Guilty as Sin

The basis for our project is to determine where it is that morals come from and why they can differ so much from culture to
culture. Are morals, values and feelings of guilt attributed to societal hierarchy or is it biological? Do we all feel the same guilt or
does the level of guilt depend on the culture that we are brought up in? To answer these questions we will be examining who
sets these moral standards by looking at a variety of situations where cultural standpoints on certain issues are conflicting. For
example, murder, rape, lying, animal rights, etc. We will also examine situations in which guilt may not even be present
depending upon psychological factors, such as a sociopath or serial killer versus a priest. We hope to prove that as humans we
all have the capacity to feel guilt, but where and how this is expressed to differs to certain degrees in situations that occur within
that society or culture. Consequently, this socialization of guilt maintains the dominant power structure.

Sources:
www.oprah.com - On December 29, 2000 Oprah did a show called, "Sanctioned Violence Against Women", which covered a
variety of topics such as genital mutilation, honor killings and acid burnings.

Ohlsson, Ragnar. Morals Based on Needs. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. 1995.

Miller, Susan. The Shame Experience. Hillsdale, New Jesey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1985.

Mananzan, Mary John. Women Resisting Violence, Spirituality for Life. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books. 1996.

Mendus, Susan and Jane Rendall. Sexuality and Subordination. New York: Routledge. 1989.

Mayer, Tamer ed. Gender Ironies of Nationalism, Sexing the Nation. New York: Routledge. 2000.

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Here is a list of responses that have been posted to this Study...

• Ideas to consider (2/15/01) [ Contributor: Adrianne Mikosz/James Tate-Section: Myers ]
• Idea II (2/13/01) [ Contributor: Leslie and Sarah-Section: cummins ]
• We're guilty, officer... (2/13/01) [ Contributor: Nick and Levi-Section: Cummins ]
• The Hays "Guiltometer" (2/12/01) [ Contributor: Hays Cummins-Section: Cummins ]
• puffin' stuff (birds) (2/7/01) [ Contributor: Jordan, Alec and Lyndsey-Section: Cummins ]
• we respond again...and again...and again (2/7/01) [ Contributor: drwe eric loeffelman-Section: cummins ]
• Guily as sin. (2/7/01) [ Contributor: marta and caroline-Section: ]
• As Tina Turner would say, "What's guilt got to do with it?" (2/7/01) [ Contributor: Leesa, Abeni, & Heather-Section: Cummins ]
• Killer vs. Priest: MNB (2/6/01) [ Contributor: Melissa Raftery, Brandy McQueary, and Nikki Rudnick-Section: Cummins ]
• Our Response (2/6/01) [ Contributor: Nicholas Burns and Levi Grooms-Section: Cummins ]
• response 1 (2/5/01) [ Contributor: j andrew vankat, mp loeffelman, ep johnson-Section: cummins ]

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