Shame: Theory, Therapy, Theology

This interdisciplinary study brings together many contemporary discourses about shame within a new critical perspective. It will be an invaluable, stimulating resource for all those who are concerned with understanding shame and assisting those whose lives are lived in the shadow of it. Psychologists, philosophers and therapists will find this a fascinating source of new insight into the theory and phenomenology of shame. It will be of particular interest to those who are interested in relationships between religion and mental health, to pastoral workers, and to religious thinkers and theorists. In this book, first published in 2000, Stephen Pattison considers the nature of shame as it is discussed in the diverse discourses of literature, psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, history and sociology and concludes that 'shame' is not a single unitary phenomenon, but rather a set of separable but related understandings in different discourses. Situating chronic shame primarily within the metaphorical ecology of defilement, pollution and toxic unwantedness, Pattison goes on to examine the causes and effects of shame. He then considers the way in which Christianity has responded to and used shame. Psychologists, philosophers, theologians and therapists will find this a fascinating source of insight, and it will be of particular use to pastoral workers and those concerned with religion and mental health. Rooted in autobiographical experience and easy to read, accessible to counsellors and pastoral workers Original, comprehensive, critical, interdisciplinary survey of contemporary theories relating to understanding and responding to shame, especially chronic shame First and most comprehensive extended study of relationship between chronic shame and contemporary Christian thought and practice