Deviance from conflict perspective can be explain by breaking up the theories of Karl Marx. Those who follow the work of Karl Marx concerning criminology are known as Marxist criminologist. The crux of Karl Marx theory is that, society is evolving continuously and evolution is inevitable. Historically Few people rule and other were being ruled in a society. In slave society masters rule over the slaves and exploited them for material gain. In agriculture society land lords exploited peasants and Karl Marx refer to the status qua society as capitalist society, where bourgeoisie exploits proletariat (working class).
According to conflict theory, deviance occurs due to class conflict. Bourgeoisie owns and controls the means of production in capitalist society and proletariat work for bourgeoisie to produce goods. All the efforts are put together by working class for production but they do not receive the fair share of their work. The owners of capital accumulate their wealth by exploiting working class. The working class cannot afford to buy the same products, which they have produced in the factory, because they are not being paid for their work fairly. In such unfair living condition lower class are compelled to commit crime for their survival.
Furthermore, in capitalist society the goal of each and every individual is, to become economically prosper. However, most of them fail to obtain that goal because they do not have means to achieve the goal. For example, most organization prefer to hire a graduate (for managerial level job) from a renowned educational institution. Lower class do not have access to a reputable institution because they can’t afford it, that’s why they fail to accomplish their goal of economic prosperity. They are only left with an option of deviance to obtain their goals. Some might become drug dealer, some may choose prostitution for financial security and some may become killers. Structural functionalist, Merton and Durkheim shared a same view as explained in strain theory. Conflict theory suggest that, mostly crimes are committed by the people who lack the resources for survival and exploited by the bourgeoisie.
Inequality in a society create chaos and unrest, if resources are distributed equally amongst the individuals there would be no crime. The root cause of the deviance is class struggle. Moreover, conflict theory suggest that, legislature, judiciary and executive branch of state are made and work for the people who are at the top of social ladder (upper class). They just function for the interest and protection of upper class. Those who are at the bottom of social ladder (lower class) are not entertain by law enforcing institutions as they entertain upper class.
