O.J: SOCIOPATH OR VICTIM?

The question on everyone’s minds today is whether O.J. Simpson is a sociopath or a victim. Twelve years ago during the criminal trial, many questioned whether or not he actually killed his wife and Ron Goldman. Public sentiment has shifted in the intervening years. Today, after his conviction in the civil trial and his attempts to publish a book about “how he did it,” the overwhelming sentiment seems to be that O.J. is guilty of those murders.

What is a sociopath and is O.J. one? He certainly exhibits many of the characteristics of a sociopath: he is superficially charming, manipulative and cunning; has a sense of entitlement; lies easily; exhibits lack of remorse; lives on the edge; is callous and not concerned about wrecking the lives of others; exercises despotic control over others; justifies his crimes; and is a narcissist. This textbook definition is a dead ringer for O.J!

But can he also be a victim?

Sociopaths are made, not born. What happened to him in his childhood to create these monstrous characteristics?

O.J. was born in the projects in San Francisco and his parents split when he was a toddler. From ages 3 to 5, he had to wear homemade braces after he contracted rickets from extreme malnutrition. He was in a street gang in high school. What saved him was his mother’s love and his tremendous athletic talent; he broke a world record in track before he was even 18 and earned the Heisman Trophy in football in high school. He married his high school sweetheart young, and he had a little girl who drowned before she was two. He and his wife divorced that same year.

It’s not hard to read between the lines of O.J.’s childhood: it’s highly likely that he suffered a lot of abuse and a lot of prejudice for being poor and black. The evidence in the current Las Vegas criminal trial is not clear cut and most of the witnesses don’t exactly have clean hands themselves, so it may be difficult to make a prosecution against O.J. Simpson stick. He may be free again soon.