ABSTRACT
[T]he child’s excited response to a wide variety of stimuli will inevitably generate behavior that will be seen by parents, other adults, or children as inappropriate or wrong. From the child’s vantage point, she is not really indecorous, she is merely indulging in natural self-expression; yet she is shamed. Children’s great capacity for excitement and joy and the activity that these emotions generate greatly increases the range of possibilities for censurable behavior. The importance of a positive and non-punitive socialization of shame is evident.
