What do you think?
Rate this book
Shame and Guilt
Shame and guilt, while the focus of attention among scholars and clinicians for generations, have only recently been subjected to systematic empirical scrutiny. This volume reports on the growing body of knowledge on these key self-conscious emotions, integrating findings from the authors' original research program with other data emerging from social, clinical, personality, and developmental psychology. Writing in an engaging, accessible style, June Price Tangney and Ronda L. Dearing offer a coherent new scientific perspective on shame and guilt. Compelling evidence is presented to demonstrate that these universally experienced affective phenomena have significant--and surprisingly disparate--implications for many aspects of human functioning, with particular relevance for interpersonal relationships.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
9 people are currently reading
555 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 30, 2013
This book really interesting -- and it's written to be accessible to non-specialists. Tangney and her associates have studied shame and guilt in a variety of populations (children, adolescents, college students, adults), looking at correlations with behaviors and with other psychological measures.
In everyday speech, a lot of people use "shame" and "guilt" interchangeably, but the authors (and other pscyhologists) differentiate between the two. Guilt has to do with feeling bad about SOMETHING you DID. Shame is feeling bad about YOURSELF. Guilt (when it's not accompanied by shame) turns out to be adaptive: you realize you did something bad and you can then make amends or figure out a way to do better in the future. Shame is different: you feel so horrible that you can't think constructively and you often withdraw, do self-destructive things, or lash out at others.
One of the more intriguing studies described in the book looked at a group of 5th graders, their parents, and their grandparents -- and then studied them all again in 10 years, when the kids were 17 and 18.
QUOTE
[S]hame-proneness assessed in the fifth grade predicted later high school suspension, drug use of various kinds (amphetamines, depressants, hallucinogens, heroin), and suicide attempts. Relative to their less shame-prone peers, shame-prone children were less likely to apply to college or engage in community service.
In contrast, relative to less guilt-prone children, guilt-prone fifth graders were more likely to later apply to college and do community service. They were less likely to make suicide attempts, to use heroin and to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and they began drinking at a later age. Guilt-prone fifth graders were less likely to be arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. In adolescence they had fewer sexual partners and were more likely to practice "safe sex" and use birth control.
These links . . . remained robust, even when we controlled for family income and mothers' education. . . . Moreover, these findings held even when controlling for children's anger [in fifth grade].END QUOTE
(p. 135) The authors devote four pages at the end of the book to implications of their research for the criminal justice system. They support restorative justice programs (using "active participation by the victim, the offender, and the community with the aim of repairing the community," id. at 192). They point to innovative programs of "cognitive-behavioral interventions" with inmates to encourage "appropriate experiences of guilt" and "constructive motivations to repair or make amends" and cut down the maladaptive shame (id.).
The authors strongly disapprove "shaming" sentences -- e.g., the sentences that require the offender to walk through town with a sign saying what he or she did. Id. at 193. And given their findings about shame leading to negative behaviors, their disapproval makes a lot of sense.
In a final note, the authors point out that "[a]pects of the incarceration experience itself may provoke feelings of shame and humiliation . . . . [P]articularly when punishment is perceived as unjust, such feelings of shame can lead to defiance and, paradoxically, an increase in criminal behavior. . . . A thoughtful examination of the prison environment and policies could substantially reduce the shaming, humiliating potential of life behind bars, shifting the emphasis toward values of responsibility and community." Id.
In everyday speech, a lot of people use "shame" and "guilt" interchangeably, but the authors (and other pscyhologists) differentiate between the two. Guilt has to do with feeling bad about SOMETHING you DID. Shame is feeling bad about YOURSELF. Guilt (when it's not accompanied by shame) turns out to be adaptive: you realize you did something bad and you can then make amends or figure out a way to do better in the future. Shame is different: you feel so horrible that you can't think constructively and you often withdraw, do self-destructive things, or lash out at others.
One of the more intriguing studies described in the book looked at a group of 5th graders, their parents, and their grandparents -- and then studied them all again in 10 years, when the kids were 17 and 18.
QUOTE
[S]hame-proneness assessed in the fifth grade predicted later high school suspension, drug use of various kinds (amphetamines, depressants, hallucinogens, heroin), and suicide attempts. Relative to their less shame-prone peers, shame-prone children were less likely to apply to college or engage in community service.
In contrast, relative to less guilt-prone children, guilt-prone fifth graders were more likely to later apply to college and do community service. They were less likely to make suicide attempts, to use heroin and to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and they began drinking at a later age. Guilt-prone fifth graders were less likely to be arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. In adolescence they had fewer sexual partners and were more likely to practice "safe sex" and use birth control.
These links . . . remained robust, even when we controlled for family income and mothers' education. . . . Moreover, these findings held even when controlling for children's anger [in fifth grade].END QUOTE
(p. 135) The authors devote four pages at the end of the book to implications of their research for the criminal justice system. They support restorative justice programs (using "active participation by the victim, the offender, and the community with the aim of repairing the community," id. at 192). They point to innovative programs of "cognitive-behavioral interventions" with inmates to encourage "appropriate experiences of guilt" and "constructive motivations to repair or make amends" and cut down the maladaptive shame (id.).
The authors strongly disapprove "shaming" sentences -- e.g., the sentences that require the offender to walk through town with a sign saying what he or she did. Id. at 193. And given their findings about shame leading to negative behaviors, their disapproval makes a lot of sense.
In a final note, the authors point out that "[a]pects of the incarceration experience itself may provoke feelings of shame and humiliation . . . . [P]articularly when punishment is perceived as unjust, such feelings of shame can lead to defiance and, paradoxically, an increase in criminal behavior. . . . A thoughtful examination of the prison environment and policies could substantially reduce the shaming, humiliating potential of life behind bars, shifting the emphasis toward values of responsibility and community." Id.
May 9, 2023
Extremely clear explanation on shame and debilitating guilt. I would have liked more examples of how to clear it.
October 16, 2007
This book describes similarities and differences between guilt and shame, and explains how guilt can be adaptive and induce approach related behavior in people, whereas shame makes people withdraw and worsens depression and anxiety. I loved it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews