Expressions Of Shame Research Articles

(Post-)Colonial Violence: Ripper Street and Moral Injury

The period crime drama Ripper Street (BBC/multiple production partners, 2012–2016) engages in a variety of postcolonial sociocultural critiques. One of these areas of critique includes the moral injury/-ies suffered by Sergeant (later Inspector) Bennet Drake (played by Jerome Flynn), who served in Sudan and Egypt as part of the colonial military before becoming a police officer. Often called upon to engage in what would now be considered police brutality, Drake’s increasingly ambivalent relationship to violence, those who command (or have commanded) him, and the expressions of shame and self-harm he exhibits make him a clear victim of moral injury. This article will explore how Drake is represented, and also how he is representative of returning soldiers, contextualised in both colonial (contemporary to the period in which the series is set) and postcolonial (contemporary to the period in which it was filmed) critique.

South African rape survivors’ expressions of shame, self-blame and internalized-stigma

Post-rape research and support often focuses on external stigma, yet many rape survivors experience appreciable shame, self-blame and internalized-stigma. Despite a growing literature describing the impact of these feelings on survivors' emotional wellbeing, there has been little research on this in South Africa, where an average of 40,000 rape cases are reported annually. To strengthen our understanding of female rape survivors' experiences and perceptions of shame, self-blame and internalized-stigma, we undertook qualitative research with 16 survivors in eThekwini, South Africa. They participated in 2–3 in-depth and life history interviews, that sought to enable them to express how they made meaning of post-rape internalized-stigma, shame and self-blame, and how these may have influenced their psychological reactions to rape. The paper describes the women's experiences and reactions to the rape and reflects on how their descriptions contribute to theoretical perspectives on shame, self-blame and internalized-stigma. The women expressed feelings of shame, self-blame, and internalized-stigma, describing these as distinct, yet inter-connected. These feelings were a reaction to views expressed by family, community members and service providers, their relationship to the perpetrator, the extent of gossip about the incident and gender norms and rape myths. Furthermore, while the stigma was felt at an individual level, it was driven by external stigma enacted at interpersonal and structural/community levels. Women who had experienced more than one rape, explained this through the internally-stigmatizing notion of being ‘rape-able’. This study addresses a significant knowledge gap which could improve contextually appropriate post-rape care services and interventions in South Africa, particularly psychological support for survivors. Finally, while rape survivors should be supported to address their own shame, self-blame and internalized-stigma, external stigma needs to be addressed at interpersonal and structural levels.

Shame in social interaction: Descriptions of experiences of shame by participants with high or low levels of narcissistic traits.

In this study, we investigate how personal experiences about shameful events are described in face-to-face social interaction, and how these stories differ between participants who have either high or low levels of narcissistic personality traits. The dataset consists of 22 dyadic conversations where the participants describe events where they felt ashamed of themselves. We found the narratives to vary in terms of five dimensions. With narcissistic individuals, the default narrative tended to exhibit a cluster of characteristics that gather at one end of these dimensions: (1) weak expressions of shame; (2) located in the story-world; (3) low level of reflexivity as well as; (4) responsibility of the described event; and (5) a general level of description. We discuss the findings in relation to sociological and psychological theories of shame and suggest that individuals with narcissistic personality traits are more inclined to use suppressive conversational practices in their treatment of shame, thus providing a "window" to these interactional practices.

On shame and the perceived credibility of sexual assault allegations

AbstractDespite the high incidence of sexual assault, doubt about allegations is common. Previous research suggests that victims expressing positive or no emotion are perceived as less credible than those expressing negative emotions. However, little is known about which specific negative emotional expressions contribute to credibility in this context. In two studies (N = 623), participants read a date rape vignette. The alleged victim's statement was paired with a picture of a female person expressing either shame, sadness, or no emotion. Participants rated the credibility of her account and completed a measure of rape myth acceptance. Controlling for rape myth acceptance, allegations were perceived as more credible when accompanied by an expression of shame versus sadness (a negative, low arousal control condition). It is critical to be aware of the shame‐credibility bias in this context to intervene and support those who have experienced sexual assault.

(Dis)respect and shame in the context of 'medically unexplained' illness.

