Theories of Conflict 

Criminology
Kathleen Mary Andersen
Introduction
We are a society from all over the world with different countries and cultures. Blending into the
United States, differences make up our diverse world and create cultural conflict. In Chapter 11
of Vold’s Theoretical Criminology, George Vold, Jeffrey B. Snipes; Thomas J. Bernard; and
Alexander L. Geroud discuss the theories of conflict criminology. According to Snipes (2019),
Vold wrote “greater equality in the distribution of power among groups in society should result
in greater equality in the distribution of official crime rates.” (p. 288.) The difference, as Vold
specifies, is that control theory suggests that individuals should be bonded by others who have
similar values and interests. Conflict criminology suggests a general tendency for power and
official crime rates to be inversely related. What is a crime defined by specific cultures, and
should certain cultures influence the criminal justice system? Do groups of people that have
higher crime rates defend their values and interests legally? What role does economics play in
illegal activities to survive? Would addressing these differences will reduce the overall levels of
conflict? (Snipes, 2019).
Thorsten Sellin
In 1938, Swedish-born criminologist Thorsten Sellin contributed groundbreaking theories in his
book “Culture Conflict and Crime.” The theory suggests that the root of all crime is based on
various values and beliefs about what was acceptable behavior. Crime is committed when there
is a clash of these values. The influence of the conflict is between cultural values. Along with
criminologist Marvin Wolfgang, they stressed that it is essential to plan out the essential
disciplinary task of understanding the relationship between crime and social structure while
designing a rational punishment program. Economics played an elevated level of understanding
of the underlying cultural conflict theme and our punishment system against African Americans
and Hispanics (Snipes, 2019).
Selin’s theory claims, “Conduct norms are cultural rules that require certain types of people to
act in certain ways in certain circumstances.” (Snipes, 2019, p. 271). Sellin referred to two types
of cultural conflict: primary and secondary. Sellin explained that the “primary cultural conflicts”
occur between two diverse cultures. Migration is significant when one ethnic group moves into
another culture’s territory. “Secondary cultural conflicts” “he explains, occur when a single
culture evolves into several different subcultures, each having its conduct norms.” (Snipes, 2019,
p. 272). Initially, primary conflict occurs when the clash involves fundamental cultural beliefs.
Secondary conflict involves fewer fundamental beliefs. (Snipes, 2019).      
When one culture evolves into several subcultures, each with its conduct norms, it results in
secondary cultural conflict. Vold’s 1958 Group Conflict theory viewed society as a collection
held together by group interests. There was a struggle about how each group fit into society.
There were significant and minor competing groups. Twenty years after Sellin wrote “Culture
Conflict and Crime,” George Vold presented a group conflict theory in the original edition of the
present book. Vold’s theory was based on a “social process” view and a portrait of a society in
the equilibrium of opposing group interests and efforts. George Bryan Vold’s credentials were
that of an educated professor and sociologist in criminology. The papers he wrote from 1839 – to
1963 presented his theories on criminal conduct. (Snipes, 2019)
In Vold’s theory, groups in society struggle to maintain or improve their neighborhood through
ongoing interaction and competition with other groups. Adjustments are complex and not often
agreed upon, and the process alone takes substance out of a happy middle. Sellin noted that the
lower class is often dictated by the model of what the middle class expects. Vold continues in
Chapter 11 that the viewpoint of societies and cultures is associated with their interactions with
each other. It includes being a part of what is meaningful or essential and who they are in the
world and with others. (Snipes 2019).
It is their identity, be it Asian, European, African, or Indian, to blend cultures. Groups are formed
when people have common interests and everyday needs that can best be furthered through
collective action. New groups are continuously formed with goals and a common point of
interest. Nevertheless, conflict arises when the members of one group are loyal to each other.
Vold explains that immigration is neither good nor bad, depending on who the migrants are.
(Snipes, 2019)
We cannot always tell what immigration group someone belongs to in a crime, as it is not a
question most law enforcement asks when booking a suspect. Someone can be Somalian but a
citizen of Germany. They could be Columbian living in Costa Rica. So, what has our experience
been with Mexican immigration? There is little help in sorting out the effects of our current
illegal Mexican immigration. New laws will reflect the changes from recent crimes established
by these group conflicts. (Snipes, 2019).
In the rapidly changing environment, we are facing in this country, theories of conflict
criminology imply that groups with high official crime rates should have lower rates as they use
their newly acquired power to pursue and defend their values and interests legally. For example,
in the City of Seattle, should drug crimes take over the top place in arrests, as the jails are full?
Not to mention defunding the police leave few officers to do the job. The values of the drug
community take over what was once a law on illegal drugs. The entire process of lawmaking and
lawbreaking reflects the conflicts of each group’s interest. Typical behavior of minority power
groups has the power to change the laws. If enough people smoke marijuana and there is no way
to enforce any laws against it, it becomes legal in such cases as California, Washington, Oregon,
Colorado, and others. (Snipes, 2019).
TURK, QUINNEY, CHAMBLISS, AND SEIDMAN
Ten years after Vold authored his papers, there was a turmoil of social and political opinions
brought on by the Vietnam War. Austin Turk proposed a “theory of criminalization” that showed
that the differences between authorities and subjects would result in conflict. Was protesting the
war a conflict of opinion versus what the government felt was necessary by going to war? Turk
discussed the conditions under which conflict is more likely to result in the criminalization of the
subjects. An example: is draft dodgers. One factor was what Turk called the “realism of the
conflict moves.” It is related to how likely an action taken by a group may improve the potential
for their ultimate success. In this case, does protesting stop our war involvement? (Snipes, 2019).
In 1970, Richard Quinney came out with his theory of “the social reality of crime.” Associated
with Vold’s group conflict theory, Quinney argued that the legislative process was about
balancing political and legal opinions and the self-interests of outside groups. He questioned if
there were segments of society that share the same values and norms. An example of this during
the Vietnam War was that of the students at various universities. Their thinking is different from
a company that produces war equipment to export to Vietnam. (Snipes, 2019).
Chambliss and Seidman became involved when they addressed the appellate court and their
decisions on the effect of creating law. The court said that value neutrality was a factor and that
natural law should support troubled cases. Nevertheless, natural law sometimes means the
involvement of private opinions. In ending, Chambliss and Seidman concluded that judges must
rely on their values when making decisions in troubled cases. On the other hand, Appellate
judges are educated on the casebook method related to the wealthy. The question is whether a
client can pay the costs of defending the case. It favors the rich and powerful. (Snipes, 2019).
BLACK’S THEORY OF THE BEHAVIOR OF LAW
In 1976, Donald Black published a sociological theory titled The Behavior of Law, in which he
attempted to explain variations in the quantity and style of law. Black’s theory has many
similarities with the conflict theories described by others. It involved how much or how little law
needs to be created. Penal law, for example, requires more steps and procedures while more
minor crimes do not. Black explored five social dimensions of social life, stratification,
morphology, culture, organization, and social control. Social control “is the normative aspect of
social life. It defines responses to deviant behavior, specifying what ought to be. Law is social
control, but so are etiquette, custom, ethics, bureaucracy, and the treatment of mental illness.”
(Vold, 2019, p. 278). In the end, Black concluded that law is more significant when there is a
reasonable distance between cultural differences, including education or white-collar
criminals. (Snipes, 2019).
VALUES AND INTERESTS IN COMPLEX SOCIETIES
In the end, Vold speaks about the values and interests of complex societies. They include 1) a
personal value of what is good or right. Alternatively, what is excusable? 2) Complex societies
of people who live under different conditions, such as ghettos. 3) people who have different or
competing values and interests. An example would be the conflicts between children of
European-born New Yorkers and the Puerto Ricans who came for a better life. Moving outside
the ghetto presented a common goal for two conflicting groups. Nevertheless, researchers have
found in the 1970s that African Americans were sentenced more harshly than European
Americans. (Snipes, 2019).
It was found that African Americans had fewer resources for obtaining higher-level private
attorneys. They were also less likely to make bail. 
Researcher Tory’s conflict-oriented interpretation of the drug war can contradict other, non-
conflict interpretations of the same facts. For example, differences in mandatory sentencing for
crack versus powder cocaine may reflect differences in the extent to which they are associated
with violent crime. However, empirical tests of these alternate interpretations are challenging to
arrange. (Snipes, 2019).
Outside Opinions
In 2003 researcher and writer Michelle LeBaron described, “Cultures are like underground rivers
that run through our lives and relationships, giving us messages that shape our perceptions,
attributions, judgments, and ideas of self and others. Though cultures are powerful, they are often
unconscious, influencing conflict and attempting to resolve conflict in imperceptible ways.
(LeBaron, 2003). She expressed that culture is multi-layered, so what we see on the surface may
differ from what lies below. Culture is constantly in flux. It is elastic in that one member of a
cultural group does not represent the entire group. Muslims, for example, and the countries they
originated. Moreover, lastly, culture is under the surface. What we think are the values on the
surface could be harder to reach in the traditional meaning and origin. (Corissajoy. 2020).
A study done on crime in El Paso, Texas, found that it is a working-class city of approximately
700,000 people that sits opposite the Rio Grande River from Ciudad Juarez, known as one of the
most lawless and violent cities in Mexico. More than 80% of El Paso’s residents are Hispanic,
and most are of Mexican origin and immigrants. The city has one of the highest proportions of
immigrants among U.S. cities. Many of these migrants are undocumented. One would think that
this city is a hotbed for crime and violence, but it is not. El Paso is one of the safest cities in the
United States, with a homicide rate of 2.4 per 100,000 residents. (Calvin, n.d.)
The most dangerous city in the United States is St. Louis, Missouri. Ferguson, a suburb, was
headlined by the media for its problems with the police against the citizens of that city. The press
avoided the behavior of criminal blacks in this area. Police brutality became the focus. Terrible
poverty and joblessness while avoiding black-by-black killings were all that people remembered.
One fact that was not mentioned was that blacks were being driven out of the workforce by
foreign-born immigrants willing to work hard. Black people dominated businesses such as meat
packing, which paid approximately $44,000 a year to a job market of legal/undocumented
immigrants making $24,000, and errant-white violence was exploited for political gain.
However, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services blacks noted that blacks were 3.1
times as likely as whites to end up in emergency rooms for drug abuse. (Loflin, n.d.).
Reference
Corissajoy. (2020, June 24). Culture and conflict. Beyond Intractability. Retrieved June 19,
2022, from https://beyondintractability.org/essay/culture_conflict
Chalfin, A. J. (n.d.). Do Mexican immigrants “Cause” crime? Do Mexican Immigrants “Cause”
Crime? | Department of Criminology. Retrieved June 19, 2022,
from https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/fact-check/do-mexican-immigrants-cause-crime
Loflin, L. (n.d.). Crime rates by race Missouri. Crime Rates by Race in Missouri. Retrieved June
19, 2022, from https://sullivan-county.com/racism/crime_missouri.htm
Snipes, Jeffrey B., Vold’s Theoretical Criminology, 2019, Oxford University Press.

This entry was posted in Life In My Opinion Magazine Archive and tagged Conflict

Criminology Theory, Criminology.