Conflict Theories Focus On The Political Nature Of Crime

Conflict theories focus on the political nature of crime and examine the creation and application of the law. Conflict theory fundamental assumption is that society is characterized more by conflict than by collective consensus. This characterization allows conflict theory to be viewed at on a continuous spectrum from different vantage points. On one end of the spectrum is the pluralistic view that infers that society is composed of different groups which are in a struggle for maintain their interest in several situations. On the opposite end of the spectrum is conflict between classes in a fight for dominance over one another. Regardless of the position on the continuum consensus among groups is temporary and will always return to a state†¦show more content†¦Society thrives off of inequality within the social classes of society in order to promote social change. Taylor and Francis agree that,† where there exist relations of exploitation, there must also exist an uneq ual distribution of the means of subsistence, which in turn stimulates a class conflict over the distribution of the social product as well as over control of the production process†. In his communist manifesto Karl Marx examined the inevitable arising between the â€Å"bourgeoisie† and the lower class people. Developing a capitalist society was the main focus of the upper class by using new methods of production during the industrial revolution. The bourgeoisie are considered the capitalist factory owners, who controlled and established the market by creating their own products off the labor of the working class. The working class were not benefiting from their labor of working for the upper class, in fact they were being exploited because they received the bare minimum for their extraneous efforts. â€Å"Class-based relations of production, by concentrating certain of the means of production in the hands of a tiny minority of non-producing ‘owners’, allo w this privileged group the structural capacity to appropriate surplus-labor or surplus-product from a subordinate class of ‘direct producers’, who are forced to yield to economic exploitation in exchange for some kind of access to the means of