Katchadourian first explores the ways in which guilt functions within individual lives and intimate relationships, looking at behaviors that typically induce guilt in both historical and modern contexts. He then turns to the way the capacity for moral judgments develops within the individual lives and through evolutionary processes, taking up both normal and pathological (whether excessive or inadequate) manifestations of guilt. The second part of the book turns to the socio-cultural aspects of guilt. In what ways does religion deal with guilt? Does it compound it or help individuals to resolve it? How do the major religious traditions differ in their conceptions of guilt? Secular alternatives in dealing with guilt are considered in the light of the key moral philosophies that have exerted the most influence in Western cultures. Finally, Katchadourian addresses the ways in which society attempts to come to terms with guilt as culpability through the legal process.