Evaluating shame transformation in group treatment of domestic violence offenders

Source: (2010) International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. V:54 N:4 517-536

Offender rehabilitation, pitting the rational ability of criminal justice against the seeming
irrationality of criminal behavior, remains controversial. Psychology highlights the
importance of emotions in mediating individual behavior. Borrowing from restorative
justice as a more emotionally intelligent form of justice, this article examines the role
of shame and guilt in a domestic violence offender treatment program. The emotions
are differentiated and then activated, similar to the use of reintegrative shaming in
restorative justice, to promote greater offender accountability and empathy. Using a
two-group comparison of male domestic violence offenders, measurements were taken
on three sets of scales in assessing the outcome of the shame transformation process.
Statistically significant effects were found for