A significant proportion of somatic symptoms remain, at present, medically unexplained. These symptoms are common, can affect any part of the body, and can result in a wide range of outcomes-from a minor, transient inconvenience to severe, chronic disability-but medical testing reveals no observable pathology. This paper explores two first-person accounts of so-called 'medically unexplained' illness: one that is published in a memoir, and the other produced during a semi-structured interview. Both texts are revelatory for their expression of shame in the context of encountering disrespect from healthcare professionals. The first section of my paper, clinical encounters, explores disrespect which, I argue, takes three interconnecting forms in these texts: disrespect for pain when it is seen as 'medically unexplained', disrespect for the patient's account of her own pain, and disrespect for the patient herself. The second section elucidates the shame that occurs as an affective and embodied consequence of encountering such disrespect. I claim that patients living with so-called 'medically unexplained' illnesses suffer a double burden. They endure both somatic and social suffering-not only their symptoms, but also disrespectful, traumaticand shame-inducing experiences of healthcare systems. I conclude with a reflection on the urgent need for changes in clinical training that could improve the quality of life for these patients, even in the absence of an explanation, treatmentor cure for their symptoms.

Shame Broadcasts Social Norms: The Positive Social Effects of Shame on Norm Acquisition and Normative Behavior

How does shame affect social cohesion? Prior work has drawn divergent conclusions to this question because shame can spur maladaptive behaviors for people who experience it. However, past work has overlooked the interindividual effects of shame—how one’s expression of shame affects people who witness it. We investigated these social-learning effects of shame and identified norm transmission as a reliable route by which shame facilitates social cohesion. Across five studies and two supplemental studies with U.S.-based adult participants (N = 3,726), we manipulated whether someone conveys shame, no specific emotion, or other discrete emotions regarding their behavior. We then assessed the effect of this emotional expression on participants’ norm inferences and norm-conforming behavior. We found that shame broadcasts particularly strong signals about social norms, and people adjust their behavior to align with these norms. We discuss how these findings challenge common conclusions about shame and generate insights about shame’s influence on social life.

Сором і вина як фрагменти емотивної картини світу (на матеріалі української фраземіки)

The article belongs to the series of publications devoted to the investigation of fundamental human emotions representated in Ukrainian phrasal verbs. The article examines the psychophysiological patterns of emotions of shame and guilt in Ukrainian phraseology. The subject of the article includes denotation phrases of shame and guilt in the Ukrainian language. A parametric analysis of the semantic structure of the phrase is used as the main method. In Ukrainian phraseology, the studies of the pantomimic expressions of shame and guilt are consistent with cross-cultural explorations and descriptions of fundamental human emotions actualized in kinesthetic phrases. Vegetative body reactions to shame are represented by heat and redness. The eyes, face and body are the main non-verbal indicators of shame and guilt. However, the loci of shame are the soul and the heart. In the Ukrainian culture, there is a connection between shame and public opinion and reputation. Shame and guilt threaten with a potential loss of reputation. The emotion of guilt is also predicated by the intention to ‘scapegoating’ and marked by negative concepts (swamp, dirt, mud, sludge).

Ælfric’s Expressions for Shame and Guilt: A Study in Intra-Writer Conceptual Variation

AbstractThis research focuses on the analysis of onomasiological variation in Old English texts written by Ælfric; more specifically, I am interested in the study of the different motifs that shape the linguistic expressions of shame and guilt used by this Anglo-Saxon monk across different textual genres. Through the fine-grained analysis of the whole set of shame and guilt expressions recorded in the entire corpus of Ælfrician texts, a network of literal and figurative conceptualizations for each emotion is proposed here. Based on this network, I have reconstructed and analysed patterns of conceptual variation in Ælfric’s English in order to show the existing tension between literal, metonymic and metaphoric expressions for these two emotions. As shall be seen here, the introduction in Anglo-Saxon England of Augustinian psychology by Ælfric and other highly educated authors favoured (i) the progressive neglect of the Germanic concept of shame and guilt as instruments of social control, (ii) the dissemination of new shame-related values, and (iii) the growing use of a new set of embodied conceptualizations for the two emotions under scrutiny here, most of which have become common figurative expressions of shame and guilt in later varieties of English. The new expressions (e.g., SHAME IS SOMETHING COVERING A PERSON, GUILT IS A BURDEN) illustrate the shift towards a progressive embodiment of the new emotional standards brought by Christianization. According to these standards, rather than an external judgment or reproach, shame and guilt involve a negative evaluation of oneself.

