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Undercover Drug‐Use Evasion Tactics: Excuses and Neutralization
Author(s) -
Jacobs Bruce A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.1992.15.4.435
Subject(s) - false accusation , evasion (ethics) , typology , criminology , ethnography , interpretation (philosophy) , interpersonal communication , action (physics) , social psychology , psychology , sociology , public relations , political science , computer science , immune system , anthropology , immunology , programming language , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
Although research has examined the corruptive influences of undercover drug operations on agents (Girodo 1991 b; Manning and Reddlinger 1977, 1978), it has not examined the processes by which these influences can be neutralized. In this paper, I address these neutralization processes through a typology of routine and non‐routine drug‐use evasion tactics. 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. Discussion focuses on excuses where I provide a dramaturgical interpretation that accentuates their deceptive and fraudulent nature, unlike traditional interpretations (e.g., Scott and Lyman 1968) which highlight their role as a reparative technique and aligning action (Margolin 1990). Data were drawn from ethnographic interviews with 35 light undercover narcotics agents located in a moderate‐sized midwestern municipality.