David Matza & Gresham Sykes

Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency

Juvenile Delinquency and Subterranean Values
Delinquency and Drift
David Matza is an American sociologist. He and Gresham Sykes is most popular for their theory of
neutralization.
Later on, Matza individually research and discuss on juvenile delinquency more intensively.
We can divide their work on delinquency in three (03) parts:
Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency
Juvenile Delinquency and Subterranean Values
Delinquency and Drift
Techniques of neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency
Before more than 50 years they published an article on Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory
of Delinquency in American Sociological Review, in 1957.
The basis of their theory of Neutralization is Sutherlands Differential Association which states
that an individual learns criminal behavior through
a) techniques of committing crimes and
b) motives, drives, rationalizations and attitudes which go against law-abiding actions. (Sykes and
Matza, 1957:664
These techniques reduce the social controls over the delinquent and are also more applicable to
specific juveniles.
Sykes and Matza argue that a significant amount of delinquency and criminality is based on the
offenders justifications of their activities through the techniques of neutralization.
According to them neutralization is a technique, which allows the person to rationalize or justify
a criminal act.
Basis of Neutralization Theory
Matza and Sykes based their theory on four (04) basic facts seen in the society:
1. Many delinquents feel or express remorse and guilt because of the criminal act.
2. Delinquents frequently show respect for those citizens who are law-abiding.
3. There is a limit to whom they victimize, they must distance themselves from their
victims.
4. Delinquents can be effected by their surroundings and are susceptible to conformity.

Five Techniques of Neutralization

There are five (05) techniques of neutralization. These are as follows:
1) Denial of Responsibility
2) Denial of Injury
3) Denial of Victim
4) Condemnation of the Condemners
5) The Appeal to Higher Loyalties
Denial of Responsibility
Denial of responsibility is a technique used when the deviant act was caused by an outside force.
This technique goes beyond looking at the criminal act as an accident. The individual feels that
they are drawn into the situation, ultimately becoming helpless.
These juveniles feel that their abusive families, bad neighborhoods and delinquent peers
predispose them to criminal acts.
A common statement used It was not my fault.
Denial of Victim
Denial of victim is used when the crime is viewed as a punishment or revenge towards a
deserving person.
This technique may be used by those who attack homosexuals or minority groups.
She was asking for it, because of the way she was dressed.
They deserve it.
This is also glorified in the stories about the character Robin Hood and his actions involving
stealing from the rich.
Condemnation of the Condemners
The technique called the condemnation of the condemners, also known as rejection of the
rejecters by McCorkle and Korn (1954), places a negative image on those who are opposed to the
criminal behavior.

The juvenile ends up displacing his/her deviant behavior on those they are victimizing and also
viewing the condemners as hypocrites, such as corrupt police and judges.
The Appeal to Higher Loyalties
The appeal to higher loyalties technique is used when the person feels they must break the laws
of the overall community to benefit their small group/family.

 This technique comes into play when a juvenile gets into trouble because of trying to help or
protecting a friend or family member.
Juvenile Delinquency and Subterranean Values
Matza and Sykes further develop their views on delinquency as a result of a deviant sub-culture,
which exposes the individual to crime and in turn teaches deviant behavior or subterranean
values, which cause them to deviate from the norms of society.
Sykes and Matza also argue that delinquent acts are not as deviant as society would like to
believe and that normal values are over-simplified.
They observed several values present, which they define as subterranean values.
First, delinquents search for a thrill or an adrenaline rush. This rush they seek is not
easily accomplished through law-abiding means. The excitement may even be a result of
the fact that the behavior is not accepted.
Secondly, they do not view normal occupations as worth the work when they can make
more money doing illegal acts.

Lastly, the deviant becomes aggressive because of their alienation from society. The
purpose of this aggression is to show how tough they are and that they have
achieved manhood

These above acts are very similar to Thorstein Veblens view of the gentleman of
leisure depicted of the elite upper class; focusing on adventure, low views of
menial labor, conspicuous consumption, and respect for masculinity (Matza and
Sykes, 1961:715).

The fact that these views are similar reinstates Sykes and Matzas theory that
society over-simplifies criminal behavior. It obviously matters who is partaking in
the behavior, not the behavior itself.

Matza and Sykes concluded that their study on the effect of subterranean values and leisure time
did not explain several aspects of juvenile delinquency.
First, they cannot explain why certain juveniles convert subterranean values into serious
criminal behavior and others do not.
Secondly, they admit that their needs to further, in-depth studies done on the effects of the
juveniles value systems as a result of leisure time.
Delinquency and Drift

Matza also expressed additional thoughts on juvenile delinquency. He believed that individuals
go from one extreme to another in their behavior, known as drift.

 Matza believes that juveniles drift between conventional and criminal behavior. Drift is
explained as a gradual process, which results in molding the individuals behavior.
Once the crime is committed the delinquent feels guilt and must balance their behavior by
returning to act in a law-abiding manner.
Drift can be described as soft determinism, which views criminality as partly chosen and partly
determined.
The will to commit a crime occurs when one of these conditions is present; preparation and
desperation. These allow the individual to form the decision to commit a crime.
Preparation occurs when a criminal act is repeated once the person realizes that the
criminal act can be achieved and is feasible.
Desperation activates the will to initially commit a crime because of an extraordinary
occasion; or fatalism, which is the feeling of lacking control over ones surroundings
(Matza, 1964).
Matza also believes that there is a subculture of delinquency, but it is not a delinquent
subculture (Matza, 1964:33).
He also suggests that there are several ways in which a delinquent senses injustice (an underlying
condition of drift);
The ways are as follows : cognizance, consistency, competence, commensurability and
comparison.
Matza believes that the juveniles connection to law-abiding behavior diminishes when they feel
that an injustice has occurred.
Cognizance is defined as to whether or not the juvenile is aware that he/she committed a
wrongful act. Even when they are caught in the act or confess their crime they still may not
actually own-up to the criminal act in their mind.
Consistency represents whether or not the juvenile feels that they are receiving the same treatment
as everyone else who has been involved in the same criminal behavior.
Competence is an issue revolving around those who are in judgment of the juvenile.
Commensurability refers to the relation between infraction and sanction (Matza, 1964:159). In
other words, does the juvenile believe that their act should even result in a punishment and if so
the punishment should fit the crime.
Comparison results when juveniles evaluate the legal system and notice that there are laws, which
only pertain to them and not adults. Some juveniles do not want to accept that they are any
different from adults.