Who said “Stripped of ethical rationalizations and philosophical pretensions, a crime is anything…”?

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Freda Adler. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceSisters in Crime: The Rise of the New Female Criminal (1975)

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“Stripped of ethical rationalizations and philosophical pretensions, a crime is anything that a group in power chooses to prohibit.”
— Freda Adler
VerifiedSisters in Crime: The Rise of the New Female Criminal (1975) · evidenceCrime and Criminals

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: Sisters in Crime: The Rise of the New Female Criminal (1975).

APA

Adler, F. (n.d.). Stripped of ethical rationalizations and philosophical pretensions, a crime is anything that a group in power chooses to prohibit. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/6788-stripped-of-ethical-rationalizations-and-philosophical/

MLA

Adler, Freda. “Stripped of ethical rationalizations and philosophical pretensions, a crime is anything that a group in power chooses to prohibit.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/6788-stripped-of-ethical-rationalizations-and-philosophical/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Adler, Freda. “Stripped of ethical rationalizations and philosophical pretensions, a crime is anything that a group in power chooses to prohibit.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/6788-stripped-of-ethical-rationalizations-and-philosophical/.

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“There is another side to chivalry. If it dispenses leniency, it may with equal justification invoke control.”
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“That man is a creature who needs order yet yearns for change is the creative contradiction at the heart of the laws which structure his conformity and define his deviancy.”
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“The type of fig leaf which each culture employs to cover its social taboos offers a twofold description of its morality. It reveals that certain unacknowledged behavior exists and it suggests the form that such behavior takes.”
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