This secondary analysis represents a cross-sectional quantitative test of Reintegrative Shaming Theory (Braithwaite 1989) on inmates in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The sample consists of 726 questionnaires split evenly between male and female respondents. The questionnaire includes measures central to Braithwaite’s theory (1989) as well as modifications that address the particular experiences of inmates including the frequency and communication with family, participation in prison programming, child-parent attachment, and moral conscience. Twenty Nine hypotheses incorporated in three analytical frameworks correspond to the following research questions: (1) Do indicators of interdependency predict shame and do the same indicators of interdependency predict shame for both men and women? (2) Do indicators of stigmatization, disintegration, and child-parent attachment predict reintegration better than interdependency? (3) Do the basic theoretical constructs of reintegrative shaming explain projected criminality and projected shame in a sample of inmates? Findings indicate partial support for the general claims of Reintegrative Shaming Theory (Braithwaite 1989). First, results indicate that reported shame, reintegration, and moral consciousness predict projected criminality and those effects are stronger for women than men. Second, inmates with stronger bonds to children are less likely to recidivate. Lastly, prior shame predicts projected criminality but not projected shame, and reintegration predicts projected shame but not projected criminality.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Michelle Bemiller / John Braithwaite developed the theory of reintegrative shaming in 1989. His hope was to develop a theory that better explained the complexities of crime such as the age curve, and high number of male offenders. Building from Braithwaite’s work, this thesis utilizes Reintegrative Shaming theory to explore how attitudes influence the reintegrative shaming process, and whether or not women, are more susceptible to shaming than men, as hypothesized by Braithwaite. It seeks to understand the role attitude plays in the reintegrative shaming process. This thesis hypothesizes that a reintegrative shaming punishment will positively impact an offender’s attitudes towards law, deterrence, law enforcement officials, and so on. Further, Braithwaite hypothesized that interdependent and communitarian individuals will be more susceptible to the impact of punishment (shaming); this relationship is also tested. Using data from the Reintegrative Shaming Experiments (RISE) in Australia, this thesis specifically studies the impact of sex and shaming punishment on attitudes towards the law and deterrence attitudes. In addition, information from RISE is used to test the relationships between interdependency and sex, and communitarianism and sex. The findings suggest mixed support for Reintegrative Shaming theory.

The object of this study was to meet with offenders and victims of crime who recently participated in victim-offender-mediation, in order to explore their experiences and feelings about it. The method of research was individual qualitative interviews with two offenders and two crime victims. The main questions aimed to find out how the participants felt about the mediation process, what experiences they had about the person they had to face during the meeting, and finally what thoughts they had about the crime and its consequences. In helping to analyze the results of the interviews, Reintegrative Shaming Theory and Theories of attribution were used. The former was used to try to explain the feelings resembling shame that emerged during the meeting, while the latter was helpful in order to understand the descriptions the participants used when they talked about the other person. The results showed that both offenders and victims found the mediation to be helpful, mostly because it made them understand the other person better. Most of them also shared the feeling that they had been able to move on and not think about the crime as much as before.

A restorative justice alternative to crime prevention termed reintegrative shaming theory by Braithwaite has seen increased attention as an alternative to retributive justice, although empirical investigations of its efficacy are limited. The purpose of the present study was to test confirmatory measurement and structural models of reintegrative shaming theory in order to assess the underlying theoretical model and the application of this theory in response to drunk driving offenses. Nine latent constructs were included in these models: reintegration, stigmatization, perceived fairness, self esteem, shame-guilt, embarrassment-exposure, unresolved shame, offender responsibility, and family support. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used to assess for measurement invariance of indicators used to measure these nine latent constructs between 724 drunk driving offenders randomly assigned to traditional court processing versus offenders assigned to reintegrative shaming conferencing following arrest. Partial metric and partial scalar invariance were found. Thus, analyses proceeded by conducting tests for significant differences in the latent means between groups. Offenders assigned to conferencing reported significantly higher mean values on the constructs reintegration, perceived fairness, self-esteem, shame-guilt, and family support, supporting Braithwaite's theory. Finally, a structural model was hypothesized based upon Braithwaite's theory to assess the relationships between the latent constructs. Three additional structural paths were included to achieve an acceptable model fit. This structural model was found to be partially invariant between groups. As predicted, a higher level of reintegration was associated with greater perceived fairness, while a higher level of stigmatization was related to decreased self-esteem and lower perceived fairness. In turn, greater self-esteem and perceived fairness were significantly related to higher reported experiences of shame-guilt and lower ratings of embarrassment exposure. Greater perceived fairness also corresponded to lower reported unresolved shame. Finally, greater shame-guilt was significantly related to greater offender responsibility and family support, while unresolved shame was significantly related to less offender responsibility acceptance. The findings from the current study support Braithwaite's hypotheses regarding the importance and benefits of disapproving of the criminal act and not the person, while allowing offenders to accept responsibility for their actions and attempt to remediate the wrong that they committed.

This study uses a data set on adolescent offending, originally collected by a team of researchers at the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City, to critically examine the role of incarceration in criminal rehabilitation. A theoretical explanation of recidivism is constructed using four criminological theories: life course theory (Sampson & Laub 1993), differential association theory (Sutherland 1939), deterrence theory, and reintegrative shaming theory (Braithwaite 1989). This thesis uses these theories to investigate societal factors that may contribute to young offenders’ recidivism (versus successful rehabilitation). It is argued that youths who: (1) come from unconventional family environments, (2) possess deviant peer associations, (3) receive incarceration as punishment, and (4) undergo a stigmatizing shaming process are more likely to recidivate. The combination of these factors is also expected to be intensified during incarceration. An empirical examination of the effects of these factors on recidivism supports the main hypotheses advanced. Although conventional family environments and deviant peer associations are successful in determining first-time offending, results from this study suggest that these are inadequate as predictors of recidivism. Conversely, an extension of Braithwaite’s (1989) reintegrative shaming concept was found to be a strong predictor of subsequent offending. Medium sentence lengths in prison were associated with increased risk to recidivate. Most importantly, the results gathered some support for restorative justice approaches to criminal rehabilitation. Future considerations for recidivism research are explored. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2009-12-16 15:53:46.514