The Positive Side of Shame

Recently, Parrish notes, shame has gotten a bad rap — branded as toxic, destructive, the residue of moralistic cultures we've moved past. He argues this is too sweeping. Distinguishing toxic shame (the global "I am bad") from healthy shame (the specific "that act was wrong"), he makes the case that shame is one of the foundational social technologies for course-correction in individuals and communities, and that abandoning it entirely leaves us without the very signal that, used carefully, can produce real positive change.