The Problem With Public Shaming

As the most globally known form of communication, social media outlets has continuously contributed to the dehumanization of African American males for decades starting with propaganda stereotyping the black men as the “black buck” to justify their domination and labor exploitation under chattel slavery in the mid-19th century(Herd 2014). To a hyper sexual rapist possessed by the over desire for white women during the era of wide spread lynching’s, helping to fuel the disenfranchisement and ideological support for extreme anti-black terrorism (Herd 2014). Ultimately providing the public with the idea that the black man is to be feared. From this historical backing of anti-black ideology by the system with laws such as black codes and segregation

With the limitations of traditional criminological theories and the failings of the traditional criminal justice system, John Braithwaite’s reintegrative shaming theory provides a refreshing alternative to previous retributive and penal approaches (Braithwaite, 1989; White, Haines & Asquith, 2012). With its emphasis on cultural integration, the theory has shown utility amongst practitioners and academics (Kim & Gerber, 2012; Hay, 2001). However, despite its value, Braithwaite’s theory has not been without considerable critique (White, Haines & Asquith, 2012).

When justifying a punishment, American adjudicators look for five reasons to justify the punishment: incapacitation, restitution, deterrence, rehabilitations and retribution. Out of these five reasons only three apply to “doxxing” and even then they are classified as deeply noted social ills (racism, sexism and homophobia) to shame others. Stryker continually states that people are bound to impulses they hate.

Neither incapacitation nor restitution apply to doxxing, since there are no legal enforcement mechanisms. To the extent that those who engage in public shaming think they are satisfying one of the remaining three, they faultily assume that deeply rooted social ills like racism, sexism and homophobia are personal failings that can be remedied through vicious public blowback and a permanent stain on their character.

Jessica compares internet shaming to that of Ancient Romans and how they branded criminals on the forehead for the crime they committed, or how colonial American would force adulterers to wear a scarlet A. The comparison between internet shaming and ancient public shaming doesn’t work. Yes, nothing disappears from the internet, but eventually it will be replaced by something new. By branding someone, it is a constant reminder to the public. The memory of Raza never comes up, nor are there any corrupt thoughts that are joined

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.

with their religion or ethnic group exposed in a light that may be very negative and insulting to

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

Public shaming has always been an issue, in the United States it began with the puritans, now should it end with us? Shaming someone publically is a controversial topic because some people think it is too harsh, and some people think it is not harsh enough. Thinking back to the times of the Salem witch trials, it was common practice, and in some cases is now, so should it still be used? Sometimes public shaming is a better punishment than a ticket or jail because it serves as a wake-up call without being as harsh as jail or a ticket.

During my English period, I've been analyzing a speech and some articles on the topic of slut-shaming. While I read the articles, I was shocked to discover that this was an issue in our school systems. In case you weren’t aware, slut-shaming is the act of insulting a young woman (or girl) for being sexual. In this act, people use obscenities such as slut, whore, and slag, to shame women for their supposed “crime”. This, of course, doesn’t end well for the victim. In other words, this concerns you because this is an issue that not only spans San Luis High School but the entire district. This must be resolved because it has had dire consequences for many students and it has connections towards rape culture.

There is a young adult, who like any other recent college graduate, has a normal and satisfied life. He has a relatively new job working in a computer business, is confident about being pretty successful one day in that business, and lives a relaxed life at home with his girlfriend from college. As soon as he makes one tweet, in which is a neutral response to another tweet that is slightly offensive, this young adult in the computer business starts to feel horrible. His girlfriend breaks up with him, he loses his job, and people all over Twitter are threatening him in violent ways. Public shame has a very negative impact on people's personal, social lives, and professional lives. It causes them to lose friends or boyfriends/girlfriends, their

“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.

On a very popular college gossip website called juicycampus.com, students could hide behind the “anonymity mask” posting anything they wanted while remaining anonymous to other users. This obviously had some consequences. Female students where being called sluts, whores and even their personal information such as their addresses and phone numbers were being given away on this website. Male students were being called jerks and some were said to have STD’s. Whether this was true or not, nobody should have to know

Of course, shaming should be part of society due to the fact that it brings order and control among the people. Shaming controls people who perform unacceptable behavior that can cause great damage. It is extremely critical for any society to be in order since it brings peace and balance. But, in order for that to happen society must shame people who violate or break moral and social norms that are highly valued. According to Eric Posner, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School stated that, “Shaming is a form of social control... Shaming has always been extraordinarily important—often... shaming was a major source of public order”(sec. 2). Controlling individuals with shame is the

In today’s society we let the media decide everything in our lives from what clothes we should wear, music we should listen to, and how we should look. One of the biggest problems that both men and women face is body shaming, because the media sets standards for young kids and young adults., they often times try and fit the description of “perfect” which leads these people to either be depressed because they do not look like people want them to look or harm themselves in order to achieve the desired look. The most common ways the media shames both men and women are by celebrities and how they are the “perfect” body, publishing magazines of what is the ideal man and woman, and by the people who believe being “too” fat is bad and being “too” skinny is bad.