Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-75). Also available on the Internet.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Svi Shapiro; submitted to the Dept. of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jun. 7, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-244).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [53]-59).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Concordia Theological Seminary, 2005. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 281-297).

This dissertation examines the function of shame within Christian texts and practice through the lens of affect theory and trauma studies. A focus on the deleterious effects of interred shame and shame’s role in attachment presses theology to name corporeal shame, understand it as distinguished from guilt, and recognize how it relates to attachment and human bonding. Distinguishing shame from guilt provides conceptual markers of shame, shifting the focus away from the image of the lonely, guilty sinner and toward a self both attached to others and to God. An analysis of classic theological texts along with an exploration of touch in Christian practice discloses that shame must be disinterred and faced in order to repair its negative effects and to restore its natural function in attachment. An analysis of Augustine’s The City of God reveals shame’s emergence in Augustine’s theology embodied by the notion of “covering-up,” which impedes attachment to God. In The Nature and Destiny of Man, Reinhold Niebuhr’s notions of sensuality and pride reflect shame, yet Niebuhr subsumes shame under other terms. Examining the place of shame in these major works and displaying the continual covering-over of shame in these theologian’s descriptions of the human condition exposes shame’s toxicity but also unveils shame as indicative of attachment. Augustine’s notion that the forehead serves as the seat of shame parallels affect theory’s location of affective emergence on the face and corporeally situates shame on the forehead. The final chapter displays what it would mean to take seriously the implications of affect in theological anthropology and practical theology. Both affect theory and trauma studies underscore the somatic and textual interactions that create a shamed self. This dissertation turns to the liturgical enactment of Christian practices, highlighting the importance of touch in both harm and repair. Exploring the moment of touch in the imposition of ashes on the forehead on Ash Wednesday develops touch as an affective encounter with shame. This interdisciplinary study of shame broadens insights about how Christian theologians interpret the human condition, as disinterred shame directs the self towards its greatest attachments: connection to others and to God.

Betrayal trauma theory posits that victims of abuse perpetrated by someone close are more likely to dissociate from awareness of the abuse in order to protect the needed relationship. Shame may likewise protect the relationship by turning the victim's attention inward, thereby increasing the likelihood that the abusive environment will be overlooked. In this dissertation, the associations between shame, dissociation, and betrayal trauma were examined in two experimental studies. A third study examined the consequences of chronic shame. Aims were to determine whether shame and dissociation have a unique link with high betrayal traumas (HiBT), to understand the nature of the relationship between shame and dissociation, and to investigate the consequences of chronic shame. In study 1, 124 female trauma survivors were randomly assigned to a high or low betrayal threat condition. Greater exposure to HiBT but not low betrayal traumas (LoBT) predicted increased shame and dissociation following high betrayal threat. Greater exposure to LoBT but not HiBT predicted increased fear following non-betrayal threat. Compared to non-dissociators, dissociators from threat endorsed more negative psychological consequences. In study 2, 127 female trauma survivors completed a dissociation induction and battery of questionnaires. The bypassed shame theory, which proposes that dissociation serves to disconnect from the pain of shame, was examined. Results partially supported bypassed shame theory. Although feelings of shame led to a larger dissociation response to the induction, dissociation did not interrupt shame but rather led to even higher shame. Implications are discussed for a possible contributing role of shame to betrayal blindness. In study 3, 247 trauma survivors completed online questionnaires addressing chronic shame hypotheses. Regression results revealed that all forms of chronic shame, especially trauma-focused shame, predicted negative health consequences. Correlation results revealed that HiBT was associated with more types of negative outcomes compared to LoBT and that HiBT but not LoBT was associated with chronic shame. Taken together, results indicate that, like dissociation, shame may be both an adaptive and detrimental response following betrayal trauma and that emotional and cognitive responses other than fear warrant attention in trauma research and practice.

