Gabrielle Hunt - Alternative 3

Gabrielle Hunt

17 April 2012

Alternative Topic 3

Guilt

                Today in class we talked briefly about guilt and the function of guilt in society. Coming from a sociological perspective, this is a very structural-functionalism point of view, to say that something exists because it has a purpose, a mission to fulfill.

                A structural functionalist theorist’s point of view on guilt would be that guilt serves a purpose in society; that it is in some way useful to human kind and the formation of our cultures. Some may say that guilt is internalized normative social pressure. It’s the result of when social pressure to conform to certain norms becomes a part of a person’s internal life, to the point that they feel ‘guilty’ for not following those social rules. In this way, guilt can be a neutral influence, capable of producing positive or negative fruit.

A structural functionalist theorist could also theorize that guilt is a cultural development that lets us know when we’ve done something wrong, if we’ve wronged someone or a group of someones, so we can fix it for the sake of our community or culture. It’s that irritating I’m-in-the-wrong-here-I-suck feeling in the back of your mind that doesn’t go away until you fix whatever you’ve done wrong. In these ways, guilt may be a negative emotion, but it gets positive results.

                But what if the situation that an individual is feeling guilty about is not something that can be fixed? It’s at this point, when the guilt goes from a negative feeling to a negative self-image that guilt starts to achieve only negative results. If an individual feels guilty about something to the point that they can no longer maintain a positive self-image or function as a normal person in society, they are now emotionally unhealthy, despite the fact that guilt in small amounts can be a very positive influence in one’s life that encourages one to ‘make things right.’