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Undercover Drug-Use Evasion Tactics: Excuses and Neutralization

NCJ Number
140180
Journal
Symbolic Interaction Volume: 15 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1992) Pages: 435- 453
Author(s)
B A Jacobs
Date Published
1992
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Previous research has examined the corruptive influences of undercover drug operations on agents but has not considered the processes by which these influences can be neutralized; the current research looks at neutralization processes using a typology of routine and nonroutine drug use evasion tactics.
Abstract
Data obtained from 35 undercover drug agents located in a midwestern municipality indicate that routine tactics involve excuses based on greed, business constraints, and role obligations (occupational, legal, and interpersonal). Nonroutine tactics involve two components, reverse accusation and simulation. The author provides a dramaturgical interpretation that accentuates the deceptive and fraudulent nature of excuses, unlike traditional interpretations that highlight the role of excuses as a reparative technique and aligning action. He concludes that excuses need not merely be reactive accounts to explain away past norm violations; rather, excuses can play a primary role in mitigating, neutralizing, or otherwise concealing norm violations in the making. 56 references and 5 notes