America's Prisons | Shame-Based Punishment Can Be an Effective Alternative

Shame-based punishments use the power of shame to punish offenders and deter crime. For instance, the pictures and names of known prostitutes and “johns” (their solicitors) have been broadcast on local television stations to discourage prostitution in a community. In the following viewpoint, Amitai Etzioni argues that modern shame-based punishment can be more effective than imprisonment. He contends that this approach can solve the major challenges facing the prison system, such as high maintenance costs and prison overcrowding. Unlike the shaming practices of colonial times, he...

[The entire page is 2681 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the: