Changes in Perceived Threats of Shame, Embarrassment, and Legal Sanctions for Interpersonal Violence, 1982-1992

A survey conducted in 1982 measured perceived threats of shame, embarrassment, and legal sanctions for 'physically hurting someone on purpose' among a sample of adults in a southwestern city (N = 350). Sampling from the same community and using an identical methodology, the measures were repeated in a 1992 survey (N = 396). The growing social condemnation of interpersonal violence, especially intimate violence, during the decade and the increasingly punitive response to it by the legal system lead to the hypothesis that perceived threats of shame, embarrassment, and legal sanctions for this behavior were higher in 1992 than they were in 1982. Results indicate increases for embarrassment and legal sanctions among some segments of the population and are discussed in the context of previous findings concerning shame, embarrassment, and legal sanctions as deterrents.