Guilt, Shame, and Shaming

Source: (2002) In, Ido Weijers and Anthony Duff, eds., Punishing Juveniles: Principle and Critique. Oxford: Hart Publishing. P. 179-192.

Gabriele Taylor commences her essay with the assumption that juvenile justice should be restorative justice. That is, it should have as a principal aim the reintegration of the young offender into society. In this view there is a focus on the young offender as a person. The question therefore arises as to what sort of attitude it is necessary or desirable to bring about in the young offender to reintegrate him or her into society. Some have argued that shaming should be employed to induce this process of moral education, acceptance of responsibility, and affirmation of basic social values. To be persuasive, this perspective requires careful analysis of and distinctions among various ideas and emotions that cluster around shame and shaming. These include guilt and remorse, as well as different types and effects of shaming (cf. Braithwaite’s distinction between ‘stigmatic’ and ‘reintegrative’ shaming). In this context, Taylor examines these ideas and emotions to clarify them, and then to compare and contrast them in relation their application in juvenile justice.