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When Being Good Is Bad: An Expansion of Neutralization Theory [excerpt]

Criminology: Washington 2005

Sykes and Matza claimed that neutralizations work because they protect an offender from damage to his self-image by allowing himan offender to preserve a non-criminal self-concept image despite his involvement with crime. However, this interpretation seems almost jingoistic in its assumption that conventional norms are the sole or dominant behavioral standard to which offenders hold themselves. Anderson (1999, 1990) and others (Jacobs, 2000, 1999; Wright &and Decker, 1997, 1994; Shover, 1996; Wolfgang &and Feracuti, 1967) have documented the existence of a pervasive and influential street culture that exists in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods. Its devotees disrespect do not respect authority, lionize honor and violence, and place individual needs above those of all others. It stands to reason that tThose who adhere strongly to the "code of the streets" (Anderson, 1999; see also Cooney, 1998) are concerned with preserving and presenting an image (both to the outside world and to themselves) that rejects conventional values. As such, one would expect that they would not behave in a manner predicted byaccord with the original conception of neutralization theory as it was originally conceived by (Sykes and Matza (1957; Matza, 1964). This does not mean that serious, violent street criminals do not employ neutralize their behaviorations or that their behavior is exclusively dictated by the ethics of harsh street life. In fact, tThere is no reason to assume that their capacity to variably follow the ethics of "the street" is any less than that of the middle class individuals to abide by thateir own set of values.

Recall that Sykes and Matza originally proposed their theory as a counterweight to the notion that conventional values are unimportant to delinquents. They believed that offenders are attached to conventional society and employ neutralize their behaviorations as a cognitively, technique designed to reduce guilt over betraying conventional societysuch attachments. But Sykes and Matza'sTheir assertion that conventional values are the sole referent for such guilt, however, is a limiting assumption. Abandoning this conventional orientation and acknowledging the potential of a nonconventional one allows us to expand the application of neutralization theory to the embrace offender decision- making of offenders in the context of street life.

Copes (2003) hints at such a conceptualization in his analysis of the neutralization techniques employed by car thieves used. Participants in that study were tested for the degree to which they were "attached" to conventional society prior tobefore their interviews. Differences between high and low attached offenders were found in the amount and type of neutralizations they made. In particular, low attached offenders' neutralizations were geared toward "saving face" in front of other street associates and maintaining a "positive" public image consonant with the subcultural values of their surroundings,; and not necessarily to assuage anticipated guilt over behaving in a manner contrary todefying conventional norms.