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The Roles of Empathy, Shame, and Guilt in Violence Decision-Making

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The Roles of Empathy, Shame, and Guilt in Violence Decision-Making The roles of empathy, shame, and guilt in violence decision-making Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge Neema Trivedi-Bateman Darwin College October 2014 Supervised by Professor Per-Olof Wikström This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ii Research summary Objective The roles of shame and guilt, and their relationships to empathy, have not been modelled adequately as key factors in moral decision-making in the study of violence. This research will test the different roles of empathy, shame, and guilt in violence decision-making using a Situational Action Theory perspective. Method Data taken from the Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study (PADS+), a longitudinal study with a large representative sample, provides quantitative questionnaire indices to enable comparison of a persistent and frequent violent offender subsample with the remaining PADS+ study sample. In addition, qualitative in-depth interviews were carried out with the violent offender subsample in order to explore the role of moral emotion in specific real-life violent events. Results A striking majority of violent offenders do not think it is wrong to commit violence, and do not care about it, i.e. they lack shame and guilt, and report that violence comes as a morally acceptable and natural action alternative. Furthermore, violent offenders do not register the predicament of their victims; there is a distinct lack of empathy. Persistent offenders report significantly lower levels of empathy, shame and guilt on the quantitative indices, and weak empathy, shame, and guilt in their detailed recollections of specific acts of violence, e.g., “there’s not much guilt involved in the whole situation to be honest” (Sam, interview 39). Conclusion Individuals with weak empathy, shame, and guilt are more likely to commit acts of violence. These study findings give insight into the real world, situational application of empathy, shame, and guilt, and provide strong support for the role of weak morality in violence decision-making. i Preface . This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University of similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text . It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. Signed:…………………………………………….. Date:………………………… ii Acknowledgements I am thankful to many people for their help, support, and generosity. Thank you to my supervisor P-O; I’ve been fortunate to learn from your expertise and experience and hope I continue to do so. Even after 7 years, I can’t think of another workplace that would enthuse and excite me as much as PADS+. Thank you to the young people of Peterborough; spending time with you interviewing has without a doubt been the most enjoyable experience of the entire PhD. Thank you to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) who have provided full financial support, and Darwin College and the Institute of Criminology for providing additional funding. Thank you to my unofficial supervisors and close friends Beth Hardie and Kyle Treiber for your consistent generosity and genuine interest in my work; I value your support very much. The City of Cambridge has provided a beautiful working environment and will always be special to me; I have been deeply inspired both personally and academically. Thank you to my parents and brother for giving me everything I could hope for and for letting me use the excuse ‘but I’m still a student’ almost daily for a total of 8 years through three universities. And thank you to my love, my recently acquired husband, Jamie Trivedi-Bateman. Here’s to the future! Cambridge, UK, October 2014 iii iv To Dhara, gone too soon but never forgotten v Table of Content Contents Research summary ......................................................................................................................... i Preface .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii Table of Content .......................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ xiii List of Appendices ..................................................................................................................... xvi Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Section 1- Theoretical considerations: executive summary .......................................................... 4 Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 5 The specific role of moral emotion in crime involvement in Situational Action Theory ............. 5 1.1.Situational Action Theory (SAT): a general introduction ................................................... 6 1.1.1. Action occurs when person and setting meet ...................................................... 10 1.2. Individual morality: moral emotions and moral rules ...................................................... 14 1.3. The specific role of moral emotion in crime involvement ............................................... 16 1.3.1. The relationship between ability to exercise empathy and the possibility to feel shame and guilt: a novel contribution to Situational Action Theory .................................. 17 1.3.2. The different roles of empathy, shame, and guilt in crime decision-making ............ 18 1.4. The specific role of moral emotion in violence ............................................................... 21 1.4.1. Habitual violence ...................................................................................................... 22 1.4.2. Sensitivity to provocation in violence ....................................................................... 24 1.5. Chapter summary: The specific role of moral emotion in crime involvement in Situational Action Theory ....................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 27 The neglect of moral emotion and morality in the study of crime .............................................. 27 2.1. A summary of the role of moral emotion and morality in crime involvement ................ 28 2.2. The neglect of moral emotion and morality in the study of crime ................................... 31 2.3. Existing criminological theory and research examining the role of moral emotion in crime involvement .................................................................................................................. 33 2.3.1. Existing criminological theory and its shortfalls ...................................................... 34 2.3.2. Existing research and its limitations ......................................................................... 38 vi 2.3.2.1. The relationship between shame, guilt, and crime involvement ............................ 41 2.3.2.2. The relationship between empathy and crime involvement ................................... 43 2.3.3. Key insufficiencies of existing criminological theory and research ......................... 46 2.4. Testing moral emotion and morality in the current study using Situational Action Theory ................................................................................................................................................ 46 2.4.1. Key research questions.............................................................................................. 48 2.5. Chapter summary: The neglect of moral emotion and morality in the study of crime .... 49 Chapter 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 51 The contributions of empathy, shame, and guilt to individual morality ..................................... 51 3.1. Empathy, shame, and guilt ............................................................................................... 53 3.1.1. Ability to exercise empathy: understanding and feeling emotional congruence with another person’s viewpoint ................................................................................................. 54 3.1.2. Ability to anticipate shame:
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