The Use Malays-Sambas Expressions in Developing Character Education in Sambas Primary Madrasah in Millennial Era

The Malays-Sambas expression is believed to have contributed to the Islamic basic education through an emphasis on a culture of shame expression that reflects the honor, reputation, and self-esteem of foreign cultures. The purpose of this study was to analyze the expression of Malay Sambas in improving the character education of Islamic primary students. The naturalistic phenomenological method was used to analyze the data of 6 students, 3 principals, and classroom teachers through in-depth interview sessions. The voices of participants with homogeneous characteristics of the Sambas Malay ethnicity were recorded and analyzed looking at the characteristics and implications, among others: 1) Exploration of the Sambas Malay; Suppan said, "a small wrong hand is set up" means respect, openness, gentle words, and the expression of the language of "tullah"(damned) to teach children, should not conflict with parents, teachers or parents. 2) The contribution of the Malay-Sambas language has significant character education value. Therefore, these findings contributed to schools in creating a model of local wisdom curriculum that aims to explore the richness of local values integrated into formulating the lives of a good millennial generation, so that they can maintain their values ​​while respecting globalization dominance.

Relationship Between Skin Shame, Psychological Distress and Quality of Life in Patients with Psoriasis: a Pilot Study.

Shame has been registered as a part of psychosocial distress in patients with psoriasis. This study investigated 44 patients with psoriasis and 88 age- and sex-matched individuals without skin disease. Skin shame, multifarious expressions of shame, psychological symptoms, overall health, dermatological quality of life, disease burden and disease severity were measured. Higher levels of skin shame correlated with a greater disease burden (r=0.63; p<0.01), higher Dermatology Life Quality Index (r=0.33; p<0.05), and lower mental quality of life (r=–0.30; p<0.05). Patients had a higher level of skin shame (F=74.03; eta2= 0.36; p<0.01) and less physical quality of life on the SF-36 (F=5.14; eta2= 0.04; p<0.05) than non-dermatological controls. General shame was not related to disease burden or quality of life. While self-rated skin shame appears to be related to quality of life in patients with psoriasis, no association was registered between expert-rated Psoriasis Area and Severity Index and quality of life.

Transgenerational shame in postcolonial Italy: Igiaba Scego’s Adua

ABSTRACTThis article reads Igiaba Scego’s 2015 novel Adua as an expression of shame within the parameters of transgenerational emotion. The passage of shame is traced from a Somali subject of 1930s Italian colonialism to his daughter, Adua, in 1970s postcolonial Somalia, who later suffers the reverberations of the affective charge of shame in modern-day Italy. Grounded in psychoanalytical theories of individual and transgenerational shame, the article argues that Scego uses the repetition of linguistic patterns to elucidate how shame is passed down and experienced across two bodies, coming to the fore in a Rome characterized by postcolonial attitudes and the “European migrant crisis”. This article proposes that shame is a significant feature of Italian postcolonial writing, and enunciates a theory of transgenerational shame as a key aspect of the postcolonial aesthetic.

Dams, barriers and beating yourself up: shame in groupwork for addressing sexual offending

ABSTRACTShame is a powerful emotional experience embedded in prevailing social and cultural norms. It is the judgement or fear of judgement for who we are rather than what we have done. Braithwaite proposes shame can be re-integrative or stigmatising, where re-integrative shaming condemns the behaviour not the person, to enable their re-entry into society. Shame is relevant to sexual offending and its treatment, yet little research has explored how it is expressed or responded to in treatment programmes. We applied conversation analysis and discourse analysis to examine expressions of shame in 12 video-recorded sessions of a court mandated groupwork programme addressing sexual offending. Both social workers and the other men on the programme distinguished between being a bad person (shame) and being responsible for a bad act (guilt) as a way to empathise with the individual, build motivation, instil hope and leverage optimism towards positive change. We demonstrate that shame constitutes topics, resources and actions drawn on to achieve the programme’s rehabilitative aims, including separating the person from the behaviour, as per re-integrative shaming, demonstrating empathy and congruence, and motivating change. We discuss the paradoxes and dilemmas of shame for practice that addresses sexual offending.

