Reintegrative shaming: Informal means of formal social control of crime

Abstract

Social control includes all social processes, institutions and methods that produce conformity or regulate the individual and collective conduct of its members. Most of the authors distinguish between informal and formal means of social control. The informal means of social control grow themselves in society, and are considered very powerful, especialy in primary groups. Both, formal and informal modes of social control are important for deterrence of crime. Some authors argue that interaction of formal and informal modes of social control has much stronger deterrent effect on crime than if considered in isolation. John Braithwaite's theory of reintegrative shaming was presented in this article. Although many argue that reduction of recidivism is not primary aim of reintegrative shaming, results of some research indicate that properly designed and implemented procedures can lower the rate of reoffending. This paper analysis the relationship between informal social control and punishment as a means of formal social control of crime. It was also emphasised the importance and discussed perspective of the use of reintegrative shaming as a informal means in function of formal social control of crime. The author concludes that reintegrative shaming and related restorative processes present very alluring challenge for the criminal justice practice.

Pod socijalnom kontrolom se podrazumevaju svi procesi, institucije i metode kojima se usklađuje ili reguliše individualno i kolektivno ponašanje članova društva. Većina autora vrši podelu na neformalna i formalna sredstva socijalne kontrole. Neformalna sredstva socijalne kontrole nastaju sama u društvu, i ona su veoma moćna, posebno u primarnim grupama. I formalni i neformalni oblici socijalne kontrole su značajni za prevenciju kriminala. Pojedini autori smatraju da interakcija ova dva oblika socijalne kontrole ima mnogo snažnije preventivno dejstvo nego kada ih posmatramo izolovano. U radu je predstavljena teorija reintegrativnog posramljivanja John Braithwaite-a. Iako mnogi smatraju da redukcija recidivizma nije primarni cilj reintegrativnog posramljivanja, neka istraživanja su pokazala da dobro osmišljeni i sprovedeni postupci mogu smanjiti stopu povrata. U radu je razmatran odnos između neformalne socijalne kontrole i kažnjavanja kao oblika formalne socijalne kontrole kriminaliteta. Takođe se ukazuje na značaj i razmatraju perspektive primene reintegrativnog posramljivanja kao neformalnog sredstva u funkciji formalne socijalne kontrole kriminaliteta. Autor zaključuje da reintegrativno posramljivanje i restorativni procesi koji su na njemu zasnovani predstavljaju veoma primamljiv izazov za praksu krivičnopravnog reagovanja.