Generally focuses on large, macrolevel structures, such as the relations among classes. It shows how major patterns of inequality in society produce social stability in some circumstances and social change in others. It stresses how members of privileged groups try to maintain their advantages while subordinate groups struggle to acquire theirs. And it typically leads to the suggestion that eliminating privilege will lower the level of conflict and increase the sum total of human welfare.

societies are best characteristics by conflict between different groups within a society

Criminological theories based on assumptions that the sources of criminal behavior are class conflict and social inequality; based on the writings of Marx.

A theory that argues in a complex society, social groups may pursue different interests, and the achievement of success depends on how powerful they are. Responses to crime are interpreted as part of a larger struggle among groups that attempt to use law, or legal control, in pursuit of their own interests.

In sociology, conflict theory states that the society or organization functions so that each individual participant and its groups struggle to maximize their benefits, which inevitably contributes to social change such as changes in politics and revolutions. The theory is mostly applied to explain conflict between social classes, proletarian versus bourgeoisie; and in ideologies such as capitalism versus socialism. The theory attempts to refute functionalism, which considers that societies and organizations function so that each individual and group plays a specific role, like organs in the body.