Platão constrói sua argumentação filosófica no Górgias sobre um pano de fundo dramático intenso, em que Sócrates discute, ao longo de três \"atos\", questões que versam sobre a natureza da retórica, da justiça, da felicidade e do prazer. Sócrates discute com três interlocutores que defendem a prática da retórica; ao levá-los, pela vergonha, à refutação de suas posições, o protagonista do diálogo deslegitima a prática, relacionando-a ao prazer, em detrimento do bem, e defendendo a filosofia como a única prática política legítima. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo analisar o papel dos elementos dramáticos e literários presentes no Górgias. Defendo a tese de que ao considerar a integração entre os procedimentos literários e dramáticos e os argumentos no texto, notada, por exemplo, a partir da centralidade do tema da vergonha, somos capazes de oferecer uma compreensão mais completa sobre a definição da filosofia enquanto boa retórica alternativa. / Plato constructs his philosphical argument in the Gorgias upon an intense three-act sctructured dramatic backgroud, in which Sorates discusses questions regarding the natures of rhetoric, justice, happiness and pleasure. Throughout the dialogue, Socrates debates with three interlocutors that defend rhetoric as a social practice. He refutes their positions through shame, deslegitimizes rhetoric by showing its intrisic relation with pleasure and argues that philosophy is the only legitimate and true political pratice. This work intends to analyze the role of the dramatic and literary elements found in the Gorgias. I argue that the integration between literary and dramatic devices and the arguments in the text leads us to a better comprehension about the definition of philosophy as an alternative good rhetoric and its power of acting through shame, which is displayed in the dramatic confrontation between Socrates and his opponents.

Two studies were conducted to determine how self-forgiveness and other perpetrator reactions influence the perpetrator and the victim after a romantic relationship transgression. Study 1 used a longitudinal design to determine how guilt and shame predicted the trajectory of self-forgiveness, self-excusing, and self-punishing in participants who had recently been the perpetrator of a romantic relationship transgression. Those experiencing higher guilt at baseline had higher self-forgiveness starting out and those lower on guilt starting out had a greater change in self-forgiveness. Those experiencing more guilt at baseline experienced less change in self-forgiveness over time. Shame was not significantly related to self-forgiveness over time. Those experiencing higher shame at baseline were higher in self-excusing starting out. Those lower on shame starting out had a greater increase in self-excusing over time and those experiencing more shame at baseline experienced less increase in self-excusing over time. Guilt was not significantly related to self-excusing over time. Neither guilt nor shame predicted change in self-punishment over time. In Study 2, couples came into the lab and wrote about the same offense. One participant wrote from the perspective of the perpetrator and the other from the perspective of the victim. Victims reported their forgiveness and perception of their partners’ reactions to wrongdoing. Perpetrators reported their perception of their partners’ feelings of forgiveness and their feelings of self-forgiveness, self-excusing, and self-punishing. Both members reported their relationship satisfaction and commitment. Overall, self-forgiveness by the perpetrator was not a strong predictor of perpetrator satisfaction or commitment. Victims were more satisfied and committed when perceiving self-forgiveness from their partner, even though their partners’ self-forgiveness did not have an effect. Self-forgiveness only positively predicted perpetrators’ satisfaction and commitment when participants reported decisional self-forgiveness. Victims’ perceptions of the perpetrators’ self-excusing and perpetrators’ self-punishing negatively predicted victim commitment and satisfaction. Victims’ perceived perpetrator self-punishing positively predicted perpetrators’ commitment. Perpetrator perceived victim forgiveness and victim forgiveness both positively predicted satisfaction for the perpetrator and the victim. This suggests that perpetrators’ perceptions of victim forgiveness may be more important for the perpetrator than the victim actually forgiving them.

Abstract: It has been put on the spotlight and a known fact in Sweden, individuals who live in different honor cultures are exposed to different types of honor oppression. However, there is still very little information about HBT-individuals who live in an honor culture environment and are exposed to honor oppression. The purpose of this study is to create a profound understanding in the HBT-individuals’ experiences with honor and their experiences with identity as HBT-individuals in relation to the honor culture they live in. The study also looks at the possibilities and limitations these individuals mustface every day or at certain times as HBT-individuals in an honor environment. A qualitative method was used throughout the study and the empirical material is based on interviews we made with seven informers. We have used two different interview methods to receive empirical results. The first method is based on a face-to-face interview and the second method is based on chat interviews online. The analysis was examined along the theoretical efforts we used throughout this study such as, social control, honor culture, identity and many more. The results indicate that these informants are at a higher risk of being exposed to different things, such as for example being rejected by their family if they chose to come out and live openly about their sexual identity and not follow the hetero norm that is put in place.

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.