Who Assuages Feelings of Guilt? Moral Neutralization of Juvenile Delinquents in Serbia

Abstract

The paper deals with the use of neutralization techniques among juvenile delinquents in Serbia. The conceptual framework of the study is based on the theory of neutralization developed by American sociologists Sykes and Matza. The aim of the research is to determine to what extent do juvenile delinquents use rationalizations of their behaviour, and to discern whether there is a connection between such justifications, socio-demographic characteristics of families, and the self-perceptions of juvenile offenders. The study includes all juvenile offenders in the Educational Correctional Facility (ECF) Krusevac (N = 153) at the time of the research (2017). In order to obtain data on technical rationalization, we used a slightly modified version of the moral neutralization scale developed by Ribeaud and Eisner. The findings reported indicate that most respondents do make use of neutralizations to justify their delinquent behaviour. It was also reported that respondents of different socio-economic status and family structure tend to resort to different forms of justifications, and that self-perception goes hand-in-hand with preferred rationalizations. In summary, the findings provide empirical support for the theory of neutralization and its core concepts.