Discuss how conflict theorists explain deviance

Conflict theorists take the position that the group in power ensures that its definitions of deviance are those that are accepted by mainstream society. Conflict theorists maintain that the law is an instrument of oppression and exploitation. The law is used to maintain the privilege of the few over the many. Because the marginal working class have little income and are desperate, they commit highly visible property crimes. The elites manipulate the criminal justice system and use it to punish the crimes of the poor and divert their own criminal activities away from this punitive system.