such an extent that to remain intellectually relevant it must move beyond both Left Realism and Critical Realism to construct a new ultra-realist position.

This article traces Jock Young’s contribution to the development of Left Realist criminology beginning with the political interventions of the mid 1980s progressing through the development of the ‘square of crime’ as the conceptual framework for a Left Realist research programme to some of the final formulations in his later works. The emphasis of the article is less on critical receptions of Left Realism by the wider criminological community than on demonstrating the consistency of Jock’s commitment to following through the implications of the Left Realist paradigm.

In this paper I reflect upon the legacy of the work of Jock Young for the development of a critical criminology. In doing this I also endeavour to offer a contribution to an internal history of both criminology and victimology but from a very particular, and personal, position. The paper falls into four parts. In the first I consider the time period from 1980–1997 and academic, political and policy debates therein. I have called this a time of ‘emergent optimism’. The second part considers the years from 1997–2007 in which this optimism was subjected to challenge. The third part considers 2007 to date and the challenges that remain for both criminology and victimology in the absence of the voice of Jock Young.

Within this article the lived realities of violent crimes relating to the British military are explored taking influence from left realist criminology to develop Bryant’s (Khaki-collar crime: deviant behavior in the military context. The Free Press, New York, 1979) notion of Khaki-Collar Crime. Situated within the context of victimology, our attention is drawn to the ways in which two British military personnel have been perceived as victims and offenders of violent crime within public and legal domains. Using these events as a touchstone for critical analysis it is suggested that several key concerns relating to the ‘unification’ of war and criminal justice are illuminated by employing the concept of ‘military victimhood’: it enhances the perception of soldiers’ vulnerabilities; provides sympathetic conditions to understand military offending; subjugates the position of ‘Others’ within the justice system; and has been appropriated to further domestic counter-terrorism policy in the UK. In making this argument a platform is presented to reengage with khaki-collar crime and help rethink criminological left realism.

New deviancy, Marxism and the politics of left realism: Reflections on Jock Young’s early writings

Since Canada’s colonial beginnings, it has become increasingly riddled with classism, racism, sexism, and other damaging outcomes of structured social inequality. In 2006, however, many types of social injustice were turbo-charged under the federal leadership of the Harper government. For example, a recent southern Ontario study shows that less than half of working people between the ages of 25 and 65 have full-time jobs with benefits. The main objective of this paper is to critique the dominant Canadian political economic order and the pain and suffering it has caused for millions of people. Informed by left realism and other progressive ways of knowing, I also suggest some ways of turning the tide.

Left realists continue to offer progressive ways of studying and solving various types of crime in the streets, in the “suites,” and in intimate relationships. This article briefly describes the central themes, assumptions, and concepts of left realism and charts new directions in research, theory, and policy. Special attention is devoted to using new electronic technologies and to responding to the rabid corporatization of institutions of higher learning.

From left realism to mass incarceration: the need for pragmatic vision in criminal justice policy

What, if any, is the value of sport to processes of peace and reconciliation? After introducing the largely rhetorical arguments for and against the value of using sport as a vehicle to promote peace building in divided societies, this article makes a more detailed and forensic examination of the evidence based on: the role played by sport in South Africa before and after apartheid; and second, drawing upon the author’s own experiences garnered over more than two decades of conducting research and leading sport-based intervention initiatives in Northern Ireland and Israel. The article argues that sport is intrinsically value neutral and under carefully managed circumstances it can make a positive if modest contribution to peace building. The mobilization of an engaged sociological imagination in the context of a broader human rights agenda is central to this contribution. Drawing upon notions of pragmatism, left realism and praxis, the article concludes by presenting a ‘ripple effect’ model that illustrates the circumstances under which sport can make a difference in the promotion of social justice and human rights in deeply divided societies.

Plain left realism: an appreciation, and some thoughts for the future