 Linda Hartling,
associate director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, was an
invited presenter at the first annual Meeting on Human Dignity and
Humiliation Studies in Paris this fall. The meeting was coordinated by
Evelin Lindner of the University of Oslo and hosted by the French
Maison des Sciences de l’Homme. Using Relational-Cultural Theory as a
theoretical foundation, Hartling’s talk explored the complex dynamics
of shame and humiliation that can lead to profound and enduring
psychological and social problems. On the basis of the research she has
done to develop a scale that will assess cumulative experiences of
humiliation and fear of humiliation, she proposed possibilities for
interrupting and transforming these life-damaging experiences. Other
presenters examined the connection between humiliation and armed
conflict, using the examples of Somalia and Rwanda; the systemic
humiliation of subjugated groups in Africa; and the treatment of women
in postwar Iraq.The meeting on October 12-13 launched an international, interdisciplinary network of scholars and activists who will work collaboratively to understand, prevent, alleviate, and eliminate the pervasive and destructive consequences of derision and degradation. The network, which envisions collective efforts promoting dignity and mutual respect for all people, is the first step in the founding of a center for human dignity and humiliation studies, to be anchored at Columbia University in New York. |