Olivia Muegge Dr. Moore English 1113 26 February 2018 Title Today, in the United States, there are many overcrowded prisons and many criminals. There are a number of offenses a person can commit that are against the law, and a number of these can land one in jail. Criminal acts are meant to be condemned. Public shaming is a financially sound and appropriate punishment for minor offense criminals in America. In the United States there are a large number of people incarcerated for a variety of offenses. This does not come cheap for the American taxpayer. American taxpayers pay for all of those incarcerated in the US. The sheer amount of imprisoned can lead to a hefty bill. This leads citizens to think about how to cut costs. When there are less people locked away, earning little or no money, Americans pay to feed, clothe, and house them. In his essay “Shame is Worth a Try,” author Dan Kahan states that “what the shame proponents seem to be getting, and the critics ignoring, is the potential of shame as an effective, cheap, and humane alternative” (Rosa and Eschholz 582). Even June Tangney, an author and opponent of public shaming, …show more content…
Public shaming addresses this issue improving the safety for others. Making others aware of one’s offenses as Kahan suggests “Drive drunk…and you might be required to place a ‘“DUI”’ bumper sticker on your car” (Rosa and Eschholz 582). Public identification provides a warning to those around the offender. This awareness can provide safety to the general public. Some people counter that such public shaming will spur retribution toward the offender. June Tangney argues in her essay “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person,” that public shaming “is typically accompanied by a sense of shrinking, of being small, worthless, and powerless, and by a sense of being exposed” (Rosa and Eschholz 577). However, the utmost concern must be for public