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Analysis of Desiree Washington's Interview Concerning Mike Tyson

The following is the analysis of Barbara Walters' t.v. interview with Desiree Washington, who accused Mike Tyson of raping her. The interview appeared on the ABC News program "20/20" on February 21, 1992, and transcripts can be obtained from ABC News.

The SCAN (Scientific Content Analysis) technique was used to analyze the language used by Desiree Washington in her interview.

Contents:

	Who is the subject?

	Signals of sensitivity

	What happened that night?

Who is the subject?

1. The subject used the word "girl" in the following places:

1) "He was very nice to me. He pointed to me and said, 'You're a nice Christian girl.'"

2) "Yes, he [=Charlie Neal] was the master of ceremonies. So I assume that he told him [=Mike Tyson] that I was a Christian girl."

3) "...after everything that had happened to me, there was a group of girls around talking about, 'Well, Robin Givens did this to him,'..."

Please notice that in both (1) and (2) the word "girl" was Mike Tyson's language used in a quotation by the subject. In (3) the subject used the word "girls" to relate to others around.

2. In contrast, the subject referred to herself as a "person" in the following places:

1) "I'm not that type of person."

2) "I went from being such an outgoing person to someone who was just so - I was voted friendliest in high school - to just so secluded I just sat in my room and in the corner of my bed, and I just couldn't move for - for the longest time, I couldn't believe it."

3) "I was just such an outgoing person, such a loving person, such a trusting person, and I miss that person. But in a way, it's good that I'm not that person, because now I won't be hurt again like it was."

4) "...people have judged me on and made opinions about, without knowing all the facts and without knowing me as a person and knowing why I did what I did..."

3. Please notice the following:

a. The subject didn't label herself as a "female"/"girl"/ "woman". She only labeled herself as a "person".

b. The word person can indicate the following:

i. Concealing identity.

ii. Lack of sexuality, gender.

The word "person" might be used by the subject as "politically correct" language. However, since the subject refers to others as "girls" and to herself as a "person", it is possible that the subject might be having a problem with sexual identity.

c. In (3) the subject said: "...and I miss that person. But in a way, it's good that I'm not that person..." "That" means that there is another person whom the subject relates to. Question: How many "persons" are there in the subject?

4. When talking about Mike Tyson, the subject said: "He changed completely, he was crazy. And when someone's crazy and someone's sick like that, they don't know what they're doing. I don't - he was sick, and I couldn't help but to be afraid."

Please note that the word "someone" means that the subject is not referring just to her encounter with Mike Tyson. The word "someone" might very well be referring to some earlier similar experience in life in which "someone" was "crazy" and "sick".

5. Let's see the first exchange:

Question: How much did you know about Mike Tyson before you met him?

Answer: I just knew that he was an excellent boxer, because my dad and my brother and my grandfather were great fans of his...

Please notice the following:

a. The order of appearance into the sentence is important. This is to tell us that the subject's relationship with her grandfather might not be a good relationship = entered third.

b. The asymmetry in using "dad" and "grandfather".

During the interview the subject used the word "dad" four times and the word "father" twice. This should bring us to examine the exact location in which each one of them was used.

6. The subject said:

1) "I just knew that he was an excellent boxer, because my dad and my brother and my grandfather were great fans of his."

2) "I would say from God, and my mom and dad."

3) "My dad is a bigger fan of mine."

4) "...one of the reasons that I went is because I wanted those pictures, my dad would have been so thrilled to see pictures of Mike Tyson and all these other people that I thought that I would meet."

5) "...I don't know may 18-year-olds that would have been thinking that this man who was my father's hero, who was a celebrity, would want to do something like that to me."

6) "... what they would have done if a celebrity called them at that time and said that he was leaving the next day, this is the only opportunity to get pictures of my father's hero..."

7. Please notice the following:

a. Immediately before point 6.3 Barbara Walters asked:

Question: Your father, even though he was a fan of Mike Tyson's, said, 'Go do it'?"

