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Paper Abstract: Use for a study of deviance. Criminal activity of Black Panther Party and neutralization concept of deviant behavior; delinquents remain committed to the social order they offend. Two types of labeling: formal and informal. Labeling as a social process guided by political and economic forces. Huey Newton. Paper Introduction: Neutralization & Labeling Theory in Shadow of the Panther Neutralization Techniques Sykes and Matza introduced five techniques of neutralization that individuals employ to justify their deviant behavior. The five techniques are denying responsibility, denying the injury, blaming the victim, condemning the authorities and appealing to higher principles or authorities. Sykes & Matza believed that lower class urban males' feelings of desperation gave rise to their will to delinquency. Moreover, they noted that such males, when arrested, attempted to justify their delinquency as a positive response to unfair and burdensome social processes. Thus, techniques of neutralization are based on the assumption that delinquents remain committed to the social order they offend. The theory proposes that offenders are not committed to op Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The Party provided Newton with a coreof supporters and an organization on whose behalf he could justify hiscriminal and deviant behavior. Labeling Theory Howard Becker's labeling theory views deviance as a creation by socialgroups rather than as an inherent quality of some act or behavior. In fact, Newton embraced his "crazy nigger"image, and his acceptance and glamorizing of that label led to escalatingviolence and criminality within the Party.[41] Nonetheless, Becker makes it clear that not every rule breakerprogresses in this manner and that certain people have alternative paths totake.[42] For example, many Black Panthers disagreed with Newton'sactivities, particularly as they related to other blacks, and they left theParty as a result. " The Problem of Lemons and Why We Must RetainJuvenile Crime Records." Cato Journal (Spring 1998): 75-83. Thus, while labeling theory is a persuasiveexplanation for the effect of a label of deviance, it offers no insightinto the evolution of deviance before that point. "The Shadow of the Panther. [1 ] Ibid., 2 . [29] Ibid. Instead, Becker details the process of how deviant outsidersbecome involved in secondary deviance, which begins with the process ofbeing caught and labeled deviant by a person in position of authority.[29] Labeling is constructed as a social process guided by political andeconomic forces. [22] Ibid. Appeal to Higher Loyalties. [36] Ibid. Ofcourse, in the case of the Black Panthers, a label of deviance had alreadyattached based solely on the Panthers blackness. The rule breaker that identifies with the deviant label astheir master status becomes an outsider and is denied the means of carryingon with their everyday lives.[4 ] The Black Panthers clearly identifiedthemselves as outsiders, both of the white power structure and the non-violent civil rights movement. [24] Ibid. Clearly,Newton was skilled in the art of neutralizing his behavior to escapecriminal liability. Bibliography Becker, Howard. Informallabeling includes categorization by nonprofessionals such as parents andfriends. Consequently, labeling theory does not adequately address primarydeviance, which is the first intentional or unintentional act thatinitially gives rise to the label of deviance.[27] Becker does argue thatmost people think or fantasize in a deviant manner and he states that thestudy of why certain people conform while other give in to deviant impulsesis crucial.[28] However, labeling theory offers nothing to guide suchstudies. [31] Ibid. [51] See Seale's statement at Pearson, 131-132. [18] Ibid. [25] Ibid. However, it is disturbingto suppose that every black person has a greater likelihood of escalatingcriminality, as a strict application of labeling theory would suggest. "David Matza and Gresham Sykes: Delinquency and Drift." OrganizingSocial Life. Marcus. Criminals often try to deny responsibilityfor their actions by arguing that they lacked the requisite criminalintent. Thus, the Partycondemned anyone who criticized the Party, whether such criticism wasintended to destroy the Party or to strengthen it. [34] Ibid. The Shadow of the Panther. [4] Jennifer McCarthy, "Neutralization as a Process of GraduatedDesensitisation: Moral values of Offenders," International Journal ofOffender Therapy and Comparative Criminology (December 1998): 278. However, a deeper analysis reveals that the BlackPanthers were indeed aware of the illegality of their actions, althoughthey were convinced of their justification for the "wrong" behavior. [43] Ibid. Thus,Becker describes rules as the reflection of certain social norms held bythe majority of a society.