Neutralisation Techniques
Definition
The vocabulary of justifications identified by Sykes and Matza (1957) by which offenders deny the wrongfulness of their acts: denial of injury, denial of victim, denial of responsibility, condemnation of condemners, and appeal to higher loyalties. White-collar offenders frequently use these techniques, for example by framing corporate fraud as standard industry practice.
- Source
- Sykes and Matza, 1957
- Categories
- Five, including denial of injury and denial of victim
- Field
- Criminology, offender rationalisation
- Common use
- White-collar and corporate offenders
Common questions
How do neutralisation techniques differ from a genuine belief an act was lawful?+
They are after-the-fact or anticipatory justifications used to manage guilt while the offender still knows the act is wrong, not a mistaken belief that it was legal.
Why are these techniques particularly associated with white-collar crime?+
The physical and social distance from victims in financial and corporate offending makes justifications such as claiming no one was really hurt easier to sustain.
Related terms
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