The development of a scale for measuring offence-related feelings of shame and guilt

Abstract

There is substantial evidence that shame and guilt are distinct emotions. Within the field of forensic psychology, it has been suggested that feelings of shame and guilt about a crime differ in their implications for the offender's behaviour. However, investigation of this issue is hampered by the absence of separate, dedicated measures of offence-related guilt and shame. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a preliminary measure of shame and guilt about a crime. The Offence-Related Shame and Guilt Scale was completed by 60 men detained on forensic psychiatric units, as were two existing general measures of shame and guilt. Exploratory factor analysis revealed the existence of two substantive shame and guilt dimensions. The resulting scales were found to have adequate internal consistency and test – retest reliability. Overall the results of this study suggest that while there is considerable overlap between the two emotions, shame and guilt represent distinct emotional responses to an offence.