[21] Enforced rules are applied differentiallyand usually facilitate certain favorable consequences for those who applythe label.[22] Finally, according to labeling theory, people who are likely to engagein rule breaking behavior are essentially different than members of therule-making or rule-abiding society.[23] Those persons who are prone torule-breaking behavior see themselves as morally at odds with those membersof the rule-abiding society.[24] Becker uses the term "outsider" todescribe a labeled rule-breaker or deviant that accepts the label attachedto them and view themselves as different from mainstream society.[25]Deviants may consider themselves more "outside" than others similarlylabeled. [33] Ibid. [39] Funk, 1. Black, Donald Black. Consequently,labeling may become central to their definition of themselves and theconstruction of their identities.[33] Corey offers the example of a child who is labeled deviant. [7] Ibid., 35. [32] Ibid. [13] Becker, Howard. However, applying Becker'stheory to the Black Panthers reveals a weakness in labeling theory.Labeling theory suffers from a fundamental weakness in that it does notexplain primary deviance. And Newton's graspof the law and his subsequent earning of a Ph.D. Polsby, Daniel. However,Sykes & Matza's theory does not fully explain the criminal involvement ofthe Panthers' leader Huey Newton in particular, as will be discussedsubsequently. According to labeling theory, such rejection by the civilrights movement and the white power structure would only lead the BlackPanthers to greater acts of deviance. Eldridge Cleaver's statements are a clear example of such thoughtduring the 196 s. [2 ] Funk, T. [5 ] Ibid. suggest that the Party mayhave maintained some allegiance to the social constraints they maligned. However, labeling theory maintains that an outsider,denied the means to carry out daily routines, will turn to illegitimatemeans to make a living.[43] This offers support for the Black Panthers'criminality as well as its willingness to prey on the very community itclaimed to defend.[44] The final step in the creation of a career delinquent involves themovement of a rule breaker into a deviant subculture.[45] The affiliationof the labeled deviant with an organization provides the person with moralsupport and a self-justifying rationale. "Neutralization as a Process of GraduatedDesensitisation: Moral Values of Offenders." International Journal ofOffender Therapy and Comparative Criminology (December 1998): 278-9 . Denial of Injury. Thus,they neutralized the illegality of their actions as demonstrated by theirapplication of legitimate legal defenses to their crimes though they had todistort the defenses to fit their own situation.[8] In particular, partyleader Huey Newton's familiarity with the law and his application oflegitimate defenses in court supports a reading of his use of thetechniques of neutralization. The Partyclaimed it was fighting for the rights and dignity of black people, thusits first loyalty was to defend any attack upon such rights anddignity.[51] However, as Pearson demonstrates throughout his book, the PantherParty's first loyalty appeared to be to the use of violence and theprivilege of the Party's leaders rather than to the progress of blackpeople. [41] See Pearson, 126. The criminal law distinguishes between acts that arewrong in themselves and acts that are illegal but not morally wrong. [45] Funk, 1. Becker acknowledgesthat his theory is an approach rather than a true theory and he encouragessociologists to establish empirical tests to confirm it. And that fact that Cleaver became an important part ofthe Black Panther Party for Self-Defense demonstrates its allegiance to histheories. [21] Ibid. Corey, Frederick. New York: Free Press, 1963. [52] Ibid., 235, 244. "The Problem of Lemons and Why We Must Retain JuvenileCrime Records." Cato Journal (Spring 1998): 75-83. [27] Ibid. Moreover,they noted that such males, when arrested, attempted to justify theirdelinquency as a positive response to unfair and burdensome socialprocesses.[3] Thus, techniques of neutralization are based on the assumption thatdelinquents remain committed to the social order they offend. [37] See Pearson, Hugh. In other words, the criminal argues that that thevictim is the wrongdoer and their own action is an attempt to createjustice, not defy it.[49] It was the whole basis of the Black Panther Partyfor Self-Defense that the entire system of government as run by whiteAmericans was a criminal and violent oppression of the civil rights andhuman dignity of American blacks. However, Pearson documentsinstance after instance where the Party itself moved with hostility andviolence against the very people it was claiming to defend. Thus, Becker's labeling theory can explain the evolution of the BlackPanther Party as described in Pearson's book. Marcus. However, suchtests will suffer from the fundamental failure of labeling theory toaddress and explain primary deviance. However, even so, neutralization theory does notfully explain Panther activity and criminality because of its failure totake into consideration personal and individual egos and motivations. [47] Ibid. Becker secured labeling theory as a perspective for the study ofdeviance.[11] Becker argues that deviance is created by social definitionsof what constitutes acceptable behavior. Thus,criminals will often attempt to neutralize the criminality of their acts byarguing that their behavior did not hurt anyone.[47] Implicit in its titleis the Black Panthers' assertion that they were defending themselvesagainst a hostile violent system of government. ----------------------- [1] Organizing Social Life, 199. McCarthy, Jennifer. Thus, the lower class largely urban male witha criminal record was labeled as deviant within his racial and socio-economic group. [9] Ibid., 2 . Condemnation of the Condemners. [38] Ibid., 94-95. [28] Ibid. "Personal Narratives and Young Men in Prison:Labeling the Outside Inside." Western Journal of Communication (Winter1996): 57. (May 2 ): 1. [3 ] Corey, 57. Thus, in The Shadow of the Panther, Sykes & Matza's techniques ofneutralization offer a more comprehensive understanding of the evolution ofthe Black Panther Party. Thus,while techniques of neutralization are employed by an individual to excusehis deviant behavior, labeling theory focuses on why certain individualsare viewed as deviants.[9] Sociologist Robert Sampson (1996) found thatjuveniles from the lower classes who came into contact with the Seattlepolice because of delinquent behavior were more likely to be arrested andthen indicted than were their middle-class counterparts engaged in similaractivities.[1 ] Sykes & Matza attributed such discrepancies in treatment tolabeling theory, the effects of which give rise to the use of techniques ofneutralization to justify the deviant behavior. [12] Ibid. [19] Ibid. [16] Polsby, Daniel. "Crime as Social Control." American SociologicalReview (February 1983): 34-45. Thus, the label of deviant isbased not in the behavior of the "offender" but in the perception of thepeople who set the rules.[12] According to Becker, social groups createdeviance by making up rules whose infraction constitutes deviance and byapplying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders.He stated that "deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits,but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules andsanctions to an 'offender.' The deviant is one to whom the label hassuccessfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people solabel."[13] Thus, labeling theory emphasizes how a person becomes labeledas deviant or comes to accept the label. Formal labelingincludes assessment by social workers and other professionals. [49] Organizing Social Life, 182. Pearson, Hugh. Reading, Massachusetts:Perseus Books (1994). Very likely, no one theory can explain completelythe confluence of events that orchestrated the rise and fall of the BlackPanther Party. Consequently, repelling an outsider or aggressor isjustified.[5 ] As demonstrated by Pearson throughout the early chapters ofThe Shadow of the Panther, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense grewout of an historic civil rights movement that can be traced back to slaverebellions in the American South. Those in power decide the definition of labels such ascriminal, crook, and deviant and decide to whom such labels will beapplied.[3 ] Thus, the delinquent is used to define illegality because thedelinquent constitutes what is not normal within any "civilized"society.[31] Nevertheless, Corey emphasizes that situations defined as realare real in their consequences.[32] When people are labeled as deviant,they act like deviants and others treat them as deviants. [42] Funk, 1. As such, it is also called asocietal-reaction approach because delinquency is posited as a response toa social act rather than as a thing in itself.[14] According to labeling theorists, the self is a social process subjectto the reactions of others.