ABSTRACT
This chapter takes as its task a better understanding of audiences as they process and decipher violent accounts. Sociologists’ limited use of focus group methodology is truly unfortunate, for the technique offers researchers the unique opportunity to scrutinize subjects’ cognitions as they unfold. The distinctive features of focus group methodology make it especially appropriate to the research matter at hand. Subjects’ responses to various descriptions of violence demonstrate that sequencing matters to those deciphering such accounts. But to fully understand the precise nature of sequencing’s impact, these formats must be considered in light of an account’s theme and the level of moral consensus that surrounds the theme. In reviewing subjects’ testimony, the researcher's found that three key elements repeatedly emerged as central to subjects’ thinking: the point by which individuals entered the account, the grammatical voice in which the action was described, and, in some instances, individuals’ point of exit from a story.
