Shame can be understood as a condition that denotes alienation, isolation, defilement, depletion and pain, both individual and social. It is not simply a psychological condition with its origins within the individual. In many ways, shame signals a state of social relationships, whether past or present. The impress of chronic shame upon individual character or personality is socially created and exploited in micro- and macro-relationships. Its consequences can be drastic: ‘Shame … provides a powerful means of social control … The potency of shame in mediating relationships with others may be one reason that, when it goes wrong, it is often associated with severe psychological disturbance’ (Tantam 1998: 172).

Chronic shame casts a baleful shadow across individuals, families, groups and whole societies. The effects and implications of chronic, habitual shame reactions are mostly negative and destructive.