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The Role of Public Confessions in Show Trials: An Analysis of the Moscow Show Trials
Author(s) -
Decker Stephanie K.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/johs.12255
Subject(s) - credibility , legitimacy , deviance (statistics) , social control , public order , power (physics) , social order , order (exchange) , public trust , closure (psychology) , frame (networking) , sociology , law , political science , criminology , psychology , economics , computer science , telecommunications , physics , finance , quantum mechanics , machine learning , politics
Authority figures may organize show trials featuring public confessions when they are faced with deep rooted contradictions within the social order and want to increase their legitimacy, delegitimize defendants, and justify increased social control in society. An analysis of the court report of the Moscow Show Trials found that these public confessions frame conflicts rooted in contradictions within the social order as acts of deviance that can be resolved with additional social control. The public confessions accomplished this using four main themes: establishing credibility, labeling the defendants as deviant, endorsing the power holder, and demonstrating closure.