“Now to my distress”

AbstractIt is argued that shame has become increasingly important as a mechanism of social control in Western societies while our awareness of shame has simultaneously decreased. This paper explores the functions of the lexemesshame,disgraceandignominyin the eighteenth-century section of theCorpus of Early English Correspondenceand investigates how shame-inducing situations were discussed in letter-writing. Direct expressions of shame emerge particularly as formulaic apologies and reflect breached social conventions, honour, inadequacy and immorality. Shame discourse in the two case studies, however, proved to be context-dependent, evasive and euphemistic, and shame was expressed through a range of negative emotions. An element of discomfort in eighteenth-century shame discourse indicates that shame had taboo connotations, but the formulaic presence of shame and its connection to the cultural keyword of honour underlines its role as a mechanism of social control.

Keep Silent, Keep Sinful: Mainstream Newspapers’ Representation of Gay Men and Lesbians in Contemporary China

From a critical discourse analysis of all gay-related news reports in five mainstream Beijing newspapers between 2010 and 2015, this article distils four dominant categories of images of gays and lesbians represented by the news media: gays as crime victims because of their presumed inherent weakness, as violent subjects, as enemies of traditional values and as a source of social instability. This means that despite legal and official recognition of homosexuality in China, it is still tainted with sin and perversion in the mainstream public discourse. The way in which the Chinese news media and journalists construct the image of the homosexual person notably differs from that in the West. Newspapers treat gay men and lesbians separately, with the former deemed socially destabilising elements of violence and promiscuity and the latter seen as closer to ‘normal’ heterosexuals in the way they think and act. In addition, Chinese news reports almost completely silence gay people who are rarely interviewed, and the few who are see only their expressions of shame or regret published. This article discusses and interprets such discursive strategies within the specific sociocultural context of Chinese society.

A Qualitative Study of How Preschoolers’ Problematic Sleep Impacts Mothers

ABSTRACTBackground: Sleep disturbances are common among preschool-aged children. As children’s problematic sleep is commonly defined by subjective reports from parents as to how the issue affects them, we took a qualitative approach to explore the perceptions and experiences of mothers and main caregivers of preschoolers with problematic sleep. The aim was to understand their firsthand experiences. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to identify mothers of 3- to 4-year-olds whose sleep was a problem for them. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 mothers. The interviews were analyzed for anticipated and emergent themes, the latter generated from exploring the impact of the child’s sleep problems on the mother herself. Results: Mothers described difficulties mainly with bedtime resistance and night waking and the adverse consequences affecting siblings and partners. Predominant themes falling under the umbrella of emotional responses (e.g., resignation, guilt or shame, confusion or frustration, and defeat) and daytime functioning (e.g., exhaustion, moodiness, poorer concentration, less socializing) emerged from mothers describing the impact the child’s sleep problem had on her personally. Conclusions: This study highlights the overwhelming impact a child’s sleep problems can have on a mother both emotionally and physically, and expressions of shame and guilt suggest some mothers assume much of the responsibility for their child’s sleep problem. The findings provide insight into understanding mothers’ personal responses in dealing with their preschoolers’ sleep that could be useful to assist health professionals in history taking and establishing a treatment plan.

Does Shame Still Prevail in China and Guilt Prevail in the U.S.A?

This study examined whether Chinese and Americans varied in guilt and shame. A 2 (relational closeness: friends vs. acquaintance) × 3 (targets of harm: self only vs. self and the other vs. the other only) × 2 (country: China vs. U.S.) between-subject factorial study was conducted. Results showed regardless of cultures, the extent of damage caused by transgression significantly predicted guilt and shame, whereas relational closeness between a transgressor and a witness did not have an impact. U.S. participants exhibited stronger guilt and shame compared to Chinese on scaled items; Chinese participants had more open-ended shame expressions than U.S. participants.

