When Neutralizations Are Used: Disentangling Social Controls, Neutralizations, and Delinquency

Neutralization theory has been widely used to explain criminal offending. However, the theory is underdeveloped, and few modifications have been made to Sykes and Matza’s original formulation. This study examines the conditions under which individuals employ neutralizations. These conditions are then used to identify how various risk factors relate to neutralizations, thereby providing predictive and nomological validity to the framework. The current study tests whether social controls predict neutralizations using 3,820 adolescent responses from three waves of the G.R.E.A.T. data. A cross-lagged panel model and two structural models were employed to parse out reverse causal effects between neutralizations, social controls, and delinquency. Findings indicate that social controls reduce the use of neutralizations, but neutralizations are largely not associated with social controls or delinquency. However, actions involving forethought are related to neutralizations, whereas impulsivity is not; this pattern suggests that any association between neutralizations and delinquency is likely indirect. These findings suggest that neutralizations are contingent on social and individual conditions and are not primary drivers of delinquency.