How many techniques of neutralization are there

Even though the theory has its weaknesses, several theorists have used it as a basis for further study and alteration towards juvenile behavior, which Sykes and Matza encouraged. Glen Elder provided specific terms such as trajectories and transitions, which helped further the study on the concept of drift. He compared the transitions specific sequence of events based on age of juveniles with trajectories pathways of life; example, marriage.

Elder stated that certain juvenile subcultures reflect transitional cultural experiences which will effect long-term life trajectories for drifting juveniles.

He stated that delinquents, focusing on a cult of juveniles obsessed with a British rock star, are torn between criminal and conventional behavior and that most of their beliefs mirror that of the adult law-abiding community.

More recently, Minor , , and delved further into neutralization with his three studies, as did Thurman and Agnew with violent criminals. Henry Mannle, a student from Florida State University, formed his dissertation around neutralization techniques and how they are applied towards juveniles in Florida. He hypothesized that girls would use techniques more so than boys do. He further found that males and females did not differ in their use of neutralization even though males scored higher on the deviant scale.

He also ascertained that when looking at racial factors, black males and females used these techniques more often than white males and females. The study suggested that delinquents seek acceptance from society which results in them using neutralization techniques to rationalize their acts.

They also concluded that the effect of neutralization has the strongest effect towards delinquency. When looking at females, neutralization was less effective of a justification as opposed to males.

Neutralization was also found to be more viable towards Anglo-males than for either females or Mexican Americans. Mitchell and Dodder in an earlier study looked at the uses of certain neutralization towards different types of delinquency. Barbara Costello studied the effects of self-esteem and the use of neutralization techniques; which was a comparison of the control theory versus neutralization theory.

Costello also concluded that those juveniles who are close to their parents are less likely to use any techniques. She found that strongly attached delinquents find it difficult to effectively use these techniques, because they may not be able to accept that they are valid excesses. Costello, however, did note that further studies should be done on the accessibility of the different techniques to certain youths. A study by John Hagan focused not on neutralization, but on the concepts related to subterranean values and drift.

Hindelang also studied drift theory when related to their feelings of obligation towards the criminal act. He concluded that delinquents have no moral barriers that would prove neutralization techniques were necessary. James Coleman helped explain how those involved in white-collar crime justified their criminal acts utilizing techniques of neutralization. The denial of responsibility is used when those involved in the criminal behavior states that their employer expects them to.

Further studies, which looked at neutralization techniques, focused not on juvenile delinquency, but on adult criminality. Using the denial of responsibility, blame is transferred away from the pregnant woman to the lack of available birth control or the cost of raising an unwanted child. The doctor and nurse may also use this technique to justify performing the abortion illegally.

Scientific advances have helped to develop the denial of victim rationalization by depersonalizing the unborn fetus, stating that it is not a viable human life. Using the denial of injury rationalization the fetus is said not to posses the ability of consciousness, that consciousness only occurs after birth. Its longevity has been proven with theorists still using is as a basis for research even in this millennium.

Agnew, Robert. The Techniques of Neutralization and Violence. Coleman, James William Toward an Integrated Theory of White-collar Crime.

American Journal of Sociology. Costello, Barbara Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Hagan, John. American Sociological Review. Hindelang, Michael J. Social Problems. Criminological Thought: Pioneer Past and Present. New York: Macmillen Publishing Company.

Matza , David and Sykes, Gresham. Juvenile Delinquency and Subterranean Values. Matza , David Delinquency and Drift. Becoming Deviant. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. McCorkle, Lloyd and Korn, Richard. One way to do this is by using techniques of neutralization that provide episodic relief from moral constraint and allow individuals to drift back and forth between delinquent and conventional behavior.

Drift is possible because neutralization techniques blunt the moral force of dominant cultural norms and neutralize the guilt of delinquent behavior in specific situations. Through the use of these neutralizations social and internal controls that serve to check or inhibit deviant motivational patterns are blocked, thereby allowing individuals to engage freely in delinquency without serious damage to their self-image. Sykes and Matza outlined five neutralization techniques: denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victims, appeal to higher loyalties, and condemnation of condemners.

Research on the theory has generally produced mixed results, leading many to conclude that the theory is not powerful enough to serve as a stand-alone explanation for crime. Still, neutralization theory has been incorporated into a variety of other theories, including control theory, learning theory, and labeling theory. The original statement of the theory can be found in Sykes and Matza It is here that Sykes and Matza discuss why juveniles experience guilt and negative self concepts from engaging in delinquency, why they need to neutralize this guilt, and the five neutralization techniques that allow them to do so.

Matza further develops neutralization theory by incorporating it into the concept of drift, which is the idea that adolescents become delinquent because the weakening of controls allows them to drift between delinquent and conventional behaviors. Since this original writing, two articles have summarized the state of the theory. Maruna and Copes provides the most comprehensive summary of the theory to date. This review places the theory in the context of other theories in sociology as well as psychology, reviews empirical evaluations of the theory, and details what is still known and unknown about the theory.

Fritsche articulates clearly many of the misunderstandings and empirical finding of the theory. Fritsche, Immo. Predicting deviant behavior by neutralization: Myths and findings. Deviant Behavior — DOI: NNNA thorough review of the theory. This review focuses on misunderstandings regarding the theory and the empirical support for it. Maruna, Shadd, and Heith Copes. Gresham M. Sykes und David Matza. The focus here is on the learned justifications of the criminal for his already committed offence.

Deviators therefore look for loopholes and explanations to justify or neutralize their own deviant action. Sykes and Matza distinguish between five types:. The techniques of neutralization therefore do not represent an actual theory of crime, but rather describe the rationalizing behaviour of the offender after the crime has been committed.

Contrary to subcultural theories, the Sykes and Matza assume an internalization of common social norms. These are merely changed, weakened or distorted in the course of the techniques of neutralisation that follow the deed.

The cause of deviant behaviour is therefore not a gradual deviation in the acceptance of norms as subcultural theories argue , but the high flexibility of the system of norms, which paradoxically allows the prevailing norms to be internalised but at the same time to be violated. The neutralization thesis does not include any concrete political demands by the authors.

However, each of the five techniques implies different criminal policy thought-provoking impulses. Thus, the denial of responsibility can be understood as a call for better social policy, since the perpetrator, in an environment no longer perceived negatively and unfairly, can only hold himself responsible for his own misconduct. The denial of injury implies too weak or, at least in certain areas, insufficient internalisation of norms, which can lead to a demand for more moral and value education by parents or school institutions.