The Calamitous Crush of Prosocial Shame

Prosocial shame can pulverize a person's career or public reputation in seconds.

In Chapter 7, I explore How Shame Shapes Society using an example of what I call “prosocial” shame. Prosocial shame is shame put to work for constructive, positive purpose. It’s shame employed to correct a problem rather than to cause or worsen one. I’ll use an example from history to explain.

In the early 1950s, United States Senator Joseph McCarthy instigated a long, fraudulent effort to root out communist insurgents inside the U.S. government. His malicious, unwarranted campaign (called McCarthyism) accused honorable, innocent citizens of being Communist traitors and cost thousands of Americans their jobs, public reputations, and sometimes their lives. Though it soon became evident that there were no communist insurgents to root out, the senator continued his horrendous defamations for years.

McCarthy’s heinous deeds finally caught up with him, thanks to escalating pressure from public and governmental opinion. In June 1954, he was prosocially shamed in the most public of ways during a live television broadcast of Senate hearings. Senate Chief Counsel of the United States Army Joseph Welch crushed the senator’s villainous ways by exclaiming, “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness…You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, Sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

In this instant, Welch became an impromptu spokesman for our nation’s populace. Over 20 million Americans looked on from their homes as this remarkable moment of therapeutic, prosocial, public shaming took place.  

Within six months, McCarthy was formally condemned by the U.S. Senate. President Dwight Eisenhower japed to his Cabinet, “McCarthyism” is now “McCarthywasm.” The calamitous crush of prosocial shame obliterated McCarthy’s anti-American agenda.

The fate of California Representative Eric Swalwell on April 12, 2026 has the ring of history repeating itself. After being publicly accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, Swalwell abruptly ended his campaign for California governor and resigned his House seat. His political endorsers, funding sources, and staff members immediately decamped. He awkwardly exited the race after a statutory deadline to withdraw from election had passed, likely befuddling any voters left unaware at the polls on June 2nd that he’s no longer in the race. Political strategist Marva Diaz says his exit has “caused…confusion….I’ve never seen something so much in flux while ballots are about to drop.” (“Swalwell’s exit from California governor’s race leaves Democratic field in disarray,” Imperial Valley Press, April 16, 2026.) Prosocial shame was at work again.

The immense impacts of prosocial shame can materialize with the sudden force of an avalanche. A person’s public reputation, social connections, family relationships, and a whole career can be wiped out in an instant of prosocial shaming. However, it’s crucial to note that it often takes years of public indignation, pressure, and protest to expose the shameful behavior and precipitate the avalanche. What an important lesson this is for each of us about the power of unity, patience, persistence–and the judicious use of prosocial shame–in taking public action.