1. Introduction Marx’s Conflict theory Karl Marx ‘s conflict theory focused on the class conflict (bourgeoisie and proletariat). The rising of capitalism in the society which cause economic, social, and political significant. Marx stated that the more powerful minority class oppresses the majority class and created class conflict. As the interests of the two were at odds, the resources were inequitable distributed among the two classes. Moreover, the inequitable social order was developed; values, expectations and conditions were determined by the more powerful minority class, i.e. the capitalists (Collins & Sanderson, 2008). Marx stated that the superstructure is composed of social institutions, political structures, and culture. The produced …show more content…
The benefits of economic and social resources are taken by the more powerful capitalists. The less power elite are more likely to become labeled as deviant. However, the capitalists can have the resources to resist such deviant labels (Otteson, 2011). . 2. Social conflict and substance abuse Social conflict theory can be applied to analyst why there are more substance abusers found in lower social classes and low-income youngsters. In Hong Kong, it is commonly known that the unskilled and low education individuals prone to poverty. Youngsters in this lower class are under pressure and being marginally ignored. They are prone to have substance abuses and even becoming a drug dealer to escape form the grinding poverty. Goode (1997) used the conflict theory to analyst two kinds of drug abusers. He stated that most illicit drug users are occasional and recreational, they claim drug taking as a risk-taking behavior. However, the other type of drug abusers are in chronic and with heavy drug taking. They are clinically addicted and suffering harm (Goode, 1997). Such abusers prone to be economically marginal, feeling hopeless and
Marx 's conflict theory has a very distinct ideology, it is stated that it mainly focuses on the causes and effect of class conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The Bourgeoisie represented the members of a higher society which held onto the majority of the wealth and means also known as the owners of the way of manufacture and the capitalistic. While the proletariat class was constructed by individuals who belong to the working class or the poor. While they would focus on the economical, societal, and governmental implications of the rise of the capitalist economy in Europe. With the rise of the capitalist economy, it was theorized that the bourgeoisie,
Many drug addicts do not have jobs or any legal means of generating income; they resolve to criminal activities such as theft, robbery, or aggressive panhandling. Due to the addictive nature of drugs, the user will be compelled to want more and more in order to continue feeling “normal”. It is what fuels their addiction and as a result, a lack of motivation to do anything other than obtaining more drugs. The drug addict’s family suffers from the effects of the drug addiction as well through emotional stress and psychological decay. Drug addicts also encourage illegal drug trafficking by helping fund criminal organizations. In fact, drug addicts are the reason why the billion dollar drug industry is as lucrative as it is. Without drug addicts, drug traffickers would have no customers or buyers to help generate income. Huge amounts of tax revenue is going towards the war on drugs which includes money going into police departments, border agencies, harm reduction programs, and anti-drug campaigns. The tax money being used to fight drugs could be used to better our education or health systems; instead it is being used to fund harm reduction programs such as Insite.
Karl Marx is the founder of conflict theory which views a society that is capable of being a principle of competition and conflict. Conflict theory is simple to understand in which it suggests that society has inequality between people and social groups. Conflict theory would suggest that conflicts and tensions emerge when power, resources, and status are distributed unevenly between distinct groups in society. Its groups who are
Conflict theory allows us to see the conflict between social life and capitalism. Marx saw the power struggle between classes and felt that it is wrong to ignore inequality. One of the biggest inequalities between the two classes was the alienation of the workers (Morrison, 2006). Only one class, the wealthy gains the full benefit of the labor. An example of this is a worker who builds something that they will never be able to afford. Because of this the worker loses control of their production. This is what conflict theory is, the power struggle between two
There has been no doubt through the years that there is a clear relationship between drug use and crime. A large number of drug users are said to have suffered from a traumatic event or are suffering from a mental or psychological disorder (Hutson, 2007). These users are hoping to just make the pain go away or feel just a little happier for a short time. However, there is no clear cut way to determine which came first the drug use or the criminal activity. When discussing the possibilities that crime and drug use are related, there are three hypotheses that could be evaluated. The first of these hypotheses theorizes that crime is caused by the use of drugs. As a drug user becomes more dependent on the illegal substance or legally prescribed
Marx advocated social reform for the proletariat (workers).The focus of Marx’s conflict theory is that by eliminating privilege, the overall welfare of the society can be increased. This would then create a true equality
Conflict theory is a term that was first advocated by the German philosopher and sociologist Karl Marx (1818-1883). First and foremost, it is important for us to understand how conflict within society can arise. Marx’s methodology or another phrase; ‘Marxism’, applies mainly to the rise of capitalism (i.e. advanced industrialised societies in which certain people came to own the means of production and exploited workers in order to enrich themselves). Marx saw this as resulting in class struggle and the eventual overthrow of the capitalist class. This is an emphasis on power and the control of people and land leading to oppression; in the context of this essay; oppression being the exercise of an authoritative figure of some kind acting in a cruel or unjust manner, note; this is more likely to apply to an already advanced society.