Even though the interviewer used the word "father", the subject in her answer changed the language to "dad". At that specific moment, according to the subject's subjective dictionary, the word "father" was inappropriate.

b. The word "father" entered the language for the first time in point 6.5 when the subject talked about someone who "would want to do something like that to me."

One can conclude that when talking about the events before that night the subject used the word "dad". However, when talking about the events during or after that night, the subject used the word "father".

For one reason or another the events that night had the power to change the subject's language when referring to her father.

8. One should also notice that the word "father" in point 6.5 entered in proximity to the word "man" - "...thinking that this man who was my father's hero..."

This should bring us to check in what context was the word "man" used in the subject's language.

9. The subject used the word "man" in the following places:

1) "...because I had seen firsthand how crazy, in my opinion, this man is, and for her to have to live with him..."

2) "...that this man who was my father's hero, who was a celebrity, would want to do something like that to me."

3) "And to take the side of a black man over a black woman is not equal."

4) "And I thought about it, and I can only pity this man, because he's sick."

The subject used the word "man" when she was talking about:

a. Mike Tyson abusing his wife Robin Givens - in the context of "crazy" and "have to live with him" - (1).

b. what Mike Tyson did to her - "...would want to do something like that to me" - (2).

c. taking the side "...of a black man over a black woman..." - (3).

d. labeling Mike Tyson as "sick" - (4).

10. There are only three places in which the subject referred to Mike Tyson in a different term - as a "person":

1) "He's not a very nice person"

2) "...He changed from a sweet and nice person that I thought he was earlier to just this animal, like a demon or something..."

3) "Because I pity him, I feel really bad for him, for the person that he is right now and how he's been."

The subject used the word "person" for Mike Tyson to say that he was not "nice", when he was "sweet and nice" before that night, and for the time of the interview - "...for the person that he is right now..." at which time Mike Tyson was in prison - under control.

11. When talking in the context of abuse, rape, being sick, and sex discrimination, the subject referred to Mike Tyson as a "man". The sentence referring to Tyson in the context of rape is also the one in which the subject changed her language from "dad" to "father".

It is therefore interesting to note that the rape has the power to change the subject's language in labelling her father as "father" rather than "dad".

Question: Is it possible that the subject was sexually abused earlier in time by her father or grandfather?

12. There is an indication that the subject portrayed her relationship with her father in a much more positive way than it really is. When the subject was asked, "...where did you get the courage to come forward and press charges?" the subject answered:

"I would say from God, and my mom and dad."

Please notice the following:

a. "I would say" expresses lack of commitment. No commitment = no "total belief".

b. The order of appearance in this sentence: mom came before dad.

This is to say that the subject's father didn't approve of her coming forward and pressing charges.

This conclusion is supported by the following exchange:

Question: Your father, even though he was a fan of Mike Tyson's, said, "Go do it"?

Answer: My dad is a bigger fan of mine.

The subject did not answer the question she was asked, of whether her father had told her to press charges. Instead she answered a question which she wasn't asked:

"Is your dad a bigger fan of Mike Tyson or a bigger fan of yours?"

The conclusion should be that the subject didn't answer the question. According to the rule, "If the subject didn't answer the question, the subject did" we can conclude that the subject's father didn't tell her, "Go do it".

Signals of sensitivity:

13. The subject 30 times used the phrase "you know". These phrases are clustered as follows:

	a. 13 times are found in the area where she discussed her decision to follow Mike Tyson to his hotel room.

	b. 3 times in discussing her appeal to him to stop.

	c. 4 times in explaining her lack of emotions during the trial.

	d. 3 times in regard to Mike Tyson's need to admit he needs help.

Conclusion: The time before going to the hotel room should be examined very carefully.

14. In the following points in the statement, the subject explained why something happened:

1) "I just knew that he was an excellent boxer, because my dad and my brother and my grandfather were great fans of his."

