Explain the Emergence of Left and Right Realist Criminology and Evaluate Their Strengths and Weaknesses

Crime has existed for thousands of years, but research and theories into crime as a 'science' have only emerged within the last couple of centuries. There are many factors and influences that may lead up to any individual committing a criminal act, whether they be biological, psychological, sociological, cultural or gender based. Any one of these factors are necessary to induce conditions for the existence of a crime, typically, criminological research tends to focus on one or two factors instead of analysing them as a multi-factored simultaneously. Early criminologists such as Beccaria, (1738-1794) and Bentham (1748-1832) sought to explain crime within the classical school of criminology, focussing on the individuals' need for 'pain' or 'pleasure' and seeing behaviour as rational and self-interested in the pursuit of this. A second approach to the problem of crime was within a biological context, suggesting that physical and biological traits were to blame for criminal behaviour (Lombroso. 1835-1909) and that human anthropology could show a genetic correlation between individuals and criminal acts. In the early 20th century, research into criminal behaviour moved away from the physical/biological approach and started to concentrate on the psychological factors and mental processes that influenced criminals. …