Matza's (1964) theory of Delinquency and Drift'
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Original Intention
Sykes and Matza wanted to build upon Edwin Sutherland’s Differential Association theory
That an individual learns criminal behaviour through “(a) techniques of committing crimes and (b) motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes” which go against law-abiding actions (Sykes and Matza, 1957:664).
The approach
Matza and Sykes developed a slightly different perspective on social control that attempted to explain why some juveniles or adolescents drift in and out of delinquency or conformity.
According to Matza, juveniles sense a moral obligation to be bound by the law.
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 behaviour or subterranean values. It is these that 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.
CRITICAL EVALUATION:
Bonds or Binds
To define, a 'Bond' or a‘Bind’ between an individual and laws is something that creates responsibility and control and this remains in place for most of the time.
How can we evidence this?
Delinquent youths are not engaged in delinquency 24/7. They spend most of their time in conventional activities.
Sub-terrainian 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.
Some researchers also noted that the behavior may not have solely monetary purposes, but also to gain rank and prestige among other criminals.
Lastly, the deviant becomes aggressive because of their alienation from society (Matza and Sykes, 1961). This is clearly seen in gang rivalries when violence is used to protect “turfs” and reputations.
The purpose of this aggression is to show how tough they are and that they have achieved manhood.
Concept of Drift
Individuals go from one extreme to another in their behaviour, known as drift.
Matza believes that juveniles drift between conventional and criminal behaviour.
Drift is explained as a gradual process, which results in molding the individual’s behavior.
Once the crime is committed the delinquent feels guilt and must balance their behaviour 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).
Techniques of Neutralisation
DENIAL OF RESPONSIBILITY
IT WAS ACCIDENTAL OR CAUSED BY FORCES
OUTSIDE ONE'S CONTROL
THE DENIAL OF INJURY
NOBODY IS CLEARLY HURT
THE DENIAL OF THE VICTIM
AGREES THAT DEVIANT ACTION WAS TAKEN AND
SOMEBODY WAS HURT, BUT, THE INJURY WAS NOT
WRONG
THE CONDEMNATION OF CONDEMNERS
SHIFT FOCUS TO THOSE DOING THE CONDEMNING;
HYPOCRITES
THE APPEAL TO HIGHER LOYALTIES
COMPETING SET OF RULES TO FOLLOW
COMPARE/CONTRACT: Alternative theories of juvenile delinquency
Hirschi ans Gottfredsons (1990) General Theory of Crime
A General theory of crime presents a more specific control theory that recognizes self-control, rather than societal control, as the root of criminality or conformity.
Great emphasis is placed on parental upbringing, for this is the source of socialization that instills self-control in a child, though others play an integral role in the process of proper or improper socialization.
Self control, internalized early in life, determines who will fall prey to the seductions of crime (Grasmick et al., 1993:7).
Children with behavioral problems will tend to grow into juvenile delinquents and eventually into adult offenders (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990:155).
The path toward or away from crime commences early in life, they contended further that the level of self-control depends on the quality of parenting in a child's early years.
Sampson and Laub's Age-graded theory of
They developed this theory using some of the most fascinating data ever studied provided by Sheldon and Eleanor Gluck in the 1940's (a longitudinal study of troubled boys in Boston).
Sampson and Laub reconstructed the data and followed-up with the original respondents, who were then around 60 years old. Sampson and Laub found that some of the troubled boys ended up in trouble with the law for the rest of their lives, while others lived very conventional lives and had no legal problems.
They found that the troubled kids who got straightened out experienced some sort of turning point—an event or life circumstance that pulled them out of their criminal lifestyle and into a more conventional pattern of behaviour.
Such turning points included military service, employment, and marriage.
The theory brings together social influences on crime, such as family and employment, with psychological predispositions.
This social psychological approach to crime adds some of the best features of strictly psychological and sociological approaches, for it acknowledges personal differences in criminal propensity, but it also makes a place for society to overrule, or at least counteract, these propensities.
DESCRIPTION
The problem with definition of 'youth' and 'crime'
we automatically perceive our younger generations to be out and out delinquent
etiology of juvenile delinquency
the concept of youth was born out of the construction of childhood during the era of enlightenment.
Criminological Theories and explanations of juvenile delinquncy
A plethora of diverse sociological, psychological and criminological theories have been formulated in an attempt to explain the causes of juvenile delinquency
Schools of Thought: Social Control Theories
Social control theories of crime and delinquency attribute law-breaking to the weakness, breakdown, or absence of those social bonds or socialization processes that are
presumed to encourage law-abiding conduct.
Such theories accord primacy to relationships, commitments, values, norms and beliefs that are purported to explain why people do not break laws as compared to theories according primacy to motivating forces thought to explain why
people do break laws.
Although it was not presented as a social control theory, David Matza's book, Delinquency and Drift (1964), incorporated several of the features of that type of theory.
INTRODUCTION
Aims:
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Objectives
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Context
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Content
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Reasoning
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CONCLUSION
Recap
Aim
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Main points of critical analysis
Main points of critical evaluation