This leads to an increase in criminal activity such as neglect of familial duties, robberies to fund their dependency, and violence to defend their habits. The ‘drugee’ becomes a nuisance to society. Some become homeless and exhibit poor health habits such as malnutrition and tooth decay. Other negative effects include the transference of diseases because of needle sharing. Though drug use is a personal choice, the effects on the rest of society are undeniable. The best intentions are formulated on a personal level, but this is overcastted by its negative effects. This argument, however, is a bit one-sided because the reason for using and dependency varies between users.
Under Karl Marx’s conflict theory, society has two classes of people: the owners and the workers. The theory suggests that owners basically exploit the workers, depriving them of the basic human necessities such as food and shelter. Meanwhile, the workers believe that they are taken care of adequately, and they rely on the owners for their well-being. But the owners do not have the workers’ best interests in mind because they want to produce wealth by any means. “Potent social forces [capitalism, patriarchy, imperialism, home ownership] do exist and being homeless is to lose a stake in several of them” (Neale, 2007,
Although some people argue for the legalization of drugs, addiction to these substances has caused a huge increase in violent crimes in the home, at school, and on the street. Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to create compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. This is a false and uneducated belief. Drug abuse may start as a social problem or social escape but one the addiction has taken ahold of a person
The use and misuse of illicit drugs in today’s society can be blamed on both individual, and societal factors. With the use of societal factors researchers can show the effect for a larger population, and provide better information of the population. Blaming the individual for developing the addiction will not fix issues that lie in society that worked against the individual, the underlying issues of poverty and addiction, many scholarly articles mention bad neighborhoods, low income, and loose family ties with future drug use. I will be using evidence from articles involving both teen and adult drug use and addiction, as the effect on society is noticed in both age brackets. “Substance use is considered a problem by individual addicts who seek treatment, by institutions within society (such as the police or the medical system) that deal with substance use and its consequences on a day-to-day basis, and by national organizations such as governments or supranational organizations, such as the International Narcotics Control Board (a United Nations agency located in Vienna). (Adrian) I will be using scholarly articles to explain the sociological reasoning behind drug use, with theories involving low-income neighborhoods, leading to lessening of family involvement which can lead to drug use. “Drug abuse affects a community 's living conditions and economy, its youth, and the environment for crime.” (Watts)
Moreover, it argues that economic exploitation causes political oppression and the powerful will then use their power to turn the state into a “servant of bourgeois economic” (Marx). For that reason, the only way to breakout of this conflict is through revolution, in which the working class people overthrows the owner of the capitalist system. Conflict theorists might argue, for instance, religion fulfills the bourgeois interests by appeasing the population by pacifying them. In essence, under this theory there will always be conflicts for scarce resources, and whenever one group gains control of the resources there will be an oppressed group. And according to Marx, this can be broken if we have a classless society where resources are allocated equally.
Karl Marx: Conflict Theory The most influential socialist thinker from the 19th century is Karl Marx. Karl Marx can be considered a great philosopher, social scientist, historian or revolutionary. Marx proposed what is known as the conflict theory. The conflict theory looks at how certain social interactions occur through conflict. People engage in conflict everyday to gain more power then others in society. Karl Marx is known for studying the conflicts that occur between different classes. Karl Marx has introduced some radical ideas and theories to society through his writings. As the industrial revolution moved forward in society, so did the widening gap between class structures. Karl Marx studied the differences arising between the
He further explains that organization is usually disrupted by the competition between the laborers, but it always comes back stronger. (Marx & Engels 1948, 31) He then describes capitalists and argues the loss of individuality that the bourgeoisie fear from the threat of Communism and lays out the foundations for the Communist revolution. He states that "political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another." (Marx & Engels 1948, 37)
Karl Marx believed that struggle or conflict among classes was an inevitable feature of capitalism based on the argument that various groups in a society or social classes perpetually fight and compete for resources and power, hence the groups remains polarized against each other. The Karl Marx’s conflict theory views behavior from the perspective of conflict or tension among two or more groups. The conflict does not necessarily translate to violence but rather takes the form of struggle within political negotiations, business, philosophical ideologies or personal attitudes. A critical analysis of Karl Marx conflict theory’s point of view reveals that the conflict of social classes is the major aspect of societal conflict, and is mostly propagated by the differences in economic statuses and inequalities in distribution.