Guilt and Shame Predict Re-incarceration of Released Inmates

The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. Out of every 100,000 people in the US, 707 of them are imprisoned, according to the International Centre for Prison Studies. Re-incarceration, which lands two-thirds of released inmates back behind bars within three years, is a major player behind the prison epidemic in the US. A new study suggests that the degree to which inmates express guilt or shame may provide an indication of how likely they are to re-offend.

The researchers found that inmates who feel guilt about specific behaviors are more likely to stay out of jail after their release. However, those who feel shame about their self might land back behind bars. The research appears in Psychological Science.

While the differences between guilt and shame might seem minute and nuanced, researcher June Tangney and her colleagues Jeffrey Stuewig and Andres Martinez of George Mason University hypothesized that these differences lead to different outcomes for incarcerated individuals.

"When people feel guilt about a specific behavior, they experience tension, remorse, and regret," the researchers write. "Research has shown that this sense of tension and regret typically motivates reparative action -- confessing, apologizing, or somehow repairing the damage done."

Feelings of shame, by comparison, involve "a painful feeling directed toward the self." For some, feelings of shame lead to a "defensive response, a denial of responsibility, and a need to blame others -- a process that can lead to aggression," according to a press release disclosing the findings.

Tangney and her team interviewed over 470 inmates about their feelings of guilt, shame, and externalization of blame soon after they were incarcerated. The researchers then followed up with 332 of the offenders a year after their released, this time asking whether they had been arrested again and whether they had committed a crime but had not been caught. They compared these answers to official arrest records.

Overall, expressions of guilt and shame were associated with re-incarceration rates, but in different ways.

"Proneness to guilt predicts less recidivism -- a lower likelihood of re-offense," Tangney said. Thus, the more an inmate feels guilt, the less likely he or she will re-offend.

Conversely, the implications of feeling shame were more complex.

"Inmates inclined to feel shame, and who were also defensive and blameful of others, were more likely to slip back into crime. Inmates who were shameful but who didn't blame others were less likely to end up in jail again.These findings suggest that there may be 'two faces' of shame -- one that increases recidivism and one that does just the opposite," reads the release.

"It has implications for intervention for the more than 13 million individuals who pass through our nation's jails and prisons annually," said Tangney. "We hope that inmates will ultimately benefit from treatment enhanced by an appreciation for the positive potential of guilt, and an appreciation for the 'two faces' of shame."

The researchers hope to find more predictive factors surrounding incarceration.