Remorse in offenders appears in a number of criminal justice domains. It is a mitigating factor in sentencing, influences parole decision making, may be influential in offender rehabilitation, and ...may be valued in forensic mental health. However, evaluation of remorse presents challenges in relation to evidence for remorse and expectations about its performance. Nevertheless, remorse is embedded deeply in criminal justice. The consideration of remorse in relation to emotions of shame, guilt and regret may offer an approach for evaluating remorse in sentencing and for addressing remorse in offender rehabilitation. This approach to understanding and working with remorse requires further elaboration, development and testing.
Remorse Proeve, Michael; Tudor, Steven
2010, 20160408, 2016-04-01, 2010-11-01
eBook
Remorse is a powerful, important and yet academically neglected emotion. This book, one of the very few extended examinations of remorse, draws on psychology, law and philosophy to present a unique ...interdisciplinary study of this intriguing emotion. The psychological chapters examine the fundamental nature of remorse, its interpersonal effects, and its relationship with regret, guilt and shame. A practical focus is also provided in an examination of the place of remorse in psychotherapeutic interventions with criminal offenders. The book's jurisprudential chapters explore the problem of how offender remorse is proved in court and the contentious issues concerning the effect that remorse - and its absence - should have on sentencing criminal offenders. The legal and psychological perspectives are then interwoven in a discussion of the role of remorse in restorative justice. In Remorse: Psychological and Jurisprudential Perspectives, Proeve and Tudor bring together insights of neighbouring disciplines to advance our understanding of remorse. It will be of interest to theoreticians in psychology, law and philosophy, and will be of benefit to practising psychologists and lawyers.
Objectives
In shame, the self is evaluated negatively by oneself, in measures of shame-proneness, or from the perceived perspective of others, as external shame. Both types of shame are associated ...with anxiety and depression. Mindfulness and self-compassion are associated with shame, and some intervention approaches for shame involve meditation. Aims of the study were to predict each type of shame from mindfulness and self-compassion and to investigate the relationship between meditation practice and each type of shame.
Methods
A correlational design was used to investigate relationships of external shame and shame-proneness with mindfulness, self-compassion, and meditation practice. Two participant samples, of undergraduate psychology students and participants recruited from mindfulness-related websites, completed an online survey.
Results
For both samples, facets of mindfulness predicted external shame and shame-proneness. Self-compassion, administered to the website sample only, also predicted external shame and shame-proneness. Frequency and duration of meditation sessions predicted shame-proneness, but not external shame, in both samples. Meditation did not predict mindfulness or self-compassion for the website sample, but frequency of sessions predicted the Nonjudging facet of mindfulness for the undergraduate sample.
Conclusions
Meditation may be protective against shame-proneness, but other intervention practices may be needed to protect against external shame.
Offender remorse is recognised in many legal jurisdictions as a factor that leads to mitigation of sentence. However, judges' practice with regard to findings of remorse has been the subject of ...limited scholarly inquiry. We coded 262 sentencing remarks from the higher courts in South Australia using content analysis, to examine the frequency in which judges mentioned various pieces of evidence for remorse, the sources of evidence used and aspects of sentencing in which remorse was mentioned. Judges discussed remorse most frequently in relation to total sentence length and less frequently in relation to non-parole periods. There were no particular sources of evidence that judges used more frequently in their findings about remorse. Guilty pleas were frequent in those cases in which judges found remorse to be present, but guilty pleas were infrequent in those cases in which judges found remorse to be absent or not under consideration. Accepting responsibility, seeking help in relation to offending and making apologies appeared to be influential in finding remorse to be present, and lack of guilty plea appeared influential in finding against remorse. In order for judges to find that a defendant is remorseful, it may be important for a defendant to plead guilty and to show additional indications of remorse.
Denunciation and general deterrence are major objectives of sentencing those who are convicted of possessing or distributing child exploitation material in Australia (CEM offenders), but courts also ...strive to achieve specific deterrence. To this end, courts tend to rely on professional reports as evidence of risk of reoffending and prospects for rehabilitation. After outlining matters that courts consider when sentencing CEM offenders, we discuss key empirical findings concerning CEM offenders' risk of recidivism, and then evaluate two approaches for assessing this risk: actuarial assessments; and structured professional judgment. We recommend that professional reports prepared for sentencing reflect current research findings regarding risk of recidivism amongst CEM offenders and that the structured professional judgment approach is used. We also recommend that matters which inform offenders' risk of recidivism and their prospects for rehabilitation be reported separately.
