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- Title
Introduction to the Issue.
- Authors
Cowan, Gloria; Fairfield, Halford H.
- Abstract
The article focuses on the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson, which captivated a worldwide audience for the better parts of l994 and 1995. His acquittal, and the public reaction illuminated two long standing problems of anti-Black racism and violence against women in American society. The most significant aspect of Simpson's criminal trial and its aftermath has been the role of race in forming public opinion. Mass media have focused on the differences between African American and White beliefs about the events surrounding the case, the verdict, and the trial's aftermath. For social scientists, the trial created an opportunity to study the role of race and ethnicity in attitudes and beliefs in relation to events surrounding the trial and to the responses to the verdict. This case thus provides an opportunity to explore the dynamics of ethnicity in a real-world event and to develop a broader understanding of ethnicity as a psychological process. In the social science field, researchers have examined the role of ethnicity in mock trials, but rarely has the opportunity presented itself for social scientists to examine the attitudes toward a real event that has mythic proportions and socially significant aftershocks.
- Subjects
UNITED States; ETHNICITY; O. J. Simpson Trial; RACISM; CRIMES against women; MASS media; SOCIAL sciences
- Publication
Journal of Social Issues, 1997, Vol 53, Issue 3, p409
- ISSN
0022-4537
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1540-4560.1997.tb02118.x