"critical question"?

Question

how would a Conflict theorist and Symbolic interactionist explain crime?

Answer 1

Conflict theorist - all society is in conflict; classes, races, and genders are constantly at war with each other (especially classes); in an attempt to attack a person of higher class and power, a person may commit a crime to reduce the power imbalance; on the other hand, those with higher power are the ones who determine what is a crime, and what is not a crime - those with power make the laws.

Symbolic Interactionist - we are all playing roles;  someone who is socially defined as no good or a trouble-maker will be assigned a role as a criminal; they may behave very well on many occasions, in their role as father, husband, etc. A person's world and meaning is socially defined. Capitalist society's insistence that money drives worth may lead a person of the lower class to commit a crime to get money to be worthy - in a  perverse way. What is or is not a crime is a socially determined meaning. Sodomy is a law in some states, and not in others; at some times, and not others.