The presenter suggests that bullying, scapegoating, and other forms of aggression aimed at vulnerable individuals and populations are all motivated by the same factor: shame. The shame is the result of the aggressor believing that he or she is inferior, in some regard, to others in the group or community. There are both successful and dysfunctional methods of managing shame; those who practice aggression against others, with no rational motive, are often exhibiting dysfunctional shame management as a result of various psycho-bio-social issues in their personal history.

For example, a young man’s father might beat him for some abuse and then mock him for crying, or complaining. He might teach him that shame management in this particular family consists of “sucking it up” rather than “whining like a baby.” Because the son is not allowed to process his shaming verbally, he acts out by finding a smaller, weaker classmate at school. He displaces his shame on the classmate and then bullies the classmate. Donald Nathanson, who has written about this cycle at length, refers to this as “attack other” mode of shame management. Were he to respond to his beating by belittling himself, or hurting himself through cutting or risk taking, he would be engaging in a different kind of mismanaged shame, which Nathanson calls, “attack self."

This presentation uses diagrams, real-time exercises, and video clips to illustrate healthy and toxic shame, its utility as a way of enforcing culture, its relationship to violence, and how social workers can encourage clients to manage their shame in a healthy way through the principles of restorative justice, and restorative processes. Handouts are included as well as a bibliography of seminal works in shame management.

Dr. Fast, PhD, MSW  began his social work career in 1993 and has worked in a variety of clinical settings, mostly with adolescents.  Dr. Fast has published eight novels and a book of non-fiction, Ceremonial Violence, which presents a new way of understanding school rampage shootings.

2 CE Contact Hours

REFUND REQUESTS:

All refund requests must be submitted by email to workshops@naswnyc.org . Valid requests must be received no later than five days prior to course date. 

All refunds are subject to a $20.00 administrative processing fee. Credit cannot be issued toward a future program date or substituted for another workshop. Refund requests typically require 1-2 weeks processing time.