Public Shaming As a Form Of Punishment In The United States

Abstract

This paper will dive into an alternative form of punishment for the United States rather then contributing to the ongoing problem of its current prison situation. There are many forms of alternative punishment but looking at one form that stands out would be public shaming. Public shaming is a form of punishment that has been around for every and used in many different cultures. Looking at the current situation that the United States has and seeing that an idea like public shaming could work in this society, is something that is worth listening to for many reasons. Throughout this paper. factors will be brought up showing that this solution is a legitimate idea and it has the evidence to back it up. Seeing the average cost of housing an inmate and looking at not damaging their public imagine for a lower level crime. Doing further research on if public shaming could be a feasible option in the United States compared to the current incarceration system that is in place is something that can be done to help the future generations in the United States. After everything is done, comparing the research to see the impact of public shaming and seeing how society would change because of its implications would be important.

Introduction

There’s a problem currently going on in the United States that is always talked about in the news or even as far as let’s say for example a presidential debate. Mass incarceration is the problem currently at hand in the United States. It seems as if there is no light at the end of the tunnel for this problem but there very much could be. A solution isn’t always simple, but it seems as if it could be as simple as using an alternative form of punishment such as public shaming. Public shaming has been around for numerous centuries and have been used as a form of punishment to make sure the offender felt shame in front of other people in civilizations (Book, 1999). When solving such a complex problem, the solution could be very simple.

This research question doesn’t seem to be that important at first glance, but it has an effect on every tax paying citizen in the United States. The ever-growing cost of incarceration seems to only be getting worse as time goes on. The United States has 25% of the world’s prison population and the country only has 5% of the world’s population. Also, the entire prison system is costing the United States around 80 billion dollars a year (Ferner, 2016). With numbers like that, everyone should be concerned with this major issue that seems to be swept under the rug. This isn’t the problem that goes along with incarceration in the United States. The struggle of having a criminal record in today’s day and age is something that is extremely difficult to work with, looking at lower level crimes of course not the more serious ones.

Problem Statement

Research Question: Is public shaming an effective method of punishment and could it be used as an alternative form of punishment in the United States to solve numerous problems in the country? This question focuses on the current situation in the United States with its incarceration issues. It could be beneficial to both the United States government and offenders who can serve their dues an alternative way rather then just going to prison for lower level crimes. This study can be measured by both quantitative and qualitative data. For example, looking into the numbers of the previous people that were sentenced to a form of public shaming and if they did stay out of problem or not. Going case by case, seeing if a certain case could have been offered public shaming rather than a prison sentence of some kind can be done as well. If public shaming is put into effect, comparing the costs of incarceration in the United States before and after. Both types of data are critical in a study like this to show that it is a numbers study but at the same time, seeing that it is also worried about the individual as well.

The importance of this study is off the charts. It affects a large population of the United States and even the world. Change is something that happens in societies and it could be beneficial in this case. It affects a good chunk of the population on a personal level and in that case, it is very important. When changing laws and involving parts of culture, its important to make sure to get it right on a certain degree because of the positive or negative effects it can have on the entire society.

Literature Review

Focusing on certain aspects of such a broad topic is a tough thing to do but, in this case, it must be done. The first part of the research this paper focuses on is the aspect of the cost of the United States prison system or also known as the United States incarceration problem.

Gaps

After doing every part of research into a topic, sometimes there are gaps. Not everything is discovered that you would want to be discovered.

Findings

After all of the research into the topic of public shaming, I’m hoping it will have a strong impact on today’s law and society. If the impact is strong enough to make a change, that would be beneficial to numerous parties across the country. It will have some backlash, just like anything that is new to this country because people are afraid of change, but it should have enough solid evidence to really make a change.