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June Tangney's Essay Condemn The Crime, Not The Person

1305 Words6 Pages

Mistakes Happen

Honesty is always the best policy. The saying that has been ingrained in people’s minds since childhood claims that telling the truth is always best. Whoever first started the saying understood that lying, or simply not telling the whole truth, has negative consequences. If something as small as telling a little white lie has a negative outcome, how much worse must it be when a mistake is kept hidden? Not admitting mistakes can have a very negative outcome for all of the people involved. Although doctors and other professional workers are placed on a pedestal and told they cannot make mistakes, they will, and it is important that those mistakes are admitted and accepted. Everyone makes mistakes. Only someone who is perfect …show more content…

It is said in the essay that a recent trend in sentencing offenders is public shaming. However, it is shown that shame only makes things worse. Shame makes the person focus on themselves. It is a feeling of “I am a bad person” and brings feelings of being worthless. Thus, shame does not “motivate constructive changes in behavior” it only causes people to react defensively and think of themselves. On the other side, guilt causes people to focus on others. It is the thought of “I did a bad thing” and causes feelings of regret and a desire to change and do better. From this, society can see that there is a right and wrong way to react to something wrong that has been done. In the case of a doctor admitting a mistake, if the family reacts very negatively and shames the doctor, the doctor will only be miserable and think about how bad they are. However, if the proper steps are taken to ensure that it is guilt instead of shame that doctors feel, there will be a sense of wanting to learn how to avoid the mistake in the

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