Saving face : America and the politics of shame

In this original and timely book, Stuart Schneiderman explores and analyzes the forces of shame (when you do not do something you are supposed to do) as opposed to guilt (when you do something that you are not supposed to do), and shows how both crucially affect a culture, a society, an institution, a marriage, the self. Schneiderman defines a shame culture as one in which group cohesion is more important than individual expression, where the behavior of an individual reflects well or badly on the group reputation (military organizations, corporations, families). He defines a guilt culture as one in which the group is not responsible for an individual's misdeeds, where individuals are encouraged to act with the greatest freedom and are free to pursue a course of action that will assure the soul's salvation. He shows how a shame culture educates by persuading people to do things the right way and to be motivated by duty to preserve their honor and reputation, and how a guilt culture educates by instilling a fear of the consequences of doing the wrong thing. While Japan has been described as a shame culture and the United States as a guilt culture, Schneiderman explains how America in the past has been, and in many ways needs to be, a shame culture. He argues that we have become a guilt culture and how it has affected our society. He traces the two philosophies in this country to Alexander Hamilton, the Federalist who believed in industry, capital markets, and trade, and who placed the union over individual states, and to Thomas Jefferson, the Liberalist who favored individual liberty and democracy. Schneiderman adds how Alexis de Tocqueville observed the way shame in America was used to promote hard work and family cohesion. He discusses why Freud invented psychoanalysis as a theory of guilt and why it has been so seductive, and why people are able to live with guilt more easily than with shame. Using the response of Americans to the Vietnam War as an illustrati Schneiderman explores the differing effects of shame and guilt on such institutions as government, the military, war, and work, and in people's personal lives--on sexuality, marriage, and family. His fresh insights help readers solve mysteries about themselves, their relationships with others, with society, and with other nations. In this original and timely book, Stuart Schneiderman explores and analyzes the forces of shame (when you do not do something you are supposed to do) as opposed to guilt (when you do something that you are not supposed to do), and shows how both crucially affect a culture, a society, an institution, a marriage, the self. Schneiderman defines a shame culture as one in which group cohesion is more important than individual expression, where the behavior of an individual reflects well or badly on the group reputation (military organizations, corporations, families). He defines a guilt culture as one in which the group is not responsible for an individual's misdeeds, where individuals are encouraged to act with the greatest freedom and are free to pursue a course of action that will assure the soul's salvation. He shows how a shame culture educates by persuading people to do things the right way and to be motivated by duty to preserve their honor and reputation, and how a guilt culture educates by instilling a fear of the consequences of doing the wrong thing. While Japan has been described as a shame culture and the United States as a guilt culture, Schneiderman explains how America in the past has been, and in many ways needs to be, a shame culture. He argues that we have become a guilt culture and how it has affected our society. He traces the two philosophies in this country to Alexander Hamilton, the Federalist who believed in industry, capital markets, and trade, and who placed the union over individual states, and to Thomas Jefferson, the Liberalist who favored individual liberty and democracy. Schneiderman adds how Alexis de Tocqueville observed the way shame in America was used to promote hard work and family cohesion. He discusses why Freud invented psychoanalysis as a theory of guilt and why it has been so seductive, and why people are able to live with guilt more easily than with shame. Using the response of Americans to the Vietnam War as an illustration of a society's refusal to express its shame for what it has done, Schneiderman explores what instead happened as we worked through our guilt (the sexual revolution, the drug culture, the collapse of marriage as an institution, Watergate, et cetera). And, finally, he portrays the function of families and sexuality in both shame and guilt cultures