Neutralization

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Neutralization (often referred to as Techniques of Neutralization) is a psychological process by which an individual justifies personal behavior that contradicts their held values system, without surrendering either the values system in question or their conception of self as one in good standing with it. It is generally structured according to categories first proposed by two of its early proponents: Specifically Gresham Sykes and David Matza who in the 1950s set out to observe and describe the process by which "delinquent youths" overcame what Sykes and Matza theorized to be an otherwise universal inherent shame to the committing of "criminal acts." While this perspective presupposes a number of different ideas about human nature and objective morality that have since come under serious reconsideration (or rejection) by the broader psychological and philosophical communities, the categories themselves retain explainative power within the framework of the theory even when extracted from Sykes and Matza's sloppy editorializing.

Sykes' and Matza's Categories

• Denial of Responsibility: Self image is maintained through displacing fault. ("I was only following orders." "It wasn't my place to intervene.")

• Denial of Harm: Self image is maintained through minimizing or denying the consequences of admitted actions. ("It was just a joke." "So I hit him, it's not like I shot him." "That didn't hurt and you know it.")

• Victim Blaming: Exactly what it says on the tin. The person harmed is made out to be responsible for the behavior that harmed them, at the convenient excuse of the person who committed the action. ("Look how she was dressed!" "If he hadn't been such a pussy I wouldn't have beat him down.")

• Reflexive Blame: Self image is maintained through casting accusations back at the accusers from a position of denial, claiming instead to be the innocent victim of their aggression, or discounting their aspersions on the basis of their unrelated "guilt." ("You disrespected me first!" "You're a god-hating atheist! I don't need to listen to your words!")

• Appealing to the Greater Good: Self image is maintained by asserting that seemingly contradictory actions will ultimately aid the values system in question. ("By beating the child, we stop them from getting into trouble." "If we rob this old lady, we can finance our organization.")

See also

• Denial
• Psychological projection
• Vigilante

References

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