Objectives
The use of mindfulness-based programs (MBP) with children is rapidly growing, but calls for well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of existing programs. Mindfulness-Based ...Cognitive Therapy for Children (MBCT-C) has preliminary evidence for targeting internalizing symptoms in children. Within MBCT-C (and MBPs more broadly), attention is thought to be a key component of change, but mediation has been relatively unexplored. The overall aim of this small RCT was to compare MBCT-C to cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), as a preventive program for children experiencing internalizing difficulties.
Methods
A mixed factorial design was used, with 2 (program group) by 2 (pre- and post-intervention) conditions. Children from 3 primary schools were randomized to MBCT-C (
n
= 45) or CBT (
n
= 44) using random permuted blocks, with stratification by school, gender, and age. Main analyses were multi-level mixed models.
Results
Contrary to the hypotheses, only limited differences were found between programs. Both programs had small effects on symptoms of anxiety and depression, quality of life, attention control, and parent- and teacher-SDQ Total Difficulties, as well as moderate-large effects on shifting attention. There were no statistically significant changes in mindfulness or sustained attention.
Conclusions
This RCT provides a robust test of MBCT-C in a “real life” setting, demonstrating that it may be used as a clinically oriented preventive program in schools to reduce internalizing symptoms. The results challenge whether attention (as measured in this study) is a unique component of change for MBCT-C.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of two distinct variants of dispositional shame (internal and external shame) with collaborative, purpose-driven aspects of the ...patient–provider relationship (working alliance) and patient satisfaction. The aim of this research was to conduct a preliminary investigation into the relevance of dispositional shame in a general healthcare population.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 127 community members (mean age 25.9 years) who reported that they had regularly seen a GP over the past year were recruited at an Australian university. Participants were asked to reflect on their relationship with their GP, and completed instruments assessing various domains of shame, as well as working alliance and patient satisfaction.
Findings
Non-parametric correlations were examined to determine the direction and strength of relationships, as well as conducting mediation analyses where applicable. Small, negative correlations were evident between external shame and working alliance. Both external and internal shame measures were also negatively correlated with patient satisfaction. Finally, the relationship of external shame to patient satisfaction was partially mediated by working alliance.
Practical implications
Both the reported quality of patient–provider working alliance, and level of patient satisfaction are related to levels of dispositional shame in patients, and working alliance may act as a mediator for this relationship.
Originality/value
The findings from this preliminary study suggest that internal and external shame are important factors to consider in the provision of medical care to maximise the quality of patient experience and working alliance.
Objectives
The tendency to experience shame or guilt is associated differentially with anxiety and depression, with shame being associated with greater psychopathology. Correlational studies have ...shown self‐compassion to be related to lower shame and rumination, and mindfulness‐based interventions increase self‐compassion. Therefore, mindfulness‐based interventions may decrease shame. This pilot study aimed to assess the association of shame, rumination, self‐compassion, and psychological distress and the effects of a mindfulness‐based intervention on these measures in a clinical sample.
Design
Single‐group design with pre‐test and post‐test measures.
Method
Thirty‐two service users who experienced clinically diagnosed depressive or anxiety disorders in a mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy programme were assessed before and twenty‐two after therapy with measures of shame‐proneness, external shame, rumination, self‐compassion, and psychological distress.
Results
Shame‐proneness and external shame were positively correlated with self‐coldness, and external shame was positively correlated with stress and depressive symptoms. Self‐compassion increased and self‐coldness decreased, while shame‐proneness, rumination, anxiety, and stress symptoms decreased from pre‐ to post‐treatment. There was no significant reduction in depressive symptoms, guilt‐proneness, or external shame.
Conclusion
Our preliminary findings suggest that mindfulness‐based approaches may be helpful in increasing self‐compassion and reducing shame‐proneness in mixed groups of anxious and depressed patients. Controlled studies of the effects of mindfulness‐based interventions on shame in clinical populations are warranted.
Practitioner points
Shame‐proneness and external shame showed different patterns of relationship with depressive and stress symptoms and with self‐compassion.
Shame‐proneness decreased to a greater extent than external shame decreased following participation in an MBCT group.
Mindfulness‐based interventions may benefit shame‐proneness to a greater extent than external shame.
The effect of the expression of remorse or shame on judgements about a man who committed a sexual offence, and on recommended punishment, was investigated. The effect of previous criminal justice ...experience on judgements and recommendations was also examined. Participants were students completing courses in justice studies. The offender was generally judged more harshly when no emotional reaction was shown, but remorse and shame did not differ in their effects. Ratings of the offender and victim were influenced by participants' level of criminal justice experience. There was no relationship between type of sentence recommended and criminal justice experience, or between type of sentence recommended and emotional expression. The results are discussed in terms of the representation of remorse and shame and of the perceived relevance of these emotions for the rehabilitation of offenders.
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