The interactionist's view crime as occurring because of a persons own experience. For example, if a child grew up craving attention from his parents, he might turn to breaking things and stealing things. After all, negative attention is better than no attention to a child. This behavior could carry on into adulthood and affect his relationships and careers. It might possibly carry on into criminal acts. It basically comes down to how the criminal interacted with others in his/her experiences throughout life. Interactionists focus on crime as being defined by society, that it is socially negotiable and may change depending on the society and views of the people.
The conflict theory explains crime through the ideals of politics, economics, and social class. Crimes such as burglary, assault, and robbery, are considered to be committed by the helpless, in the eyes of the conflict theory. It reaches to uncover the bias in the criminal justice system while examining the role social structure plays on each form of crime. Also seeks to explain why crimes committed by the elite/rich, are treated more leniently than those committed by the working middle/lower classes.
