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Date of Graduation

5-2025

Description

The present study focuses on how shame and guilt can be used as a deterrent for substance use and substance-related crime recidivism. This research is significant because of on-going alcohol and other drug crime recidivism in the United States. 68% of drug-involved offenders have been found to recidivate within 3 years of their release from prison (Langan & Levin, 2002). Understanding how guilt and shame affect one's drug use and crime recidivism is important in recovery. This study has been influenced by John Braithwaite's theory of reintegrative shaming: using guilt and shame as the specific deterrent for recidivism. Based on this theory, we developed vignettes to manipulate feelings of guilt and shame in the participant as a function of the degree to which the crime was publicly known versus private. Four vignettes are included: 2 drunk-driving (private and public) and 2 driving under the influence of marijuana (private and public), all of which were first piloted with students and experts. After the participant reads their vignette, they are asked questions on a 5-point Likert scale regarding their levels of guilt, shame, and likelihood to use the substance and commit the crime again. Preliminary data from 41 participants (61% women; ages 18-31) were used to evaluate the hypotheses that (H1) elevated levels of shame/guilt will be correlated with lower likelihood of recidivism, and (H2) a public (vs. private) scenario will induce more shame and lower likelihood of recidivism. Results show support for H1 and partial support for H2. Shame/guilt were negatively related to intentions to recidivate; there was a trend for shame/guilt to be higher trend in drunk-driving public outcome scenario than the private. If the hypotheses are confirmed when we complete data collection in a larger sample, then this study can support Braithwaite's theory of reintegrative shaming. The vignettes can be used in future research to better understand the connection between shame and guilt in response to impaired driving as a predictor of future re-offending. Future research can continue to understand how these results may differ among individuals with more severe drug-related crimes, and among other populations who have interacted with the criminal justice system (i.e., drug court participants, incarcerated adults).

Publication Date

2025

Document Type

Book

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts in Criminology

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Sociology and Criminology

Advisor/Mentor

Ham, Lindsay S.

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

Social Science

Can Shame and Guilt be Used as a Deterrent for Substance Use and Crime Recidivism?

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