Techniques of Neutralization (From Criminological Perspectives: A Reader, P 206-213, 1996, John Muncie, Eugene McLaughlin, and Mary Langan, eds. -- See NCJ-161531)

• NCJ Number: 161542
• Author(s): G M Sykes; D Matza
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications Ltd
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. From "Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency," P 664-670, 1957.

Annotation

This essay argues that much delinquency is based on an unrecognized extension of defenses to crimes in the form of justifications for deviance (neutralizations) that are viewed as valid by the delinquent but not by the legal system or society at large.

Abstract

One of the neutralization techniques is the denial of responsibility. In so far as the delinquent can define himself as lacking responsibility for his deviant actions, the disapproval of self or others is reduced in effectiveness as a restraining influence. Another neutralization technique is the denial of injury or harm involved in the delinquent act. Even if the delinquent accepts responsibility for his deviant actions and is willing to admit that the deviant actions involve an injury or hurt, the moral indignation of self and others may be neutralized by an insistence that the injury is not wrong under the circumstances. A fourth technique of neutralization involves a condemnation of the condemners. The delinquent shifts the focus from his own deviant acts to the motives and behaviors of those who are holding him accountable. Finally, social controls may be neutralized by sacrificing the demands of the larger society for the demands of the smaller social groups to which the delinquent belongs. 14 notes