Crime, Shame and Reintegration

Braithwaite draws on the essentially anthropological literature to observe that societies which employ communal shame for one who victimizes are also societies which have least 'crime.' Many kinds of crime perpetrated in this culture lack a concern for the perpetrator's insult to the victim, and thence to the social order. Braithwaite mentions white collar crime as particularly missing the point of victim-restitution. Instead of having court procedures which are too narrowly focused on "facts of the case and opinions from law" then deprivation of liberty as sole sanction against the criminal. Braithwaite recommends that a kind of "shaming" ceremony take place conducive to instilling remorse in a criminal. I for one consider this as "good medicine" for anyone who deliberately or inadvertently violates another, as a worthwhile aspect of a perpetrator's "assuming full responsibility for what he/she has done."

A smart and poignant look at the American legal system, and collectivist vs. individualistic societies. Braithwaite makes several valid points about the distinction between stigmatizing shaming and productive shaming. Shaming can and should help to shape and hold societies together by creating cohesion based on common core values. Though older, this book is still very much relevant to our society today.

Needed this book for my masters seminar in criminology class. This was one of my favorite books overall. It provides an interesting alternative to the current punitive policies.

Mr. Braithwaite presents the underlying basis for the opposing dynamics of retributive justice vs. restorative justice. This book is a must for anyone who practices restorative justice.

Super fast, plus excellent quality, clean book. Thanks!

I didn't realize this was going to be a longer version of one of the chapters from a book i have for one of my college courses, just wasn't interesting at all

I recommend this book for who want to study criminology and criminal justice and interested in restorative justice.

Good book

This was bought as one of many copies to give to speakers at an international conference on Restorative Justice in Bangladesh where Professor Braithwaite was the main speaker. He was kind enough to sign them. The book itself is a 'must read' for anyone interested in the topic. Since it was written John has been involved in the application of RJ around the world and his contribution through RJ to the principles of democracy has been recognised by many international awards. He remains a powerful and fervent advocate for the process which seeks to heal the harm done by any negative human interaction by restoring the situation to what it was before. His examples with child soldiers in Africa are both astonishing and moving.

wow this book opened my eyes!

I had to write a book report on this book for my sociology class, it was a long read, but it was not bad, it was definitely an interesting perspective on dealing with crime.