I don't think shaming should be allowed as a punishment form in the judicial system. I admit there are many positives to it. Low cost, effectiveness, and ability to be altered to fit the situation. The reason that despite all this I don't believe in shaming as a judicial punishment is that it can't really be regulated. Shaming is only effective and can only be fair when it is fitted to the circumstances of the crime as well as the individual. There is no way to say this sort of crime is punished by this form of shaming and have it retain its efficacy. Not everyone feels shamed to the same degree by the same things if nothing else.
If shaming is left unregulated as a punishment on the other hand then it can be abused. Punishments are meant to fit crimes and this is why judges are given as much leeway as they are in determining punishment. At the same time however the justice system is supposed to be fair. Two people committing the same crime in similar circumstances should be punished similarly. This doesn't work in shaming because punishment also has to be fitted to the individual. Additionally shaming punishments severity vary greatly based on public awareness. As such shame punishments will often be either to harsh or to lenient. While effective in theory it simply doesn't work as a general policy.
I'm inclined to agree, albeit for different reasons. I don't think we should avoid punishments because they will necessarily affect their targets to different degrees. I think that this will likely be true of all punishments. Much in the same way that attempts to shame two people in the same manner will likely have different effects, punishment with a fine, community service, prison, etc., will also have different effects. For some people, prison is a harrowing experience that truly pushes them away from crime for life. Others thrive in prison and come out hardened criminals ready to do harm again. If anything, I think acknowledging this would strengthen the case for using shame as a punishment, because it would be easier to tailor to the individual.
ReplyDeleteI think that shame isn't right as a formal criminal punishment because it can't be completely controlled. The ultimate consequences of shame as a punishment will never be up to the criminal justice system that imposes them. If you force someone to show a certain face to their community, then there is the very real (and I think likely) possibility that their community will never see them as anything but, or at least for a much longer time than is warranted. If you force someone to be publicly shamed for their offenses, then those become a deep part of that person's identity in the eyes of the community. This can have mild to extreme consequences. Some people may have their reputations permanently marred as a result of public shaming. For some crimes, a community may form an assumption that the offender is likely to offend again, and ostracize him/her for far longer than the offense may merit, perhaps for life. This is in effect forcing someone to face punishment for crimes they have yet to commit.
It is certainly possible that such consequences will arise even without formal shame as a punishment, and I would not be surprised to find it happen frequently with people judging ex-convicts for a variety of crimes. However, formalizing shame as punishment I think dramatically increases these risks.
I agree that one of the reasons why the use of shaming as a form of punishment doesn't work out so well in reality is because of the fact that different people react differently to the same form of shaming. Some people will react negatively in a response to shaming, while for others it will not do the harm it was intended to do in the first place. This makes it incredibly ineffective, inefficient, and unpredictable.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I do believe that it is hard to regulate and standardize punishments relating to crimes. I think that each crime is unique and should be treated as such, but this is a very hard thing to do and gives too much room for leniency and inappropriate punishments.
This all adds up to the conclusion that shaming as a punishment should probably be abandoned. In addition, punishments that seem to allow self-attained changes to one's own behavior and thought-processes might be a good idea if implemented based on the fact that it is more ethical than shaming as a punishment (the change is brought upon by themselves, which is their choice, and not from an outside source), it seems to be more effective than shaming (gives a long-lasting change to the individual since they would be more in control of their own self-change), and it would be more efficient than shaming (different people would react differently to shaming, whereas if people produced their own behavioral and cognitive changes, they would react uniquely to themselves).