Explain the phrase "blaming the victim" with special reference to the O. J. Simpson case.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers may vary.The phrase blaming the victim was first popularized by Ryan (1970). He observed that people on welfare were often seen as lazy or shiftless and hence responsible for their fate. An extreme example of blaming the victim was offered by trial attorney Robert Baker, who represented O. J. Simpson in his civil trial for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. His opening statement for the defense included a scorching attack on Nicole Brown, whom he portrayed as a heavy-drinking party girl whose dangerous lifestyle often included companions who were prostitutes and drug dealers. Sometimes by implication and sometimes by direct comment, he communicated that she had many boyfriends and had had at least one abortion. As a trial observer noted, "it was as close to calling her a slut [as one could come] without using the word." Baker demeaned the victim for a reason, of course; he wanted to imply that a sordid lifestyle had led to her becoming involved with someone other than O. J. Simpson and that this supposed individual had killed her. Simpson himself has echoed this claim, stating that he was angry at Nicole because, he felt, her careless lifestyle contributed to her being murdered.A different example of "blaming the victim" may be seen in the wake of the worldwide economic recession of 2008 and the sluggish recovery of the U.S. economy with respect to reemploying many of those who had lost jobs in the recession. Losing a job is a traumatic life event that many would prefer to think could not happen to them. One way to perpetuate this belief is to conclude that those who lost jobs somehow "deserved" it, because they were less capable, industrious, or motivated. This actually combines two beliefs discussed in this book-belief in a just world and a tendency to blame the victim-that may be held to protect individuals from the frightening realization that they are also at risk of losing a job. Some would even extend this to believing that newly graduated college students or law students in 2015-many of whom did not have the benefit of pre-recession employment opportunities-were less deserving of being offered a job.