Explanations of crime have been explained by an individual’s external force and outside environment that individuals have no power over. However, the emergence of control theory challenged these prior theories that dominated criminology by emphasizing the individual and his or her social controls. There are several varieties of control theory, such as Sykes and Matza’s Techniques of Neutralization, Walter Reckless’ Containment Theory, Travis Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory, and Gottfredson and Hirschi’s Self-Control Theory. In this paper, I will focus on Skypes and Matza’s Techniques of Neutralization by presenting the theory, empirical research that has been conducted, as well as critiquing it, and providing policy implications.
BACKGROUND
In …show more content…
Similar to strain theory, this specific type of neutralization accommodates external social forces outside individual control that may propel and drive an individual into deviant situations such as neglect from family members, deviant peers, poor neighborhoods, etc (Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox, 2014, p. 225). 2 Denial of injury involves whether anyone has been hurt by the individual. Delinquents often use this technique type because it is open to a variety of interpretations and they view deviant acts as an extension of what is considered common practices among youth. For example, instances of vandalism is neutralized when it is deemed as typical mischief, the property is being damaged and it can be easily replaced. 3 Denial of victim insists that the injury is well deserved or that it was a rightful form/act of punishment in terms of the surrounding circumstances (i.e. disrespecting the gang leader). The individual may see himself/herself as a vigilante figure, taking on the role of exercising and seeking justice, similar to Robin Hood. 4 The condemnation of the condemners is a technique that deflects attention on the individual towards to those that may disprove his/her criminal behavior, these people often consist of: law enforcement, family, and teachers, etc. The individual may personally attack the character of his/her condemners by insisting that they …show more content…
The sample consisted of 25 active street taggers from a metropolitan area in Texas. “Active street taggers were defined as individuals who had committed at least two or more acts of illegal street tagging within the previous two months and who were not currently incarcerated nor identified through law enforcement contacts” (Vasquez & Vieraitis, 2016, p. 1183). The sampling strategy used for this study was snowball sampling and data was gathered/acquired from semi-structured interviews. Respondents ranged from 13 to 18 years old. However, representation of the sample was not generalizable due to the small sample size and that all respondents were Latino, except for one African American, and all were male. A majority of the respondents came from a low socioeconomic background and from various family units ranging from single-parent, two-parent, and multiple family households. According to Vasquez and Vieraitis (2016), results of 25 field interviews with active offenders suggested that they committed their crimes to overcome boredom, to fulfill a need for excitement, to relieve stress associated with family issues, and to “get up” or gain recognition as an authentic tagger” (p. 1192). Data highly suggested that the ready availability of justifications made the decision of them to participate in tagging relatively
BACKGROUND
In …show more content…
Similar to strain theory, this specific type of neutralization accommodates external social forces outside individual control that may propel and drive an individual into deviant situations such as neglect from family members, deviant peers, poor neighborhoods, etc (Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox, 2014, p. 225). 2 Denial of injury involves whether anyone has been hurt by the individual. Delinquents often use this technique type because it is open to a variety of interpretations and they view deviant acts as an extension of what is considered common practices among youth. For example, instances of vandalism is neutralized when it is deemed as typical mischief, the property is being damaged and it can be easily replaced. 3 Denial of victim insists that the injury is well deserved or that it was a rightful form/act of punishment in terms of the surrounding circumstances (i.e. disrespecting the gang leader). The individual may see himself/herself as a vigilante figure, taking on the role of exercising and seeking justice, similar to Robin Hood. 4 The condemnation of the condemners is a technique that deflects attention on the individual towards to those that may disprove his/her criminal behavior, these people often consist of: law enforcement, family, and teachers, etc. The individual may personally attack the character of his/her condemners by insisting that they …show more content…
The sample consisted of 25 active street taggers from a metropolitan area in Texas. “Active street taggers were defined as individuals who had committed at least two or more acts of illegal street tagging within the previous two months and who were not currently incarcerated nor identified through law enforcement contacts” (Vasquez & Vieraitis, 2016, p. 1183). The sampling strategy used for this study was snowball sampling and data was gathered/acquired from semi-structured interviews. Respondents ranged from 13 to 18 years old. However, representation of the sample was not generalizable due to the small sample size and that all respondents were Latino, except for one African American, and all were male. A majority of the respondents came from a low socioeconomic background and from various family units ranging from single-parent, two-parent, and multiple family households. According to Vasquez and Vieraitis (2016), results of 25 field interviews with active offenders suggested that they committed their crimes to overcome boredom, to fulfill a need for excitement, to relieve stress associated with family issues, and to “get up” or gain recognition as an authentic tagger” (p. 1192). Data highly suggested that the ready availability of justifications made the decision of them to participate in tagging relatively