O. J. Simpson Labeling Theory

In 1994, one of the most famous court trials in history began. This trial was that of O.J. Simpson. The crime being prosecuted in this case was murder. O.J. Simpson is an ex NFL football star who was accused of killing his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her alleged boyfriend, Ronald Goldman. Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were stabbed to death and found in the Simpson’s courtyard of their house. The crime being prosecuted in the O.J. Simpson trial can be explained through self-control theory and the labeling theory. One theory that can explain the crime being prosecuted during the O.J. Simpson trial is the self-control theory. The self-control theory assumes poor parental control leads to low self-control. This thirty believes that both
The labeling theory believes that crime is socially constructed. This theory states that there is a primary deviance, which occurs in childhood. As a result of this act of deviance, these children are labeled by the justice system. Secondary deviance occurs after this label is accepted/internalized by the child. This theory would explain O.J. Simpson’s crime as a result of society and a result of his childhood deviance. They would look at Simpson’s childhood and see that “at age 13, he joined a gang called the Persian Warriors ("O.J. Simpson Biography").” While involved in this gang he got in a fight that resulted in him having to join a Youth program. This would be considered the primary deviance. Every deviant behavior following that is a secondary deviance that is a result of him accepting the label, criminal, given to him as a child. This theory is similar to that of the self-control theory because they both see earlier childhood development as a point where deviance is rooted. They are different in the way that the labeling theory sees the start of crime as an actual act of deviance, while the self-control theory believes it started with poor parental