Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

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In the penitential ethos of late fourteenth-century England, ideas about shame and guilt were of central concern. Preachers and poets, alike, considered questions such as: what role should shame have in contrition and penance? What is the precise relationship between physical purity and moral or spiritual purity? What are the emotions best suited to eliciting the fullest and most sincere confession? Such questions were posed explicitly in penitential manuals and handbooks, but they also formed the ethical and philosophical soil out of which many of the periods major literary works emerged. This dissertation examines representations of shame and guilt in the literary contexts and narrative poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer. I consider Chaucers treatment of these ideas in light of his contemporaries, especially the Gawain-poet, as well as a broader historical context, surveying shame and guilt in the Middle English literary traditions of romance and hagiography. I also explore recent developments in affect theory, and draw on work in anthropology and psychoanalysis in order to theorize the ethical dimensions of shame, guilt, and related ideas of agency and purity. I argue that much of Chaucers poetry, but especially the Canterbury Tales, articulate the private and public facets of these emotions, not only as matters for the confessional, but as representative of opposing ethical systems, and, therefore, as fundamental in shaping possibilities for human social life. I see Chaucer as a poet deeply concerned with ethical questions. His works consistently represent guilt as an ethical ideal whereas shame is often portrayed as the psychological reality that gets in the way of attempts to realize the ideal. From Dido to Criseyde to Virginia and Dorigen, many of Chaucers characters call attention to the injustice of guiltless shame: the way in which the individuals inner moral state conflicts with the external world of honour and shame. Thus, while Chaucers narratives present us with a full spectrum of ethical responses and psychological motives for evading or claiming moral responsibility, I pay special attention to the many ways in which shame is mobilized in service of social and gendered dynamics of power and victimization.

Thesis (Ph.D.) in Psychology--University of Maine, 2004. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-134).

Background: Eating disorders are commonly occurring illnesses that frequently cause substantial physical, emotional and psychosocial impairments (Fairburn, et al., 2008). The prevalence of this debilitating condition has led to substantial efforts by researchers and clinicians to search for different ways of understanding the illness for the sole purpose of increasing the presently poor treatment outcomes. Existing theoretical and research literature looking at the role of shame and guilt in eating disorders have put forward a convincing assertion that shame and guilt are poignant features in the psychopathology and symptomatology of the condition. However, these reports have not provided in-depth explanation into how people suffering from eating disorders experience shame and guilt and very little qualitative research has been conducted in this area. Likewise, the interwoven relationship and the differences between shame and guilt and their role in eating disorders psychopathology and symptomatology remain unclear. Aims and Method: The present study is an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) that recognises the uniqueness of an individual’s experience of complex phenomenon such as eating disorder. Thus it aims to explore the understanding and sense-making of shame and guilt experiences by listening to the voices of six people who have been diagnosed and treated for eating disorders using semi-structured interviewing method. The study also explores the role of shame and guilt in treatment particularly their implication in the disclosure of information in the course of treatment. Findings and Discussion: The analysis identified five main themes; the intensity of shame and guilt experience AND the pervasiveness of shame and guilt experience, Guilt and shame as integrated into all facets of the ED, Existential questioning of identity, shame and guilt lived out and developed in different context/ Locus of responsibility. Contribution to knowledge: The study provides deeper understanding of participants’ subjective experience of shame and guilt. The study highlights that shame and guilt are experiences that are intertwined with all facets of eating disorders as well as the individual’s identity. Finally, shame and guilt were described as experiences that negatively impacted on treatment process. The implications of this for counseling psychology practice are discussed, and suggestions for future research are made.

This thesis comprises three main sections: a literature review, research report and a critical appraisal of the research process. The literature reviewed is the current scientific literature relating to shame and guilt. The review attempts to clarify the conceptual confusion regarding shame and guilt and in particular attempts to delineate the distinctions between the two constructs whilst acknowleding the intricate and entwined relationship. The review also attempts to clarify the confusion regarding the role of guilt and its capacity to elicit both adaptive and maladaptive responses according to the way in which it is operationalised and conceptualised. The importance of the relationship between shame, guilt and mental health problems is presented with supporting empirical evidence. It is concluded that a new shame and guilt measure is required to show how shame and the maladaptive and adaptive aspects of guilt can be operationalised. It is hoped that this will enable future researchers to consider incorporating a profile approach to guilt in particular and that clinicians will consider the multiple and complex roles of shame and guilt in relation to psychological symptoms. The research report (Section 2) comprises two studies. Study 1 is the design, development and piloting of the new questionnaire assessing dispositional shame and guilt. The new measure is constructed and validity tested using an inductive approach. Study 2 is the use of the new measure with a forensic clinical sample and the relationship between guilt, shame and psychological symptoms is examined. It is hoped that this study will encourage researchers to locate future investigations within the clinical population. The final section is the researcher's critical appraisal of the research process based on her personal diary. This section is reflective and considers the impact of the research process on the researcher, the highs and lows of the research process and what changes the researcher might make.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2003. / "Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD" Includes bibliography.

Ph.D.--George Washington University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-104).

The roles of shame and guilt, and their relationships to empathy, have not been modelled adequately as key factors in moral decision-making in the study of violence. This research will test the different roles of empathy, shame, and guilt in violence decision-making using a Situational Action Theory perspective. Qualitative in-depth interviews were carried out with a violent offender subsample taken from the longitudinal Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study (PADS+) in order to explore the role of moral emotion in specific real-life violent events. In addition, quantitative questionnaire indices enable comparison of the violent offender subsample with the remaining PADS+ study sample. Persistent offenders report significantly lower levels of empathy, shame and guilt on the quantitative indices, and weak empathy, shame, and guilt in their detailed recollections of specific acts of violence, e.g., “there’s not much guilt involved in the whole situation to be honest” (Sam, interview 39). The primary conclusion is that individuals with weak empathy, shame, and guilt are more likely to commit acts of violence. These study findings give insight into the real world, situational application of empathy, shame, and guilt, and provide strong support for the role of weak morality in violence decision-making.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2003. / Title from title screen (viewed 8 May 2008). Roman numbering forms part of the numbering sequence, the arabic numbering starts from leaf 12. Includes tables, information sheet, letters, consent form and questionnaires. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Centre for Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Medicine. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.