A New Measure of the Expression of Shame: The Shame Code

While shame is essential for adaptive functioning, experiencing shame more often or intensely than others is strongly associated with psychopathology. To date, no measure of the behavioral expression of shame exists, despite the great potential for use in research and clinical settings. The present study aimed to assess the Shame Code, a new behavioral coding system of the expression of shame. Participants included 149 youth between the ages of 12 and 17 (50 % female, M = 14.5). Shame was elicited with a spontaneous speech task. Participants’ overall Shame Code scores were correlated only with a state measure of shame, however, structural equation modeling results showed that Shame Code variables combined differentially to assess state and trait shame scores. A two-factor model was the best fit to the data. The first factor, Fidget, consisted of Hiding, Fidget (positively loaded), Nervous Positive, and Stillness (negatively loaded). The second factor, Freeze, was comprised of Stillness, Facial Tension, and Silence (positively loaded). The Fidget factor was associated with higher Trait Shame and the Freeze factor was associated with higher State Shame but lower Trait Shame. Therefore, the Shame Code not only effectively captured the behavioral manifestations of shame, but Shame Code variables also differentially predicted state and trait shame.

Turkish Children's Expression of Negative Emotions: Intracultural Variations Related to Socioeconomic Status

The goal of the present study was to examine intracultural variations in Turkish children's emotion expression in relation to socioeconomic status (SES) characteristics, alone and in combination with child gender and their interaction partners. Children's expectations about outcomes from expressing and their reasons for hiding their felt emotion in situations that involved unfairness, disappointment, public failure and a mishap were also delineated. A total of 123 school‐aged Turkish children responded to hypothetical vignettes. Boys and girls from middle‐high SES families were equally likely to endorse shame expression. However, lower SES boys were more likely to endorse hiding shame than lower SES girls. Middle‐high SES children showed a tendency for expressing anger and sadness more than lower SES children. Turkish children primarily expected interpersonal support from emotion expression. Upon anger, disappointment and sadness expression, Turkish children expected instrumental support more from their parents than their peers. The intracultural differences are discussed in light of sociodemographic changes accompanied by cultural value shifts that differentially impact socialization goals and practices of families with different SES. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Keep Silent, Keep Sinful: Mainstream Newspapers' Representations of Gay Men and Lesbians in Contemporary China

From a critical discourse analysis of all gay-related news reports in five mainstream Beijing newspapers in the six years between 2010 and 2015, this paper distills four dominant aspects of the image of gays and lesbians represented by the news media through discursive and rhetorical strategies: gays as crime victims because of their inherent weakness, gays as violent subjects, gays as enemies to traditional values, and gays as a source of social instability. This means that despite its legal and official recognition in China, homosexuality is still tainted with sin and perversion in the mainstream public discourse. The way in which the Chinese news media and journalists constructs the image of the homosexual person notably differs from that in the West. Newspapers treat gay men and lesbians separately, with the former deemed socially destabilizing elements of violence and promiscuity and the latter seen as closer to 'normal' heterosexuals in the way they think and act. In addition, Chinese news reports almost completely silence gay people who are rarely interviewed, and the few who are see only their expressions of shame or regret published. This article also discusses and interprets such discursive strategies within the specific sociocultural context of Chines society.

Expressions of shame in investigative interviews with Australian Aboriginal children

This study inspected a sample of 70 interview transcripts with Australian Aboriginal children to gain a sense of how frequently verbal shame responses were occurring in investigative interviews regarding alleged sexual abuse. Transcripts were examined to determine how children articulated shame, how interviewers reacted to these responses, and how shame related to children's accounts. Examination of frequencies revealed that verbal shame responses occurred in just over one-quarter of the interviews. One-way analyses of variance indicated that children who expressed shame within the interview spoke the same amount as children who did not express shame, however, they required more interviewer prompts before a disclosure was made. Interviews where children expressed shame also included a greater number of interviewer reminders compared to interviews without shame responses. Results emphasize the importance of interviewer awareness of shame, and also point to the value of reassurance, patience, and persistence with non-leading narrative prompting when interviewing children who express shame during discussions of sexual abuse.