[15] Labeling theorists believe that society atlarge should shoulder the blame for the actions of delinquent children.They argue that the very act of explicitly labeling an individual deviantincreases the likelihood that he will in fact adopt a criminal identity andlive with it through life.[16] Polsby, for example, argues that one shouldreadily grant the central empirical claims of labeling theory that beinglabeled as a "criminal" at an early point in life must surely injure anindividual's life chances.[17] Labeling theory recognizes two types of labeling. The childmay maintain the deviant status as a result of being so labeled, givingrise to the principle of secondary deviance. Outsiders. [4 ] Ibid. [6] Donald Black, "Crime as Social Control," American SociologicalReview (February 1983): 34. Techniques of Neutralization Denial of Responsibility. Funk, T. [15] Downs, R., Robertson, J. Associological theories, both theories rely too heavily on sociologicalexplanations, with little consideration for the individual andpsychological influences. Alternatively, Newton boasted in the streets that he killed theracist Frey in self-defense against the white racist power structure whilearguing in court that he lacked the intent to murder Frey because he wassuffering from neurogenic shock at the time of the incident. Yet, whenevervictims lodged complaints against the Party, they were publicly denouncedas "enemies of the people" or agent provocateurs working for thegovernment.[48] Denial of the Victim. They had the right to bear arms to defendthemselves against such injustice. [5] Ibid. The whole purpose of the Party was to revolutionize Blackagitation for civil and human rights. [11] Corey, Frederick. & Harrison, L. " Control Theory,Labeling Theory, and the Delivery of Services for Drug Abuse toAdolescents." Adolescence (Spring 1997): 1-24. The criminal may blame social, cultural and environmental factorsthat crippled his ability to act in any other way, for example "road rage"or "black rage."[46] Consider, for example, Huey Newton's killing ofOakland police officer John Frey in 1967 and his varying defenses for hisaction. Its most immediate forbears would beindividuals such as A. As Pearsondocuments, the violent, defensive stance of the Black Panther Party was inpart a response to the rejection of its members by the leaders of the moreofficial civil rights groups. On the other hand, Becker's labeling theory has been criticized asuntestable and, consequently, as not a true theory. [48] Pearson, 229. Becker describes howcertain rule-breakers come to accept the label of "deviant" as their masterstatus.[39] The master status is the role to which one most relates theview of oneself. [26] Ibid. The risk is that whenchildren are labeled, their identities are altered, they are excluded fromproductive associations, and they build a life of deviance.[36] There is no end to Pearson's examples of Newton's label of deviance bypersons in positions of authority. [35] Ibid. Neutralization & Labeling Theory in Shadow of the PantherNeutralization Techniques Sykes and Matza introduced five techniques of neutralization thatindividuals employ to justify their deviant behavior.[1] The fivetechniques are denying responsibility, denying the injury, blaming thevictim, condemning the authorities and appealing to higher principles orauthorities.[2] Sykes & Matza believed that lower class urban males'feelings of desperation gave rise to their will to delinquency. Outsiders. The social acceptability of their doctrine was aided bya social and cultural era in upheaval, particularly concerning the civilrights of blacks and America's involvement in Vietnam. [44] See Pearson, 238-248. According to Becker, individual acts areunimportant because deviance is actually rule breaking behavior that islabeled deviant by persons in positions of power.[2 ] The rule-breakingbehavior is constant and only the labeling of the behavior varies. (Reading, Mass:Perseus Books, 1994): 94. However, as discussed before, Black Panther members alsodenounced any Party members who spoke out against the group, labeling themenemies of the people and saboteurs of the movement. Sykes and Matza argue that the third techniqueof neutralization is the criminal's attempt to deny that the victim can infact be victimized. [46] Organizing Social Life, 181. Huey Newton and Bobby Sealecreated the Black Panther Party as a manifestation of their deviantbehavior. "Howard Becker and Labeling Theory." Online:[www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/becker.htm]. Sykes and Matza maintain that thedelinquent subculture expects that anyone who does not defend his or herhome turf is a coward. Deviant outsiders might view those rule making or abiding membersof society as being the outsiders of their social group.