The Devil Made Me Do It: Use of Neutralizations by Shoplifters Cromwell & Thurman

1. Part V Chapter 27 The Devil Made Me Do It: Use of Neutralizations by ShopliftersCromwell & Thurman

2. I. Techniques of Neutralizations Part 5: Ch. 27

3. A. Neutralizations (Sykes & Matza) Part 5: Ch. 27 • People make “justifications” for deviance seen as valid by deviants but not by legal system or society • Denial of responsibility: • Deviance due to acts or situations beyond their control • Denial of injury: • mitigate act by alluding to lack of harmful consequences to anyone

4. A. Neutralizations Part 5: Ch. 27 • Denial of the victim: • legitimate their behavior by suggesting no specific victim can be identified or that persons hurt “deserve” what happened to them • Appeal to higher loyalties: behavior justified as serving a greater good • Condemnation of the condemners: turning the table on accusers, focus on what accusers have done wrong • Denial of responsibility: • Deviance due to acts or situations beyond their control

5. A. Neutralizations Part 5: Ch. 27 • Denial of injury: • mitigate act by alluding to lack of harmful consequences to anyone • Denial of the victim: • legitimate their behavior by suggesting no specific victim can be identified or that persons hurt “deserve” what happened to them • Appeal to higher loyalties: • behavior justified as serving a greater good • Condemnation of the condemners: • turning the table on accusers, focus on what accusers have done wrong

6. B. Additional Techniques Part 5: Ch. 27 Defense of necessity (Coleman, 1994) Everybody does it (Coleman, 1994) Justification by comparison Postponement

7. II. Statement of Problem & Methods Part 5: Ch. 27

8. A. Data Analysis Part 5: Ch. 27 Interviews with 137 participants in a court-ordered diversion program for first-time offenders charged with theft, the majority for shoplifting

9. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 27 • Denial of responsibility • “I didn’t mean it” • Frees subject from experiencing culpability by being seen as victims of their environment • Offender views self as being acted upon rather than acting: blame poor parenting, bad companions, or internal forces • Allows offender to avoid disapproval of self or others which diminishes those influences as mechanisms of social control • Alcohol or drugs often cited as reason for shoplifters’ loss of self-control

10. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 27 • Denial of injury • “I didn’t really hurt anybody” • Shoplifters suggest that big stores like Sears are easily able to afford the loss • Denial of the victim • “They had it coming” • Shoplifters view large stores as deserving victims because they make excessive profits at the expense of ordinary people: theft is justified as retaliation

11. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 27 • Condemnation of the condemners • “The system is corrupt” • Blame on law-makers and law-enforcers, shifting focus from offender to those who disapprove of their theft • “Cops are thieves, too” and “judges take bribes”

12. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 27 • Appeal to higher loyalties • “I didn’t do it for myself” • Mothers shoplifting for items for children they could not afford to buy • The defense of necessity • Attempt to reduce guilt by arguing the offender had no other choice under circumstances: “I had no other choice” • Most often used when shoplifter states crime was necessary to help one’s family

13. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 27 • Everybody does it • The crime is common, unexceptional, and therefore the offender is “normal” • Justification by comparison • “If I wasn’t shoplifting I would be doing something more serious” • Shoplifting justified by comparing it to serious offenses like robbery • Postponement • “I just didn’t think about it” • Excuse strategy: offender suppresses their feelings momentarily

14. Review Questions Part 5: Ch. 27 • Does neutralization of crime occur before its commission or as a rationalization after the fact? • How serious is shoplifting compared to other types of criminal or deviance? Can it rightfully be labeled a “gateway” criminal or deviant act?

15. Part V Chapter 28 Men Who CheerBemiller

16. I. Study & Methods Part 5: Ch. 28

17. A. Data Analysis Part 5: Ch. 28 • Sports have long been associated with construction & maintenance of masculinity among men and boys • Reinforces patriarchal values of masculinity over femininity • Devaluation of femininity reflected in subordination of women as well as men who participate in non-masculine activities

18. A. Data Analysis Part 5: Ch. 28 • Competitive sports emphasizing size, strength, & power reinforces and reaffirms masculinity of viewers or players • Preeminent “male” sports: football, basketball, ice hockey, and baseball which emphasize mental toughness, competitiveness, and domination • Athletics provide young men with status among peers, increasing their popularity and acceptance; those who do not play sports are stigmatized and may be seen negatively

19. A. Data Analysis Part 5: Ch. 28 • Men in female-dominated occupations such as cheerleading encounter questions regarding their sexuality • To reaffirm their masculinity, these men emphasize masculine aspects of their job or seek administrative positions • Participants (n=17) drawn from cheerleading squad at Ohio public university; equally male and female, all white, between ages 18-25: focus groups and individual interviews

20. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 28 • Stigma • Participation in a feminine sport: male cheer-leaders are labeled as non-masculine & homosexual for “crossing over” into a female domain • One says he will avoid the stigma he faces by not cheering publicly at the game: • He loves and attends the practices but he has no plans to cheer at a football game • Sexuality: male cheerleaders’ sexual identities may also be questioned by others including fellow cheerleaders

21. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 28 • Saving Face • Male cheerleaders employ strategies to minimize stigma of participating in female-dominated sport • Territoriality • Male cheerleaders adamant about importance of men in cheerleading, even invoking history of sport as begun by men (women excluded at that time)

22. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 28 • Women cheerleaders appear to be invested in helping men to maintain masculine guise & are willing to help elevate men into superior role • By ‘doing femininity” female cheerleaders show their submissiveness to men • Masculine Aspects - Toughness & Aggression • Male cheerleaders seek to demonstrate their heterosexuality by establishing toughness and masculinity • Male cheerleaders can hold their own against football team: project image they should not be messed with and able to protect themselves through use of violence if needed

23. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 28 • Sexual Objectification of Women • Hypermasculinity (Connell, 1992) becomes manifest when hostility exists toward gay men and heterosexual men attempt to create social distance between them • In cheerleading, the men do this in large part by sexualizing female cheerleaders • Female cheerleaders, acknowledging stereotypes about male cheerleaders, emphasize that “male cheerleaders are the most heterosexual males I ever met”

24. B. Findings Part 5: Ch. 28 • Women construct the men as both “brotherly” and “perverted” and provide defenses for the men’s sexualization of the women • Both the men and the women see the sexual objectification of women as a component of a man being masculine • Men emphasize a sexualized relationship with the women: it is cited as one reason why they chose to cheer

25. Review Questions Part 5: Ch. 28 How do male cheerleaders reconcile their (masculine) identities within a female sport? What are the consequences of participating in such a female-dominated sport and how do female cheerleaders react to male cheerleaders?