The Family at the Core: Neutralization and Narratives in Latin American Homicides

Abstract This paper analyzes the narratives of homicide perpetrators across three Latin American countries, focusing on the ways in which they construct the moral meaning of harm. Bridging neutralization theory and narrative criminology, it examines how perpetrators in Latin America construct stories centered on familial harm. Thematic analysis was conducted on interviews with 27 cisgender men and women convicted of homicide in Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. First, homicide was often reframed, minimized, or interpreted primarily in terms of its relational consequences. Second, perpetrators commonly portrayed their own families as the unfair victims of the crime, reconfiguring rather than simply deflecting responsibility away from themselves and sometimes toward the state. Third, the suffering of the victim’s family was depicted as both an inevitable consequence of the act and a profound, enduring rupture extending beyond the immediate loss, disrupting emotional well-being and social relationships. We argue that these narratives constitute a culturally embedded form of moral displacement, in which responsibility is not simply denied or neutralized, but reorganized around harm to the families. We further suggest that cognitive-behavioral interventions should not only emphasize the acceptance of responsibility but also attend to the forms of harm that perpetrators themselves identify. Recognizing the suffering of their own families may open an additional analytical lens for understanding processes of reflection and relational desistance, with local reintegration programs potentially benefiting from engaging with family ties rather than focusing solely on guilt or confession.