1977/10/01 by Albert E. McCormick,, Albert E. McCormick · 19 citations
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Crime Patterns and Interventions #Criminology #Deviance (statistics) #Enforcement #Indignation #Law #Law and economics #Law in Society and Culture #Political science #Sociology #Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses
paper · doi:10.2307/800465
published in Social Problems 25(1), 30-39 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 1977/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
Hypothesizing that rule enforcement is linked to ongoing societal reaction processes, I base these observations upon historical documentary data regarding antitrust offenses, a form of deviance which once evoked a high level of moral indignation. The failure of enforcement agencies to create a continuously identifiable body of criminal violators symbolizing and reinforcing reaction, has helped to neutralize indignation, which in turn has permitted the tacit redefinition and legitimization of this behavior. I identify the counterreaction of business interests as a key factor in the neutralization process.