Terrorism and Techniques of Neutralization: Applying Sykes and Matza to the Oklahoma City Bombing (Discussion Example)
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Discussion: Terrorism and Sykes and Matza’s Techniques of Neutralization
Recall Sykes and Matza’s techniques of neutralization (Chapter 8), which explain how individuals learn ways to neutralize guilt before committing a delinquent act. Apply that framework to political crime, specifically terrorism.
Step 1: Identify a type of terrorism. Review the five types of terrorism in Barkan Chapter 14. Select one type, define it in your own words, give a documented contemporary or historical example and include a working link to a credible news source or historical archive.
Step 2: Theoretical analysis. Directly below your example, write a structured analysis (5 to 7 sentences) connecting the event to Sykes and Matza’s framework:
- Option A: explain how the perpetrators used two or more of the original techniques to justify or excuse their behavior, or
- Option B: create a brand-new technique of neutralization with a distinct name and a description of how it neutralizes guilt (for example, “The Technique of the Ledger”).
“It wasn’t my fault”
“No one was really hurt”
“They deserved it”
“Those judging me are worse”
“I did it for a greater cause”
Model discussion post
Original example for study purposes (about 400 words). Check the exact names of the five types against Barkan Chapter 14 (pp. 296–297) and add page citations.
Step 1: Type of Terrorism and Example
Type: Reactionary (right-wing, anti-government) terrorism. In my own words, reactionary terrorism is violence by individuals or groups who want to protect or restore a social or political order they believe is being taken away from them, often by a government they see as illegitimate or tyrannical. Unlike revolutionary terrorists, who want to overthrow the system to build something new, reactionary terrorists usually present themselves as defenders of traditional rights, culture or a “true” version of the nation.
Example: the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, including 19 children, and injuring hundreds more. McVeigh, who held strong anti-government views, said he was motivated by the federal sieges at Waco and Ruby Ridge, which he saw as evidence of a government at war with its citizens (Bill of Rights Institute, n.d.). The attack remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
Source link: FBI, “Oklahoma City Bombing,” Famous Cases and Criminals.
Step 2: Analysis (Option A)
McVeigh’s own statements show how political offenders use the same techniques of neutralization that Sykes and Matza (1957) identified in ordinary delinquents. First, he used an appeal to higher loyalties, presenting the bombing as retaliation on behalf of the victims of Waco and Ruby Ridge and as a defense of citizens’ liberty against federal power, so that loyalty to his cause outweighed the law against murder. Second, he engaged in condemnation of the condemners by portraying the federal government, the institution that would prosecute him, as the true aggressor whose violence at Waco made it hypocritical for it to judge him. Third, he used denial of the victim, treating federal employees in the Murrah Building as legitimate targets because they represented the government he blamed. Most strikingly, when asked about the children who died in the building’s day care center, McVeigh described their deaths as “a large amount of collateral damage” and said he had “no sympathy” for the people of Oklahoma City (CNN, 2001). This military language reflects a form of denial of responsibility and injury, recasting murder as an unfortunate side effect of “war” rather than an intentional crime. Together, these techniques allowed McVeigh to see himself as a soldier and a patriot rather than a mass murderer, illustrating Barkan’s point that political criminals often believe their crimes are morally justified.
References
Barkan, S. E. ([year]). Criminology: A sociological understanding ([edition]). [Publisher].
Bill of Rights Institute. (n.d.). Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing. https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/timothy-mcveigh-and-the-oklahoma-city-bombing/
CNN. (2001, March). McVeigh book reveals chilling details [Coverage of Michel and Herbeck’s American Terrorist]. https://us.cnn.com/2001/US/03/29/mcveigh.book.01/index.html
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). Oklahoma City bombing. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing
Sykes, G. M., & Matza, D. (1957). Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22(6), 664–670. https://doi.org/10.2307/2089195
Prefer Option B? A new technique might be “The Technique of the Wake-Up Call“: “The harm I cause is regrettable, but it is the only way to force a sleeping public to see the danger, so the deaths serve everyone’s future.” It differs from appeal to higher loyalties because it claims the violence benefits the victims’ own society, not just the offender’s group.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between revolutionary and reactionary terrorism?
Revolutionary terrorism seeks to overthrow an existing system and replace it, while reactionary terrorism seeks to preserve or restore an order the perpetrators believe is threatened.
Why apply neutralization theory to terrorism?
It shows that political offenders often accept conventional morality but use justifications to exempt their own violence, which helps explain how ordinary people come to commit extraordinary crimes.
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