Education and re-education in youth: The extreme importance of developing the capacity to feel guilt and shame in adolescence.

Guilt? It's this mechanism we use to control people. It's an illusion. It's a kind of social control mechanism—and it's very unhealthy. It does terrible things to our bodies. And there are much better ways to control our behavior than that rather extraordinary use of guilt.

- Ted Bundy, Serial Killer.



      Couple of months behind Netflix had released a documentary about the life of Ted Bundy. He was one of the best-known serial killers in the United States. He is known to have sexually abused and killed 36 people (verified), but it is assumed to be much larger (50-100).

      You must be wondering, what does Ted Bundy's life and his brain have to share with us that is extreme importance for the formation and education of our youngs ?

      Adolescence is a very dynamic period of human life, marked by a series of constant changes of the body in search of maturity for adult life. Brain development is no different, and recent research highlights the importance of shame and guilt.

      It is no longer a novelty that the psychopathic brain like Ted experiences very different social relationships from normal people, including the inability to feel empathy and emotions of affection ^[1]:

The above image shows brain regions active in social contexts for normal and psychopathic people. Psychopaths activate fewer frontal regions responsible for the social contexts than normal people. The greater brightness tending to yellow / red, it is more brain activation. The greater blue shimmer tending to blue / black, the less activation.

      A very clear account of Ted was his inability to feel guilty. For him when he was being judged, everything was more of an intellectual challenge and a joke than the possibility of being blamed for something. In the special edition of Netflix, it reveals that an analysis of the chemistry in Ted's brain was made and indicated the possibility of a brain tumor that could be blocking and influencing brain pathways responsible for empathy and guilt.

      Have you ever wondered if guilt and shame are necessary for human condition? What would be the reason?

      Recent research from 15 to 25 years ^[2] show the concern about the other’s opinions in adolescence results in more frequencies and intensities of experiences in relation to feelings such as guilt and shame.

 
      Although guilt and shame appear to be similar, in the brain different processes occur.

      Shame plays an essential role in the healthy formation of the amygdala in the neurodevelopment of young people. This region of the brain is part of the limbic system (older, more instinctive evolutionary regions), involved in sexual and aggressive behavior. Its tailor-made development in puberty influenced by shame can help young people in the control and aversion of instinctive emotions throughout adulthood for the sake of social relations.

       In the brain guilt is associated with the experience of regret and remorse, both feelings that activate empathic pathways ^[2], thus helping in the ability to think, to project and to worry about "the other", reflecting good behaviors of sympathy and healthy social relationships as friends, passions, loves and professionalism ^[3].

      Guilt causes an anticipation of socio-emotional consequences in decision-making with experimentation of regret, this process has social significance to understand how their actions have impact. This is also reflected in positive behaviors, for example, guilt is related to greater leadership ability:

Guilt-prone people tend to work harder and perform better than those who are not prone to guilt, and are seen as more capable leaders.^[4]

      But be careful ! Nothing is a thousand wonders, everything in excess is bad. Excess in guilt and shame may contribute in adolescence to greater susceptibility to mental disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and anxiety.

      However it is important to remember that even bad feelings, such as guilt and shame, are important for the construction of a more civic person who understands morality and social coexistence.

      So be alert to teens, that they have the opportunity to be educated or re-educated if they need to be reintegrated in society, someway non-invasively (with virtual games, storytelling, or active education without hurting the ego), your capacity to fell guilty and shame.

      Poor development leads to socio-emotional problems, in extreme sociopathic cases and may present poor emotional, cognitive, low IQ, attention problems, poor temperament for self control and risk of depression ^[2].

References

[1] The mind of a psychopath: The psychopathic killer; Fiona Guy; Psychology of Murder; Crime Traveller; 2018.

[2] Neurodevelopmental correlates of proneness to guilt and shame in adolescence and early adulthood; Sarah Whittle et al.;Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience; 2016.

[3] Guilt Proneness and Moral Character; Taya R. Cohen et al.; Current Direction in Psychological Science; 2012.

[4] Defend your research: Guilt-Ridden people make great leaders; Francis J. Flynn; Harvard Business Review, 2011.