Shame : Theory And Treatment Of Shame

Author James Gilligan wrote “Shame” to show the relation of shame and violence. His motive is to achieve a better understanding of why people are violent. He creates an authoritative mood

| 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).

Esperanza’s situation is a reminder that shame can have a positive effect on people’s lives by being a source of motivation and inspiration.

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

Dr. Sandra D. Wilson (2001) asks, “Have you ever felt as if you were the only caterpillar in a butterfly world? Do you often feel as if you have to do twice as much to be half as good as other” (p. 16)? If you answered, yes, then that is what Wilson (2001) calls binding shame. “Shame is the soul-deep belief that something is horribly wrong with me that is not wrong with anyone else in the entire world. If I am bound by shame, I feel hopelessly, distinguishingly different and worthless (p. 16).

Ever since the beginning, in the regards to the biblical belief system, sin has plagued the world. Ever since the woman named Eve took the apple, sin has said existed. Sin has become a ruling factor in certain communities, at the time of the Romans, some sin was considered punishable by death. In the years of the 1500s, a group emerged calling themselves the Puritans. They based their everyday lives around the avoidance of sin. So when one committed a sin he/she was punished. Death, torture, beatings, and public shaming. Shame, it's to have painful feelings of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. The e of shame is seen many times throughout the texts The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both tell stories of men plagued by their sin of adultery and what they do to deal with the guilt they have brought upon themselves. The two go through trials and tribulations, but in the end seem to come to terms with their sin and consequences. But also realize how they've grown from the experience.

1. Shame is the soul-deep belief that something is horribly wrong with me that is not wrong with anyone else in the entire world.

How do you know when you start to feel shame? For example, what happens in your body and your mind?

The feeling of guilt or shame was brought up in this book multiple times. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was feeling shame after Ted Lavender had been shot and killed. Norman Bowker was guilty after letting Kiowa go because he could not stand the smell in the field. The narrator, Tim O’Brien, even felt regret after not doing anything to stand up for Linda when he was younger. Guilt or regret stays with someone because they always think about what they could have changed and not what they can do going forward. That is what makes these feelings the heaviest of things they can carry.

The final literary element that is principle in the writing of “Shame” was the use of language. The passage begins with him claiming that “[he] never learned hate at home, or shame.

Shame is known as a feeling of embarrassment of one’s actions or behavior. Words you might associate with shame would be: humiliation, regret, guilt, and discomfort. However, shame does not always equal guilt. There are many cases where shame and guilt are two different emotions. Such in the Scarlet Letter, although Hester and Dimmesdale are ashamed of their infidelity they do not necessarily regret their actions.

This speech is very powerful, it gives a broad description of what is shame. And I totally agree when she says, "Shame is a focus on self, guilt is a focus on behavior." Shame is "I am bad." Guilt is "I did something bad." Many times we do not do things we like for shame , For example, I am a person who likes to sing but I am embarrassed to do it in front of the

* Culture of shame stems from a fundamental sense of unacceptability, isolation and separateness by one’s own community.

“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.