For the past couple of weeks, whenever we’ve talked about truth commissions, we’ve discussed the shame culture and its relation to societies where there is a truth commission. We’ve talked about how the two usually aren’t mutually exclusive and how in a society where one exist, the other is sure to exist as well. Numerous times we have stated that you can’t prescribe the shame as a punishment when truth commissions grant amnesty to the perpetrators. However, if shame, defined as a feeling one gets when they have done something they feel guilty about, cannot be prescribed then why can mercy, also a feeling, be included in justice?
In class last Friday, we talked about Kiss’ essay in which she believes that if restorative justice focuses too much on reconciliation and not punishment, it would transcend the dichotomy of punishment and reconciliation and introduce mercy into justice. We went on to say that mercy can suspend laws, but not justice as the empathy associated with mercy coincides with the idea of justice. Although it can be reasonably argued, I’m still having trouble with the fact that something so personal as mercy can be included in a process so public. Yes, shame is more expressed through actions than mercy is, but to me they both are private matters that should remain separate from the process of seeking justice.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think shame is a personal feeling for the perpetrator while mercy is something given by those in power. I don't know if they can be compared as analogues since they apply separately in the instance of truth commissions.
ReplyDeleteFor the TRC, a perpetrator could not feel any remorse from their actions and sill receive "mercy" from the state in the form of amnesty. I think shame is the path in which a perpetrator can be restored to a society but I do not think it is something that will necessarily occur simply because a truth commission takes place.
I think that, while they both may seem like private matters, for me shame seems like a good way to publicly punish a perpetrator. The very concept of shame itself to me seems like a public idea as well. While you can have shame for yourself without others around, it is much easily recognized and more intensely felt for most when other people are present and interactive with it. I feel like most people are more ashamed of their wrong actions when more people are aware of them, rather than when the action is kept to themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about shame is that if one feels it, they must know that they have done something wrong. In the case of many truth commissions, the wrongdoers often feel that what they did was necessary, and therefore often would not have shame. Therefore, if they do in fact feel shame I think that it is a mwaningful and sometimes appropriate punishment.
ReplyDelete