What is the meaning of the idiom 'name and shame'?

Answer 1

It is a term that was started in the 1980's by journalists. It mainly refers to criminals but also to politicians or anyone who is thought to be doing wrong. The term means that the criminals name should be published and that they should be shamed into changing their behaviour.

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The term 'name and shame' is a demand by some that the names of offenders - usually persons convicted of a crime, but sometimes also those suspected of, or charged with, a crime - be named in order to facilitate their community's taking action against them in order to cause shame to the wrongdoer and, by association, to others related to or involved in some way with that person.

The demand for 'naming and shaming' usually arises when for legal reasons the person in question cannot be named. For example, in some jurisdictions child offenders, or youths under a certain age, cannot be named for various reasons; the young offender could have siblings who would suffer if such details were revealed, and so on. There are jurisdictions where persons convicted of offences against children, or of sex offences, cannot be named if their naming could lead to their victim(s) being identified.

This type of legislation is in place to protect the innocent. As much as a community might feel it right that the name of offenders should be published, the welfare of others must be taken into account.

Many instances where 'naming and shaming' is called for involve child offenders, offenders against children, and sex offenders, because these can be very emotive cases, cases which arouse great community indignation and outrage. However, the object of justice today in Western countries is usually to apply justice as the law dictates, not to ensure the perpetrator suffers as much as possible at the hands of their community. Apart from other moral and ethical considerations, this type of perceived justice would take us back to older and far more barbaric times than most of us would find comfortable.

There have been instances where personal information about an offender in a notorious case is leaked, resulting in the public gaining knowledge of that offender's name and whereabouts (if released), or of the names and whereabouts of the offender's family, or of other persons connected with the offender, and it has happened in the past that this information has been used to target people who are mistakenly believed to be, or to be involved with, the offender.

This has resulted in tragedies and in terrible ordeals suffered by innocent people. Even in milder cases there is no excuse for a community attacking, even verbally, innocent people related to an offender; unfortunately this happens all the time, even before a matter has come to court.

The concept of 'naming and shaming' is, if its proponents are honest, based on a desire for revenge. Most of us would not like to live in a society where revenge is tolerated, with or without suspicion of, or proof of, wrongdoing.

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