[26] Labeling Theory in The Shadow of the Panther Americans of predominantly African heritage have been labeled asoutsiders and deviant from the norm since they first arrived in America.The institution of slavery and the consequent Jim Crow laws were based on abelief in such deviance and they generated the poverty, discrimination anddesperation that gave birth to the civil rights movement in the 195 s.However, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was born from a label ofdeviance from within the civil rights movement itself. Secondary deviance contendsthat being labeled deviant by social control agencies can result in analteration of the child's personal identity and his exclusion from thenormal routines of everyday life, including a greater involvement indelinquent acts.[34]" Consequently, children who are called juveniledelinquents may see themselves as delinquents rather than as "sons,daughters, siblings, students, or loyal friends."[35] These children mayplace their delinquent status at the center of their identities, separatethemselves from activities associated with other, less stigmatized roles,and involve themselves in further delinquent acts. Pearson also documents the numerous clandestine activities of theParty in which the Party would prey on other elements of the blackcommunity.[52] Conclusion Thus, there is evidence that the Black Panther Party did resort toSykes and Matza's techniques of neutralization to justify the criminalityof their behavior. Formal and informal labels affect behavior over time through theself-concept or self-label.[18] For example, more deviant formal labelsresult in more deviant self-labels and subsequent increases in deviantbehavior. Unfortunately, Becker believes thatprimary deviance is influenced by too many variables and research into itscauses would be futile. Rather, the theory only becomes applicable aftera label of deviant has been applied to a particular individual or group. [8] Organizing Social Life, 181. 181-2 . Newton experienced numerous run-ins withthe Oakland police before he formed the Black Panther Party.[37] However,in all such cases, Newton would escalate his contact with the police to alevel of violence, culminating in his shooting of Officer Frey.Furthermore, Newton was labeled as deviant by numerous other Black Powergroups of the time, including the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) andthe Soul Students Advisory Council (SSAC), both of which Newton condemnedas not revolutionary enough.[38] The second "step" on the way to secondary deviance and a career incrime involves the acceptance of the deviant label. Phillip Randolph and Adam Clayton Powell even thoughthe Party would denounce the nonviolent ideologies of such men. [14] Organizing Social Life, 2 . [2] Ibid. [23] Ibid. "Personal Narratives and Young Men in Prison:Labeling the Outside Inside." Western Journal of Communication (Winter1996): 57. "Control Theory, LabelingTheory, and the Delivery of Services for Drug Abuse to Adolescents."Adolescence (Spring 1997): 1-24. Labeling theory thus specifies temporal relationships amonglabels from different sources and between these labels and deviantbehavior.[19] Consequently, labeling theory does not argue an absolute definition ofdeviance, only labels of deviance. "Howard Becker and Labeling Theory." (2 ).Online: [www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/becker.htm]: 1. Criminals will often shift the focusof attention from their actions to the motives of the accusers, therebydenying authority figures the right to condemn the criminality of theirconduct. [3] Ibid., 2 . The theoryproposes that offenders are not committed to oppositional values and normsbut share the same value system as the dominant culture.[4] Offenders viewillegal behavior as "wrong" but they employ techniques of neutralization totemporarily disengage themselves from conventional morality and performillegal acts.[5] In such cases, the delinquent argues that his behavior wasa form of self-help or self-defense[6] performed as a private justice toachieve social control.[7] In The Shadow of the Panther, the doctrines espoused by the BlackPanther Party may seem to indicate that its members did not view theirviolent confrontational behavior as wrong, thus averting any application ofneutralization theory. [17] Downs et al., 1. Moreover, the criminal activity of the Black Panthers generally can betheorized according to the techniques of neutralization, particularly whenapplied to some of the criminal activity of the founding members. Downs, R., Robertson, J. & Harrison, L. 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