The palgrave international handbook of a 219

214

A. Nurse

The justice system’s response to egg collecting is primarily reactive,
dependent on reports of egg collections in private possession or observation
of egg collecting activity by field wardens and members of the public. In
relation to animal abuse, the involvement of NGOs without which offenders might not be apprehended provides an additional motivation for some
individuals to commit crime. For example, in a Channel Four Documentary
entitled The Egg Detectives (1991); egg collector Colin Watson blamed the
RSPB for his continued offending citing the destruction of his egg collection by the RSPB as a primary cause. A complete list of possible neutralisations employed by wildlife offenders (as with some other offenders) can be
outlined as follows:
1. The
2. The
3. The
4. The
5. The
6. The
7. The

denial of responsibility
denial of injury
condemnation of the condemners
appeal to higher loyalties
defence of necessity
denial of the necessity of the law
claim of entitlement

Different offenders may use different neutralisations and may also be subject
to different motivations (Nurse 2013a). Awareness of the illegal nature of
their actions leads to the justifications outlined by Sykes and Matza (1957)

but the association with other offenders, the economic (and employment
related) pressures to commit offences and the personal consequences for
them should they fail are strong motivations to commit offences (Merton
1968). Evidence (Nurse 2013a, 2011) shows that egg collectors use the
following rationalisations to explain their activities:
1. It is not harming anybody, the eggs are not fertile so why shouldn’t they be
collected;
2. Everybody did it when I was a boy it’s ridiculous that it’s considered to be
criminal;
3. The NGO needs to make the problem appear to be serious to keep raising
money;
4. It’s not a job for the police they should be out catching real criminals;
5. We’re not criminals, we’re bird enthusiasts.
The techniques of denial, avoidance and attacks on the legitimacy of the
enforcement agency (in the UK this means the RSPB in the USA the (state)