The Washing Away of Wrongs
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The Washing Away of Wrongs: A Multifaceted Exploration
Historical Context and Evolution of "The Washing Away of Wrongs"
Xi Yuan Lu: Traditional Forensic Practices in China
The "Xi Yuan Lu" or "Records for Washing Away of Wrong Cases" has been a cornerstone of criminal justice in China since its official issuance during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. This text served as an authoritative guide for criminal justice tests and judicatory judgments. However, with the advent of modern science, particularly after the May 4th New Culture Movement, the traditional methods outlined in the Xi Yuan Lu faced significant criticism. Western chemical tests and modern forensic methods challenged the credibility of the traditional practices, leading to a decline in their use. Despite this, the Xi Yuan Lu continued to be utilized in China during the 1930s and 1940s due to the lack of an established scientific forensic system, highlighting its enduring influence 3.
Psychological and Behavioral Implications of Cleansing
The Macbeth Effect: Moral Cleansing Through Physical Acts
Physical cleansing has long been associated with moral purity, a concept deeply rooted in religious and cultural practices. This psychological phenomenon, known as the "Macbeth effect," suggests that threats to one's moral purity can induce a need for physical cleansing. Studies have shown that individuals experiencing moral threats exhibit increased mental accessibility to cleansing-related concepts, a heightened desire for cleansing products, and a greater likelihood of using antiseptic wipes. These actions help alleviate the psychological discomfort associated with unethical behavior, effectively allowing individuals to "wash away their sins" 4.
Personal vs. Vicarious Cleansing: Impact on Guilt and Prosocial Behavior
Research has explored whether personal cleansing or merely observing others cleanse can mitigate feelings of guilt. In an experiment, participants who wrote about a past wrongdoing and then washed their hands reported the lowest levels of guilt and were less likely to engage in prosocial behavior, such as helping a Ph.D. student with her dissertation. Interestingly, even watching a video of someone else washing their hands reduced guilt and prosocial behavior, though to a lesser extent than personal cleansing. This suggests that both direct and vicarious cleansing can diminish guilt and subsequently reduce the likelihood of engaging in helpful actions 2.
Artistic Interpretations of Traces and Absence
Kathryn Smith's Psychogeographies: The Washing Away of Wrongs
Kathryn Smith's "Psychogeographies: The Washing Away of Wrongs" is an artistic exploration that delves into the concept of traces and their inherent absence. Through a series of twelve prints combining photographs and handwritten text, Smith documents her journey to the former homes of British serial killer Dennis Nilsen. Despite the passage of two decades since Nilsen's arrest, Smith's work highlights how the traces of his "wrongs" have been obscured by the mundane continuity of suburban life. This motif of absence is central to Smith's work, emphasizing that traces not only signify the former presence of an event but also its current absence. The work critiques the forensic certainty often associated with traces, suggesting that they exist in a paradoxical state of both presence and absence, thus challenging the notion that traces can unequivocally "bear witness" to past events 1.
Conclusion
The concept of "The Washing Away of Wrongs" spans historical, psychological, and artistic domains, each offering unique insights into how wrongdoings are perceived, addressed, and remembered. From the enduring influence of the Xi Yuan Lu in traditional Chinese forensic practices to the psychological mechanisms of moral cleansing and the artistic exploration of traces and absence, this multifaceted theme continues to resonate across different contexts and disciplines.
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Most relevant research papers on this topic
Tracing and erasure in Kathryn Smith's Psychogeographies: The Washing Away of Wrongs
Kathryn Smith's Psychogeographies explores the elusive traces left by British serial killer Dennis Nilsen, questioning the forensic certitude of traces as 'bear witnesses' to past events.
Washing the guilt away: effects of personal versus vicarious cleansing on guilty feelings and prosocial behavior
Washing one's own hands or watching someone else wash their hands can reduce guilt and lead to less helpful behavior.
Non-RCT[Xi yuan lu (Records for Washing Away of Wrong Cases) and justice tests in the Republic of China in the context of western knowledge].
The Xi yuan lu's traditional justice tests were criticized by modern science, but were still used in China during the 1930s-1940s due to the lack of scientific forensic medicine.
Washing Away Your Sins: Threatened Morality and Physical Cleansing
Physical cleansing, such as washing hands, can help alleviate the upsetting consequences of unethical behavior and reduce threats to one's moral self-image.
Observational Study
Highly CitedWashing away your sins will set your mind free: physical cleansing modulates the effect of threatened morality on executive control
Threatened morality negatively impacts executive control, specifically conflict monitoring and response inhibition, but physical cleansing (hand-washing) counteracts these detrimental effects.
Non-RCTIntolerable Wrong and Punishment
Punishment is justified as necessary to eliminate injustice, as it is a necessary response to intolerable wrong and the assertion of right.
Self‐forgiveness: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Self-forgiveness can alleviate negative feelings but may not motivate behavioral change, and pseudoself-forgiveness may increase the likelihood of wrongful behavior continuing.
Social wrongs
Social wrongs are broader than moral wrongs and encompasses violations of ought-to-be norms in social reality, encompassing individuals, groups, practices, institutions, and structures.
Blame After Forgiveness
Third-party blame after forgiveness can be inapt or irrelevant, depending on the relationship between the wronged party and third-party.
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