During the early medieval period in Europe the criminal justice system was controlled by powerful families and the guiding principle for punishments was reparation. In this system shaming was of little use but eventually the church's increased influence led to change. Over the course of several hundred years the church increased centralization and state power to further their teachings to all Europe's denizens. Under the rule of church and state shaming was seen as an effective method of punishment, in part due to the low costs associated and because of the clear message sent to the public.  The growing popularity of shaming punishments largely continued over the course of the early modern period in Europe, although the number of frequently used shaming punishments diminished. Shaming punishments were used particularly often to punish women and those from the lower classes. Once the enlightenment occurred shaming punishments started to be seen as ineffective and inhumane. Calls for reform became more common. At the same time prisons emerged as a viable alternative to shaming. After more than a century this led to shaming becoming largely abandoned in all western criminal justice systems. There were however some abbreviations during the 20th century. After many years of being virtually non-existent shaming has become more potent in western criminal justice systems. The two main factors behind this are dissatisfaction with the available methods of punishments as well as the widespread use of the internet. Some people view this development positively and claim that it will make our criminal justice system more flexible and more cost effective. In my eyes shaming punishments are cruel, uncontrollable and a form of mob justice. They should never again have any formal role to play in the criminal justice system. / Under den tidiga medeltiden i Europa kontrollerades straffrätten av mäktiga ätter och den vägledande principen var kompensation för brott. I detta system var skamstraff av begränsad nytta men så småningom ledde kyrkans utökade inflytande till förändring. Under flera hundra år utökade kyrkan centraliseringen och statsmakten för att kunna förmedla deras lära till Europas invånare. Under styret av kyrka och stat betraktades skam som en effektiv strafform, delvis på grund av att det var kostnadseffektivt men också på grund av de tydliga budskapen skamstraff kunde förmedla.  Bruket av skamstraff fortsatte utökas under tidig modern epok men mängden skamstraff som brukades förefaller ha minskat. Särskilt användes skamstraff för att straffa kvinnor och de från de lägre klasserna.  När upplysningen inträffade började skamstraff ses som ineffektiva och inhumana. Samtidigt uppstod fängelse som ett hållbart alternativ till bland annat skamstraff. Efter mer än ett århundrade ledde detta till att skamstraff i stort sett övergavs i alla västerländska rättssystem under 1800-talet. Vissa avvikelser från detta skedde dock under 1900-talet.  I den moderna epoken har skam blivit mer relevant inom bestraffning återigen. Detta beror främst på missnöje med de befintliga strafformerna, samt internets utbredning. Vissa ser denna utveckling som positiv och menar att det kommer leda till en flexiblare och mer kostnadseffektiv straffrätt. Jag anser att skamstraff är grymma, icke-kontrollerbara och utgör en form av mobbrättvisa. De bör aldrig igen ha en formell roll inom straffrätten.