Isabel Schoultz
Senior lecturer
From “We Didn’t Do It” to “We’ve Learned Our Lesson” : Development of a Typology of Neutralizations of Corporate Crime
Author
Summary, in English
When corporations are faced with accusations of crime, they usually find it necessary to justify their actions to the public, the media and their shareholders. Corporate self-defense, aimed at protecting a corporation’s image and legitimacy, belongs to a broader category of offenders’ denials and neutralizations. The objective of this article is to compile and discuss literature that is of value for an understanding of neutralizations of corporate crime and, by means of this literature and our own empirical studies on corporate denials, to outline a typology of corporate neutralizations. The typology distinguishes between a wide variety of corporate responses to allegations of crime and exemplifies how these techniques have been used. We also discuss the function of corporate neutralization techniques and argue that corporate accounts mediate action; they influence both other actors and future corporate actions.
Department/s
- Department of Sociology of Law
Publishing year
2020-12
Language
English
Pages
739-757
Publication/Series
Critical Criminology
Volume
28
Issue
4
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Springer
Topic
- Law and Society
- Business Administration
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1205-8629