Gresham M. Sykes

Gresham M. Sykes (born May 26, 1922, Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.—died October 29, 2010, Charlottesville, Virginia) was an American criminologist known for his contributions to the study of delinquency and prisons.

After attending Princeton University (A.B., 1950), Sykes studied sociology at Northwestern University (Ph.D., 1954). He taught at several universities, including Princeton, Dartmouth, and Northwestern, before becoming a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia (1974–88).

Sykes’s study of New Jersey State Prison, The Society of Captives (1958), described the dilemmas that guards face as a result of the “defects of total power.” He also identified the “pains of imprisonment” experienced by inmates and explained the development of prison “argot roles”—such as real man (aloof and self-restrained) and ballbuster (blatantly disobedient)—that help inmates to deal with their captivity. He maintained that the lack of freedom, the loss of heterosexual relationships, and tight security contribute to feelings of inadequacy, all of which lead to the development of new social relationships.

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Sykes also collaborated with the American sociologist David Matza on studies of delinquency. In the first of two coauthored articles on the subject, “Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency” (1957), Matza and Sykes proposed a “drift theory” (also known as neutralization theory), according to which delinquents use a series of justifications to neutralize their deviant behaviour. Typical justifications include passing the blame to others, insisting that the victim was not harmed, believing that the victim deserved the outcome (e.g., vandalism), and arguing that others have committed worse acts. Thus, delinquents usually acknowledge that their behaviour was wrong but distort reality to maintain that certain times or conditions make it acceptable to break societal rules. The authors’ second article, “Juvenile Delinquency and Subterranean Values” (1961), argued that the values behind deviant behaviour, such as excitement and thrill seeking, are actually “subterranean values” that exist within the dominant culture but are suppressed except in certain appropriate, legal settings. Thus, delinquent behaviour is viewed as an expression of these latent values at inappropriate times. By casting light on the social rules that apply to all cultures and groups, Sykes’s theories emphasized the ways in which his subjects (guards, prisoners, and delinquents) are similar to, rather than different from, the rest of society. In 1980 Sykes received the Edwin H. Sutherland Award from the American Society of Criminology for outstanding contributions to theory and research.