Experiencing Shame: How Does Gender Affect the Interpersonal Dynamics of Restorative Justice?

DOI10.1177/15570851211034556
Date01 January 2022
Published date01 January 2022
AuthorHeather L. Scheuerman,Shelley Keith
Subject MatterArticles
https://doi.org/10.1177/15570851211034556
Feminist Criminology
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/15570851211034556
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Article
Experiencing Shame: How
Does Gender Affect the
Interpersonal Dynamics of
Restorative Justice?
Heather L. Scheuerman1 and Shelley Keith2
Abstract
Although reintegrative shaming theory suggests that, in comparison to males,
females are more interdependent and thus susceptible to reintegrative rather
than disintegrative shaming, it is unclear how gender affects the type of shame
experienced when considering interpersonal dynamics within restorative justice
conferences. The involvement of the community within these conferences may affect
how offenders are viewed, especially when considering the stigma female offenders
experience for violating legal and gender norms. Using data from the Reintegrative
Shaming Experiments, we find that interdependency conditions how gender affects
the experience of shaming based on the type of others with whom offenders are
interdependent.
Keywords
gender, restorative justice, interdependency, reintegrative shaming, disintegrative
shaming
A wide range of scholarship in criminology highlights how gender affects offending,
the types of crimes committed and how they are committed, and how offenders are
treated in the criminal justice system (Belknap, 2007). To explain why males offend at
higher rates than females, various theories touch upon how normative prescriptions for
gendered behavior can explain this gender gap in crime. Specifically, females should
be less likely to offend due to: their socialization into feminine roles, which emphasize
1James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA
2The University of Memphis, TN, USA
Corresponding Author:
Heather L. Scheuerman, Department of Justice Studies, James Madison University, 58 Bluestone Drive,
MSC 1205, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA.
Email: scheuehl@jmu.edu
1034556
FCXXXX10.1177/15570851211034556Feminist CriminologyScheuerman and Keith
research-article
2021
2022, Vol. 17(1) 116 –138
Scheuerman and Keith 117
2 Feminist Criminology 00(0)
nurturance and passivity; their increased supervision and encouragement to have
stronger bonds with others; and their greater likelihood of being sheltered from crimi-
nal parents and peers (Belknap, 2007).
Reintegrative shaming theory (RST) is one such theory that integrates several
major criminological perspectives that adhere to this logic. This theory proposes that
females, in comparison to males, should have lower rates of offending because of their
greater level of interdependency, or the bonds they have with others; particularly their
family (Braithwaite, 1989). Specifically, Braithwaite (1989) theorizes that due to
enhanced familial attachment, socialization into caretaking roles, and receipt of greater
encouragement to be reintegrated within the family, females who do offend will be
more highly susceptible to shaming that is reintegrative (Braithwaite, 1989; Losoncz
& Tyson, 2007). In contrast to disintegrative or stigmatizing shaming, which con-
demns the moral character of the offender and fosters the adoption of a deviant master
status, reintegrative shaming consists of shaming the offense while attempting to rein-
tegrate the offender back into society (Braithwaite, 1989). Yet, empirical tests of this
theory do not support this gendered supposition. Although interdependency is posi-
tively associated with reintegrative shaming (Hay, 2001; Lu et al., 2002), some studies
report no significant gender differences in interdependency (Losoncz & Tyson, 2007;
Miller, 2010), while others find that gender does not affect levels of reintegration and
that males have higher levels of interdependency than females (Bennett, 1996; Fitch,
2014).
To explain these mixed findings, we add to the literature by proposing that how
gender affects interdependency and shaming depends on how others view female
offenders and who the offender is interdependent with, that is, their community of
care, or those socially invested in the offender (McCold, 2004). As such, one arena that
may assist in clarifying these empirical contradictions is the restorative justice confer-
ence. Also known as family group conferencing, these conferences entail the meeting
of the micro-community, or those most affected by the offense (e.g., victims, offend-
ers, family members, or friends), the meso-community, or those reflecting the local
community or wider society but who may still form personal relationships with an
offender (e.g., neighbors, teachers, or co-workers), and the macro-community, or those
that are geographically but not relationally close to the offender (e.g., community rep-
resentatives or government officials) (Gerkin, 2012; McCold, 2004; McCold &
Wachtel, 2002, 2003; Scheuerman & Keith, 2015).
Within restorative practice, it is assumed that lay involvement will better reinte-
grate offenders within the community. However, the presence of various stakeholders
in criminal sanctioning may reproduce existing differentials of status and power in the
community (Rosenblatt, 2014). For instance, the “doubly damned” (Österman &
Masson, 2018, p. 4) status of female offenders, which is due to their violation of legal
norms and gendered ideals of being a “respectable woman, a good mother, and respon-
sible citizen” (p. 5), may lead to differences in how family, friends, and members of
the community reintegrate these law violators (Alder, 2003; Daly, 2008; Fitch, 2014;
Klein et al., 2012; Miller, 2010). These gendered stereotypes should be more heavily
relied on by others with fewer affective ties with the offender (Erber & Fiske, 1984),

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