Definition Of Public Shame In Modern Society

In her article, “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person,” June Tangney argues that shaming causes more harm than good. She focuses on alternatives to traditional sentences instead of shaming and incarceration. As a more recent trend, officials are using shaming sentences more and more. Tangney states that it is important to know the distinction between shame and guilt. Tangney states, that research has shown feeling of guilt “involve a sense of tension and regret over the bad thing done.” Guilt makes people feel bad. It makes them want to change their behavior whereas shame does not motivate people to feel better and they are less likely to stop their wrong behavior (577). She also states that scientific evidence suggested publicly shaming a person makes a problem instead of creating a constructive change in them and individuals may hide and escape the shameful feelings and try to blame others (577). In conclusion, Tangney suggest community service as a sentence for offenders to pay their debt to society for their wrongdoing, been linked to the crime they did. Her tone is informative and innovative and keeps the reader interested while reading. However, this article displays weakness in term of the evidence the author presents, it is one sided and does not provide evidence her suggestion for community service as a sentence option works. Therefore, it fails to persuade the reader.

| The word “shame” is not used in the soft sense that we interpret today. It is meant as a dishonour, a disgrace, an insult, which in those days was justifiable cause for a challenge - a fair trial in the eyes of God – a duel.

Profoundly interpersonal, the experience of shame is also therefore social and cultural. Shame is the result of feeling deficient, whether in relation to a parent, an admired friend, or a more powerful social group (39).

It’s common to argue that a perpetrator “deserves” to be shamed, but in fact human psychology doesn’t work this way. Many pedophiles, for instance, recognize that that they are inexorably—even biologically—bound to impulses that they themselves loathe. Does the shaming—through public registries for example—cause the pedophile to reform? Unlikely. Does it deter others from engaging in pedophilic acts, or does it drive them to darker corners and sneakier tactics?

What does it mean to be publicly shamed? Have you ever been publicly shamed? These are all great questions that come to mind when you consider the world we live in today. Author Jon Ronson does a wonderful job answering these questions in his bestselling book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. Throughout the book, Ronson takes the reader into the lives of those who have been publicly shamed.

As an individual, it’s a part of life to make plenty of mistakes, but is public shaming the answer to solving it? In todays’ society, punishment for people is completely different from back in the Puritan days. For example, in the novel the Scarlett Letter, Hester Prynne commits adultery, which leads her to having to wear the letter “A” on her chest, which is a form of public humiliation but in this sense, it’s not right. This is Hester Prynne’s sin that she committed that she lives with forever and it shouldn’t be any of the public business for her to be humiliated even more. This is a form of public ridicule, reintegrative shaming where attention can be drawn by wrong doing, and in order for you to learn in life you have make some mistakes . Public shaming is immoral in today’s society because as an individual that has done something wrong, you will start to feel like an outcast besides having to endure humiliation for your actions.

Shame clearly takes a toll on the emotions, thoughts and actions of the person affected, no matter how big or small the issue one dealt with is. Emotions can affect someone

Public shaming happens more often than we are aware of. “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed” by Jon Ronson is a book focused on modern public shaming. Ronson refers to the puritan era multiple times and compares their public shaming to modern shaming. He provides evidence where shaming can be used for good and when shaming can be used for destruction. Although Ronson choses to lean on how shaming has destroyed multiple individual's self-esteem, careers and their lives in general; he makes sure to add in happy story endings, where the shaming had changed their lives for the better. Ronson is incredibly thorough with each story he tells and very little is left to the imagination. At times he goes over board and provides too much information which could leave the reader confused.

As terrible as public humiliation may sound, the twenty-first century has manifested public shame to be a symbol of status. The theory is that there is no such thing as bad attention, the more people talk, the more recognition that person receives. The whole culture is centered around the people with the most attention, good or bad. As a result, many celebrities rely on exploitation in order to attract the attention of the public, for example Kim Kardashian’s leaked sex tape with famous rapper, Ray J, led to her ultimate rise in social status (Massey). This whole idea of benefiting from shame parallels to the Puritan ideals expressed in The Scarlet Letter.

In contemporary America people are shamed in updated public venues. There are news programs, internet feeds, televised trials, and tabloids which are all used to shame people. This shame is far more public than in Puritan times as in America, their shame can be seen throughout the nation, whereas a Puritans could simply flee their town and no one would recognize them or know of their shame. These similarities prove that society hasn’t really changed much, it has simply become more advanced in their methods of

I think that public shaming is appropriate in very limited circumstances. When small crimes are committed I feel that it is appropriate to shame the offender but only for a limited time. I have not personally witnessed or been the victim of public shaming but do feel that it is often overused and not utilized well. Jon Ronson presented a good example with the case of Adria Richards a developer who was attending a conference put on by other professional in her industry. The Incident that is the cause of this article revolves around two men Hank and Alex who were at the same conference. During a panel that it just happened all three of these individuals were attending Hank and John had made a series of off color jokes that Adria overheard she

People who didn’t know Monica Lewinsky before this scandal thought that it was acceptable to criticize and humiliate her online. Since after, public shame has been frequently seen on the internet. Public shame seems to now be assumed as socially acceptable. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne was accused of adultery. She was forcefully taken to the centre of town to be tried and publicly shamed for her actions. The townspeople of Boston used public shame as a form of punishment. They compelled Hester Prynne to wear the letter “A” on her breast, because the letter symbolized adultery. If the townspeople continued to use public embarrassment as a form of punishment, potential friendships and involving oneself into the community would then be destroyed. Like these two women, Justine Sacco was also universally shamed (Source C). In December of 2013, Justine Sacco, tweeted: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” whilst on her way to Africa from

“Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change”(Brené Brown). In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a woman is publicly shamed for having a child with a man who is not her husband. Another example of public shame can be seen in modern day articles “Florida ‘Scarlet Letter’ Law is Repealed by Gov. Bush,” by Dana Canedy, and “Houston Couple Gets ‘The Scarlet Letter’ Treatment.” Both talk of public shame that people have had to endure in the present day. Public shaming is not an effective punishment because it is a cruel and unusual punishment, it does not deter crime, and it can emotionally traumatize the one being shamed.

A woman outcasted for her sin in a puritan society. A woman ridiculed for what actions she took with a high ranking official. A woman threatened for what controversy she said. All of the following people have been exposed to some form of public humiliation, public humiliation has long been outlived from its more primitive origin. However, the act of public shaming has evolved along with our technology to deepen the pain on the victim. However the areas of their lives that are affected have stayed the same and rather just the way of shaming the victim has changed The following texts describe the effect of humiliation on a person, The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Price of Shame” by Monica Lewinsky, and “Is the Internet a Mob Without Consequence?” by Nick Bolton. Public humiliation has always affected the culprit’s personal, social, and personal lives. The impact of humiliation on someone's social, professional lives is that the humiliated person will be an outcast in society, humiliation will ruin their chances of attaining some type of profession and humiliation will distance themselves from the people in their personal lives

In every country in the world there are certain levels of shaming that every society has, where some countries have extreme shame than others. Shaming is form of criticism and judgement when an individual violates social or moral norms. Shaming fundamentally reacts our psychological need for acceptance and approval from either someone or the public. It is true that for centuries, shame has been given a negative name, but there is reason why shame has existed for a long time and why it will continue to exist in the future. Shaming should be part of society since it brings order and control, it causes people to reflect their wrong doing, and it creates a positive change that affects everyone. Shaming should be part of the society since shaming, most of the time, brings positive results.