2) "He had been talking to Charlie Neal, so I assume that Charlie Neal told him."

3) "...so I assume that he told him that I was a Christian girl."

4) "I said something to that effect, something in her defense, because I had seen firsthand how crazy, in my opinion..."

5) "...one of my roommates interrupted and said, 'Well, there's all those after-parties and everything,' so then I get back on the phone and I say, 'Well, why don't you come up here?'"

6) "And so he said, 'Well, just come down, I just want to talk to you, I just want to talk to you.'"

7) "And so I said, 'Okay,' and I got dressed again..."

8) "oh, yeah, yeah. because-..."

9) "I don't know if I would have gone out with him if he wasn't famous, because my - one of the reasons that I went is because I wanted those pictures..."

10) "...and then he said something about a bodyguard, so I assumed that were going up to get something, and I didn't really know what he was talking about with the bodyguard, so he just said, 'Come on,' and I didn't think anything of it, you know."

11) "...so, you know, without thinking, I just went in there..."

12) "Naturally I do, because of what happened..."

13) "I couldn't defeat him physically, so I could only beg and cry..."

14) "...I just cried and begged for just anything, just to get him to stop and get away from me so that I could get out of there..."

15) "...I couldn't hold back the tears, so I had to say something. So when I first came in I said, 'He tried to rape me,'..."

16) "But in a way, it's good that I'm not that person, because now I won't be hurt again like it was."

17) "That also puzzles me, and that also hurts me, because our people fought for years to get - in the civil rights movement, for equal rights, equal treatment."

18) "I decided to do this interview, and only this interview, because there were so many unanswered questions..."

19) "And I thought about it, and I can only pity this man, because he's sick."

20) "Because I pity him, I feel really bad for him, for the person that he is right now and how he's been."

21) "I did it because you need help..."

Please notice the following:

	a. An open statement means that the subject reports to us "what happened". When the subject gives us the reason as to "why" something happened, the subject is out of the boundaries of the question. Such information is considered "out-of-sequence" of events, and thus is considered as sensitive and important information.

	b. The signals of sensitivity are found in the statement in regard to the following points:

	Before the evening: 3 signals.

	i. Knowledge of Mike Tyson before that time - (1).

	ii. How Mike Tyson knew she was a Christian girl - (2) and (3).

	Before reaching the hotel room: 10 signals.

	iii. On the phone with Mike Tyson talking about going out - (5), (6), and (7).

	iv. The reason to go out with Mike Tyson - (8), (9), (9).

	v. Going to Mike Tyson's hotel room - (10), (10), (11), (12).

	During the rape: 2 signals.

	vi. Crying and begging during the event - (13), (14).

	After the rape: 6 signals.

	vii. Reporting the rape - (15), (15).

	viii. Changing after the event - (16).

	ix. Her feelings about Mike Tyson - (19), (20).

	x. Her reason to press charges - (21).

	Misc.: 3 signals.

	xi. Defending Robin Givens - (4).

	xii. Race relations - (17).

	xiii. The reason for the interview - (18).

	c. 18 out of 24 signals of sensitivity are in regard to that evening - 75%.

	10 out of 18 signals of sensitivity which are in regard to that evening are in regard to the time before reaching the hotel room - 56%.

15. Please notice that the subject mentioned "leaving a place" in the following:

1) "There's nothing that I can say, and so many people don't remember when they were 18 years old, and you know, what they would have done if a celebrity called them at that time and said that he was leaving the next day, this is the only opportunity to get pictures of my father's hero as I was thinking at the time, you know."

2) "...and then, when I was leaving, and he asked me to stay, I said, 'Why, so you can do this to me again?'"

Usually, "left" is an "unnecessary connection" indicating some sensitivity, and that some significant information might be missing from the story at that point.

The two places in which the subject indicated this signal:

a. The reason she went that night with Mike Tyson.

b. Leaving Mike Tyson's room.

What happened that night?

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