Tangney, Stuewig And Mashek Analysis

In “Shame: The emotions and morality of violence,” James Gilligan, a professor of Psychiatry at New York University, argues to make a point that shame can lead to violence in a certain amount of people. After working and interviewing with two convicts in a prison, he learns that there are three preconditions to be met before being considered violent. The first is to not show their feelings of being ashamed due to it threatening their masculinity. The second is that they can’t counteract shame with their social status, achievements, friends and family. The last is not to feel love, guilt, or fear. These preconditions make Gilligan more understanding of the inmates and their lives.

Guilt causes more constructive responses, usually trying to mend the damage. Shame is attacking or lashing out at other people,

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).

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.

Have you ever felt so ashamed that you have become ashamed of who you are becoming? Shame is always reminding people it is a soul eating disease. For instance, in the book The Kite Runner Baba and Amir are so caught up in their shame they can hardly stand each other. In the beginning of the novel Baba pays no attention to Amir and by the end of the novel Amir realizes why his father paid no attention to him. We can become a changed person by facing our shame and allowing it to remain in the past while we move on to our future.

Research was conducted by Wiklander, Samuelsson, Jokinen, Nilsonne, Wilczek, Rylander, and Asberg (2012) on the relationship between shame-proneness and suicide attempt. The introduction mentions that the researchers wanted to explore whether or not shame proneness was a stable tendency for attempted suicide. According to Wiklander, et al. (2012), when individuals encounter situations of failure, they typically experience shame. The researchers define shame as "an aversive affective state paired with a negative evaluation of the entire self" (Lewis, 1971; Tangney, Stuewig, & Mashek, 2007; Lindsay-Hatz, 1984 as cited by Wiklander, et al., 2012).

It is said that we internalise information we gain from the world and then we build it into our sense of self. In other words, when we human are praised and shown love and respect we gain high self-esteem and we forget about it and it doesn’t bother us. However, when we are cussed and something bad is said about us, we tend to think about it not forgetting it and those who experience this would have a low self-esteem. It is also said that those with low self-esteem others can increase it.

Shame is unspoken, it is the main secret behind different forms of broken behaviors. The aspiring researcher Brene Brown, in her earlier talk, “The Power of Vulnerability”, which became a viral hit and the most favored TED Talk video, explores what the possibilities are when people confront their shame. Along with her most recent video “Listening to Shame”, Brown speaks of both shame and vulnerability throughout the presentation. She digs into the uncomfortable, unacceptable, and human emotions that we keep deep within us and dares us to show our authentic selves. The presentation includes the rhetorical appeals of ethos, logos and pathos to build the fundamental objectives of the talk. In which throughout her talk, Brown portrays great credibility

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).

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).

I love the power in this quote of comparing how we love and accept people when we are unashamed, versus when we are ashamed and feeling unworthy. The problem with living in a shame-based culture is it becomes increasingly normal, and therefore how shame affects our identity has gone unrecognized and undefined in most of our lives. This is how Brene explains shame, “Shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing we are flawed and therefore unworthy of acceptance and belonging. Women often experience shame when they are entangled in a web of layered, conflicting and competing social-community expectations. Shame leaves women feeling trapped, powerless and isolated.”

Hawthorne claims that no crime is more flagrant than to prevent an offender from hiding his face in shame. After reading the novel, The Scarlet Letter I can see that there is very thorough evidence for agreeing with Hawthorne. Therefore, it is definite that there is no crime worse than being forced to confront your shame in public. Individuals should have the right to face their wrongs alone and should not be forced to confront them publicly. The article “The Shame of Public Shaming” clarifies that public shaming has been used as punishment in almost all societies but over the past couple of centuries have moved away from this kind of punishments. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they have publicly shamed many individuals the main one

Has a legacy of false guilt and shame affected your life or family? Can you see any various ways that it may influence the next generation of your family? What choices can you make today to end this

“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.