Blackwell Reference Online

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Justifications are verbal strategies used to minimize unpredictable behavior or consequences. Justifications are half of Scott and Lyman's (1968) taxonomy of accounting behavior. Though early sociologists including Marx, Goffman, Sykes, and Matza examined how social norms were restored following interaction, Scott and Lyman were the first sociologists to provide an organized taxonomy of these strategies. Along with excuses, Scott and Lyman argued that justifications are a prevalent strategy used in redefining situations. When people make justifications for their behavior, they accept responsibility for the behavior, but deny any negativity associated with the behavior. Relying on earlier research, Scott and Lyman stated that justifications include denials of injury, denials of victimization, condemnation of the condemners, and appeals to loyalties. Denials of injury include any events that are completed and do not result in injury, whether or not injury was intended. Furthermore, justifications of this type also include injuries to members the individual would describe as trivial. Sykes and Matza (1957) explained that a gang member who harms a rival gang member will accept responsibility for the behavior, for example, but may believe the behavior was trivial since the victim was a member of a rival gang and hence deserving. In this case, the perpetrator is asserting the positive ... log in or subscribe to read full text