Shame, social orders and the governing of women and girls through institutions in New South Wales

Jan Mason, Tobia Fattore

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has illuminated, through the testimonies of survivors of abuse, how feelings of shame acted as a powerful barrier to prevent disclosures of abuse by children in these institutions. In this essay, we take this finding as a starting point, and examine the ways in which experiences of shame and institutional shaming practices facilitated the control of women and girls through the policing of female sexuality. We focus our analysis on two periods: the era of early colonial settlement and that of the early and mid-twentieth century. In the first period, women, and in the second period, adolescent girls, were placed in institutions for their moral reconstruction as part of social processes significant to nation-building. We discuss continuities and changes in the co-construction of shaming over these two periods, as part of institutional reform practices, and identify their implications for the contemporary era.
LanguageEnglish
Pages131-154
Number of pages24
JournalEmotions: History, Culture, Society
Volume1
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Fingerprint

shame
social order
abuse
state formation
social process
testimony
sexual violence
sexuality
continuity
twentieth century
reconstruction
adolescent
reform
experience

Keywords

  • shame
  • shaming practices
  • sexual abuse of women and girls
  • institutional abuse
  • gender orders

Cite this

Mason, Jan ; Fattore, Tobia. / Shame, social orders and the governing of women and girls through institutions in New South Wales. In: Emotions: History, Culture, Society. 2017 ; Vol. 1, No. 2. pp. 131-154.
@article{afd993a6fef04e1a8a58622374a7861f,
title = "Shame, social orders and the governing of women and girls through institutions in New South Wales",
abstract = "The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has illuminated, through the testimonies of survivors of abuse, how feelings of shame acted as a powerful barrier to prevent disclosures of abuse by children in these institutions. In this essay, we take this finding as a starting point, and examine the ways in which experiences of shame and institutional shaming practices facilitated the control of women and girls through the policing of female sexuality. We focus our analysis on two periods: the era of early colonial settlement and that of the early and mid-twentieth century. In the first period, women, and in the second period, adolescent girls, were placed in institutions for their moral reconstruction as part of social processes significant to nation-building. We discuss continuities and changes in the co-construction of shaming over these two periods, as part of institutional reform practices, and identify their implications for the contemporary era.",
keywords = "shame, shaming practices, sexual abuse of women and girls, institutional abuse, gender orders",
author = "Jan Mason and Tobia Fattore",
year = "2017",
language = "English",
volume = "1",
pages = "131--154",
journal = "Emotions: History, Culture, Society",
issn = "2206-7485",
number = "2",

}

Mason, J & Fattore, T 2017, 'Shame, social orders and the governing of women and girls through institutions in New South Wales', Emotions: History, Culture, Society, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 131-154.

Shame, social orders and the governing of women and girls through institutions in New South Wales. / Mason, Jan; Fattore, Tobia.

In: Emotions: History, Culture, Society, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2017, p. 131-154.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Shame, social orders and the governing of women and girls through institutions in New South Wales

AU - Mason, Jan

AU - Fattore, Tobia

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has illuminated, through the testimonies of survivors of abuse, how feelings of shame acted as a powerful barrier to prevent disclosures of abuse by children in these institutions. In this essay, we take this finding as a starting point, and examine the ways in which experiences of shame and institutional shaming practices facilitated the control of women and girls through the policing of female sexuality. We focus our analysis on two periods: the era of early colonial settlement and that of the early and mid-twentieth century. In the first period, women, and in the second period, adolescent girls, were placed in institutions for their moral reconstruction as part of social processes significant to nation-building. We discuss continuities and changes in the co-construction of shaming over these two periods, as part of institutional reform practices, and identify their implications for the contemporary era.

AB - The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has illuminated, through the testimonies of survivors of abuse, how feelings of shame acted as a powerful barrier to prevent disclosures of abuse by children in these institutions. In this essay, we take this finding as a starting point, and examine the ways in which experiences of shame and institutional shaming practices facilitated the control of women and girls through the policing of female sexuality. We focus our analysis on two periods: the era of early colonial settlement and that of the early and mid-twentieth century. In the first period, women, and in the second period, adolescent girls, were placed in institutions for their moral reconstruction as part of social processes significant to nation-building. We discuss continuities and changes in the co-construction of shaming over these two periods, as part of institutional reform practices, and identify their implications for the contemporary era.

KW - shame

KW - shaming practices

KW - sexual abuse of women and girls

KW - institutional abuse

KW - gender orders

M3 - Article

VL - 1

SP - 131

EP - 154

JO - Emotions: History, Culture, Society

T2 - Emotions: History, Culture, Society

JF - Emotions: History, Culture, Society

SN - 2206-7485

IS - 2

ER -

Mason J, Fattore T. Shame, social orders and the governing of women and girls through institutions in New South Wales. Emotions: History, Culture, Society. 2017;1(2):131-154.