Shaming Should Be Part Of Society

Braithwaite’s reintegrative shaming theory draws on traditional criminological theories such as labelling, subcultural, opportunity, control, differential association and social learning theories (Braithwaite, 1989). John Braithwaite first put forward his theory of reintegrative shaming in his book, Crime, Shame

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.

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).

Unacknowledged Shame Theory is seen in a perspective that shame can cause a destructive emotion and can promote crime instead of preventing it if it is not managed positively. By using apology in return for forgiveness symbolises that reparation can commence (Braithwaite, 2004).

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?

Other issues of shame are those constructed by the Jim Crow system. For example, African Americans being a “shamed race” by being forced into

When we hear shaming our minds quickly go to someone being embarrassed and humanized for their past actions. In public view for people to create judgments and uncertainty about a behavior seen from a certain person. This description falls under the common form of shaming known as stigmatization, found in our criminal system stigmatization is disrespectful shaming, “where the offender is treated as a bad person. The offender is left with that stigma permanently” (Braithwaite, 2000, 282) due to the forgivingness found in this form of shaming. Stigmatization shaming only tends to bring more shame than a resolution so crime tends to increase the crimes because the offender feels like there no way out, so I might as well

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.

The role of punishments in the justice system is designed to be served for a certain period of time then end, but today “public shaming exercises haphazardly mix the real world with virtual reality [social media] [...]” (Beato) because public humiliation fails to have an exact ending due to social media. A crucial part of the justice system is to reform the individuals who are punished under it; punishments that end allow individuals to move on and become good citizens again. Since public humiliation does not end, it is not a viable option for punishments that reform the individual. Judges often sentence criminals to public humiliation because they believe it to be a less intense form of punishment. However in reality, public humiliation is the most damaging form of punishment, below the death penalty, because the damage caused by public humiliation follow the individual for the rest of their life. Public humiliation is too damaging to be used to punish

Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title of the book. Publication City, ST: Publisher Name. Goldberg, C. (1991). Understanding shame. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.

Dan M. Kahan argues in his article “Shame Is Worth a Try” that people who understand the potential of shaming know that it is “cheap, efficient, and an appropriate alternative to short jail sentences” (571).

Public shaming has happened to many people over the years. It is one of the worst feelings in the world. The painful, antagonizing, embarrassing shame that comes out of it makes people’s lives as miserable as getting tarred and feathered. Hester Prynne committing adultery, Monica Lewinski having sexual relations with Bill Clinton, Justine Sacco tweeting out an African-AIDS stereotype. These are all examples of people who have been publicly shamed. Because public shaming promotes the negative change in perspective towards a victim, long-lasting embarrassment, and regret, it should be left in the past.

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To start off, public shaming is not justified. Under many circumstances the person being shamed made a mistake and did not intentionally want to hurt another person. In fact, the person making the mistake is usually the one who is hurt, damaged and suffers the most. As if it’s not enough that this person harms their reputation but strangers who don’t even know him or her and don’t even know all the details are very quick to judge what that person said or did. People do not realize how quickly their shaming actions can trigger other people to react. The word gets out so quickly these days with social media that one comment or message that is said can blow up almost around the world in hours. The Scarlet Letter, “The Price of Public Shame”,

“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.