The Importance Of Public Shaming

The purpose of this essay is to examine the strengths and weaknesses of Braithwaite’s reintegrative shaming theory. This will be accomplished by providing a description of the theory before examining the literature surrounding its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of the theory surround its novel concepts, utility amongst academics and its policy implications. On the contrary, the weaknesses of the theory surround its limited empirical evidence, its ambiguous terminology and its impracticability towards certain offences and certain offenders.

and self - pitying ways from the death of her husband and the lies of

“He was charming and I was flattered, and I declined.” There are many women out there as well as men, who have experienced or better yet have said that exact same line to some person who has taken interest in them and they had to respectfully decline, sometime in their lifetime before. The only difference is that no one has ever experienced public humility like Monica Lewinsky did. Monica Lewinsky gave a speech entitled “The Price of Shame” in March of 2015 published by TED. In this speech, she discussed what made her a national trending topic in the late 1990s, how she handled the negative and small positive attention, how she is dealing with is and advocating on similar issues nowadays. Towards the end of her speech she begins to

It is amazing to know how a person’s reputation is important! It is interesting to know how many important people can easily lose their reputation. Senator Richard Nixon did something unique after being accused of stealing money from a campaign fund. This accusation was heard everywhere and General Dwight Eisenhower was about to make a decision in dropping Nixon from his choice for Vice President. Richard Nixon then delivered a thirty minute speech instead of trying to clear his name in going to interviewers and journalists; the speech Richard Nixon gave, saved his career and it also took him beyond congress. It is good to hear that his speech worked and making his speech the top sixth speeches of the 20th century. Probably Richard Nixon and his family went through hard and difficult times throughout the accusation but Richard Nixon and his family was very strong to overcome it.

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?

In the TED talk with Monica Lewinsky she talks about how she fell in love with her boss. She was his assistant at the time and once Monica knew she made the mistake she regretted it. In the video she speaks “Not a day goes by that I'm not reminded of my mistake, and I regret the mistake deeply” (Lewinsky 02:35). Her mistake was having an affair with the president (Bill Clinton), she says in her speech “I lost my reputation and my dignity. I lost almost everything, and i almost lost my life” (Lewinsky 06:09). Monica Lewinsky’s speech relates to the prompt because she is being publicly shaming for what she did. Once people found out what she did they made fun of her, printed her face on newspaper, he name on the internet and her life to the world.

Most people believe that public humiliation is cruel and unusual punishment, yet it seems to be the only thing working. Doxxing is when you take someone's personal info -info such as social security numbers or address- and post it for the world to see. Some people still see doxxing as ineffective and just flat out wrong as discussed Cole Stryker in “The Problem with Public Shaming” written in The Nation, Stryker notions that public shaming doesn't work and that people need to talk about its effects on people all around the world. Stryker discusses how doxxing and Scarlet Letters are one in the same and are equally bad to do, he even “And when it slithers its tentacles in a person’s life, we become desperate for some way to fight back—to

During this scandal, Clinton was accused of engaging in an extramarital affair in the White House. This led to the impeachment motion in 1998 by the U.S House of Representatives. However, he was acquitted of all charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Senate trial. Moreover, his license to practice law was suspended in Arkansas and even by the United States Supreme Court. Besides, he received a fine of $90,000 because of giving a wrong account of the testimony. Like the previous President, the Clinton-Lewinsky Sex Scandal depicts a serious pursuit of the American people to safeguard the respect for the presidency. The fact that the U.S president was subjected to Senate and House of Representative trial and even suspension of his legal license manifest expansion of the oversight roles. Indeed, the president is accountable to the electorate both politically and socially. Again, this scandal revealed the increased scrutiny on the presidency and demand for accountability during that

On August 17, 1998, exactly one year after making the statement above, President Bill Clinton prepared to deliver a speech concerning a scandal that had gripped the nation for months. It is needless to say that this was an important moment during the Clinton administration. After accusations of sexual harassment, Clinton addressed the nation and admitted to having a relationship with Monica Lewinsky. In this critical speech Clinton set out to admit to wrong-doings, provide a few reasons for his

Visualize living in a society where slut-shaming occurs every day and someone's mistake is publicized to the point that everyone knows what happened. Some people would believe this would be referring to the Puritan society that existed during the 1600’s, but unfortunately, this is common situations that appear in today’s society. A “famous” person's error can show up on social media, covers of magazines, and every talk show throughout America. For example, recently the break up of the beloved Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie appeared everywhere in less than a day. The breakup sparked news on twitter, talk shows such as Wendy Williams, and prevailed to be the lead story on every tabloid by the following day. Even though our society did not devise

We see the reflection of The Scarlet Letter in society today by the way people still view adultery. In The Scarlet Letter, the women were seen as the more "impure" and "dirty" half of the two people engaging in adultery. In today's society, women continue to be treated more negatively than men regarding adulterous affairs. We see in The Scarlet Letter that although both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale committed the same sin of adultery, Hester's public punishment was more important than finding the other adulterer.

Having a career is very important to most people and it takes time, education and hard work, to name a few things, to be successful in a career. Consider Monica Lewinski a recent college graduate who was as she describes a “completely private figure” one day to a “publically humiliated one worldwide” the next day. In this instance her professional life was turned upside down. Monica Lewinski, at the age of 22, was working for her boss who at the time was the president Bill Clinton. She was having an affair with him and while at work, Monica and Bill would have conversations on the phone that no one was suppose to know about. Unfortunately, there were illegal tapes made of their conversations. Monica had to admit that was her talking in the tapes, since she was saying these things she had lost her job working for the president. In source B the speech “The Price of Public Shame” by Monica Lewinski explains how her mistake ruined her career at the time and almost ruined her life. It states in the speech, “I’ve been legally required to personally authenticate all 20 hours of taped conversation…deeply ashamed, to the worst version of myself, a self I don’t even recognize.” It was obviously a

Clinton’s scandal surfaced in 1998 and damaged his political career and reputation. Although his actions ended in his impeachment, his work still had a positive effect on the United States. Nadler explains if a leader of a nation’s personal life interferes with their job performance, then it should become the public’s knowledge. In other words, a politician's personal life should only be known by the public if it affects the public in a negative way. The article, “Bill Clinton 1993-2001,” explains the notions of some Americans after the scandal, “The majority of the people still see Clinton as having their best interests at heart. They think he was on their side, interested in them, and working for them.” The article goes in depth to say that despite his secret affair with Monica Lewinsky, his professional life was very successful. Additionally the article adds that he had success in social programs and budgeting in general, along with fixing the the government expenses. It was also said that Clinton accomplished all of these goals despite the bitter Congress he faced. Clinton’s goals for the nation did not interfere with his personal, self goals, or actions. A politician's personal life, like Bill Clinton’s, should not even be brought to the public’s attention as it did not affect the public and their

The main character in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, emerged from the gloom of this dark society's punishment. For her crime of adultery, she faced the most commonly used punishment—public humiliation. Although this involved no physical harm, its use in such a proper society brought ridicule and shame paralleling a punishment as harsh as death itself. Hester stood amidst the crowd for three tortuous hours, struggling to withstand the burning glares of the townspeople feeling, "as if she must needs shriek out with the full power of her lungs, and cast herself from the scaffold down upon the ground, or else go mad at once." (40). This display was made even more severe because she was also sentenced "to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom," the letter "A", for the rest of her life (43). The scarlet symbol for adultery branded Hester as a sinner to others, and when she was alone it burned like fire into her innermost heart to remind her of the life-shattering punishment society sentenced her for a single sin.

“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.