Amitai Etzioni

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 adds, shame-based punishments today can be more humane and better suited for minor offenders than prison. Etzioni is a professor and director of the Center for Communitarian Policy Studies at the George Washington University.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In Etzioni’s opinion...