A theory introduced by Gresham Sykes and David Matza in 1957 describing a series of rationalizations, such as denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of the victim, condemnation of the condemners and appeal to higher loyalties, by which someone who commits an illegitimate act temporarily neutralizes the conventional values that would otherwise restrain them.
Facts
Core ClaimSourced to the subject's own accountOffenders are not immune to conventional moral values; they employ specific rationalizations that temporarily neutralize the guilt that would otherwise restrain them, allowing a drift into deviance rather than a wholesale rejection of conventional morality. 1 Origin YearSourced to the subject's own account Standing CritiqueSourced to the subject's own accountFurther research testing the theory has produced inconclusive results, finding offenders both with and without a solid belief in their own moral obligations, and Travis Hirschi questioned whether the rationalizations arise before an offense, restraining it, or only afterward, excusing it. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Critiqued Here
Sykes and Matza argue most delinquents hold broadly conventional values and merely neutralize them temporarily, challenging Cohen's picture of a wholly separate, inverted delinquent subculture.
Developed By
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Techniques of Neutralization
Lead sectionQuote, Lead section
Techniques of neutralization are a theoretical series of methods by which those who commit illegitimate acts temporarily neutralize certain values within themselves which would normally prohibit them from carrying out such acts.
1. Wikipedia: Techniques of Neutralization
Acceptance sectionQuote, Acceptance section
Further research in the hypothesis has produced inconclusive results. Offenders have been found both with a solid belief in their moral obligations, and without.
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