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Techniques of Neutralization and Motives for Committing Illegitimate Acts by Imprisoned Persons
PhDr. Marcela Moulisová, Ph.D., Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague, Department of Criminology

In 2019 a research on imprisoned persons (400 men and 200 women) was performed examining two areas. The first one focused on the issue how the perpetrators use the techniques of neutralization (Sykes and Matza, 1957) as a means of self-apologizing their deeds. The second one concentrated on between the use of the particular technique and characteristics of persons and motives for their illegitimate acts the committing of which resulted in their imprisonment. The results of the research were compared with the results of the research carried out in the year 2011 dealing with prisoners. That research monitored some of the identical variables.

Despite particular differences the findings of both the researches in a number of  cases proved to be identical. The application of particular techniques of neutralization were related to some characteristics of perpetrators and to the motives for their illegitimate acts. The motives, however, appear to have played a more distinctive role. It also turned out that motives of a large number of perpetrators convicted of committing property and violent crimes were drug related.

Key words: techniques of neutralization, motives for committing illegitimate acts, imprisoned persons, research.


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