Examining the Past Injustices Suffered by Those in Corrections and the General Public: A New Therapeutic Approach May Be Necessary.

One under-researched area within corrections is the connection among (a) past adverse events, particularly in the form of injustices against those who now are incarcerated, (b) crimes committed and then (c) healing from the effects of that past adversity of injustice. Might those who have experienced severe injustices against them develop an anger or a hatred that then is displaced onto others, leading to arrest, conviction and imprisonment? This is not to imply that societies condone illegal behaviour but instead to assist in the healing from the adversity so that future crime is reduced. As a first step in this sequence, the study here examined in detail the kinds of injustices suffered by men in a maximum-security correctional institution (N = 103) compared with men in a medium-security environment (N = 37) and in the general public (N = 96). Findings indicated differences between those in the general public and those in the two correctional contexts. The latter two groups had (a) a higher severity of injustices against them (rated by a panel of researchers), (b) a more negative current impact that past injustices are having on them (also rated by a panel of researchers), (c) more reports that the injustices contributed to their choices to harm others, (d) more serious types of hurt (such as sexual abuse), (e) a stronger degree of self-reported hurt and (f) more injustices from family members. Implications for correctional rehabilitation to reduce the negative psychological effects caused by the injustices of others are discussed.

Expanding the cross-cultural validity of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory short form.

This research assessed the cross-cultural validity and internal consistency of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory short form (EFI-30). A total of 1677 people across four countries (United States, the Philippines, China and Saudi Arabia) participated in the study. Data analysis relied on multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and assessments of internal consistency. The results indicated that the EFI-30 has the same structure and factor loadings in the four countries and that internal consistency for the EFI-30 factors was >0.80 in the four countries. The discrimination values suggest that the instrument can differentiate people with different levels of forgiveness. The analyses in this study indicate that the EFI-30 is a valid and reliable assessment of cognition, behaviour and affect related to forgiveness in the United States, the Philippines, China and Saudi Arabia. Clinicians working in these countries can confidently use this shorter version of the EFI to measure forgiveness.

The Effectiveness of a Forgiveness Intervention on Mental Health in Bereaved Parents-A Pilot Study.

The aim of this pilot study was to test the effectiveness of an educational forgiveness intervention on mental health in grieving parents. 21 grieving parents were randomly assigned to the experimental group (in which the educational forgiveness intervention occurred) and to the control group (in which a psycho-education grief intervention with a humanistic approach took place). Participants in both groups completed 12 individual hourly sessions for three months. The results showed that participants in the experimental group achieved statistically greater improvement in forgiveness towards others, self-forgiveness, and a greater decrease in depression in the post-test and follow-up test; a greater decrease in anxiety and anger in the post-test; as well as higher improvement in the post-traumatic growth in the follow-up test, four months after the end of the intervention. We highlight the potential benefits of using a forgiveness intervention with bereaved parents.

A meta-analysis of forgiveness education interventions' effects on forgiveness and anger in children and adolescents.

Forgiveness education interventions instruct children and adolescents in understanding forgiveness and its role in healthy relationships. In this meta-analytic review, 20 studies involving 1472 youth (51% female; Mage  = 11.66) from 10 countries (studies: 40% North American, 25% East Asian, 20% Middle Eastern, 15% European) were retrieved to determine forgiveness education interventions' effects on youth outcomes. Hedges' g and confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess treatment effects. Findings suggest that forgiveness education interventions have a significant positive effect on forgiveness (g = 0.54, 95% CI [0.36, 0.73]) and anger (g = 0.29, 95% CI [0.11, 0.47]). Results lend support to the idea that children and adolescents who experience hurt from the unjust actions of others may benefit from learning about the process of forgiveness.

Integrating mindfulness and connection practices into preservice teacher education results in durable automatic race bias reductions.

Automatic race bias, which is the tendency to associate positive attributes more quickly with White as compared to Black faces, reflects enculturation processes linked to inequitable teaching behaviors. In sample of undergraduate preservice teachers (N = 88), we examined whether a novel mindfulness and connection practice intervention without anti-bias content incorporated into undergraduate teacher education would result in reduced automatic race bias favoring White faces. Random assignment to the intervention predicted significantly reduced race preference for White child faces immediately after the intervention. These significant reductions persisted at the 6-month follow-up, which are the most durable reductions in automatic race bias reported to date in adults. Data from semi-structured interviews indicated that the intervention enhanced self-awareness and self-regulation while reducing automatic responding among preservice teachers. These qualities are instrumental to adaptive teaching and putative mechanisms for reducing automatic race bias. The potential value of integrating mindfulness and connection practices into undergraduate preservice teacher education is discussed.

Motivations for Forgiving an Offender with Practical Implications for Those in the Helping Professions: A Qualitative Study.

While the forgiveness literature is rapidly growing, little attention has been paid to the general public's motivations for forgiving. Using a qualitative approach, this study examined 100 participants' stated reasons for forgiving. The following seven themes have emerged: (1) forgiveness is the key to inner peace, (2) relationships matter, (3) forgiveness is conditional, (4) they forgive because of love/concern for the other in the human community, (5) forgiveness is a (moral and religious) duty, (6) they forgive for the sake of others, and (7) they forgive for growth. When considering motivations for forgiveness, participants tended to focus on what they could restore or gain as a consequence of forgiving, supporting the findings of past studies. However, some notable differences were also found when questions were asked in different ways. Major findings, implications for those in the helping professions, and limitations and future directions are discussed.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Social Skills and Adolescent Depression: A Multivariate Latent Growth Approach.

Ample research has shown that the link between social skills and adolescent depression is significant. However, how the changes in different domains of social skills influence the change in depression from early to middle adolescence remains largely unknown. To address this gap in knowledge, the current research used longitudinal data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1061) to examine the influences of the changes in cooperation, assertion, responsibility, and self-control on the change in depression from early to middle adolescence. Univariate latent growth modeling showed that, from early to middle adolescence, adolescents experience decreases in cooperation and assertion, increases in responsibility and depression, and stability in self-control. Multivariate latent growth modeling suggested that adolescents who had more increases in responsibility and self-control tended to experience a slower increase in depression from early to middle adolescence; while adolescents who had more decreases in cooperation and assertion tended to experience a faster increase in depression from early to middle adolescence. The results suggested that promoting adolescents social skills might be particularly salient for the prevention of adolescent depression.

Investigaciones han demostrado que hay un vínculo significativo entre las habilidades sociales y la depresión en adolescentes. Sin embargo no se tiene mucha claridad sobre cómo los diferentes dominios de las habilidades sociales influyen en la depresión durante la adolescencia media y temprana. Para abordar este tema se tomaron datos del Estudio de Cuidado Infantil y Desarrollo Juvenil del Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1061) donde se evaluó la influencia de la cooperación, aprobación, responsabilidad y autocontrol sobre la depresión en esta población. El modelo de crecimiento latente univariado mostró que, desde la adolescencia temprana a la media, los adolescentes experimentan disminución en la cooperación y la aprobación, aumento en la responsabilidad y la depresión, y estabilidad en el autocontrol. El modelo sugirió que los adolescentes que tenían más aumento en la responsabilidad y en el autocontrol, tendían a experimentar un incremento más lento de la depression, desde la adolescencia temprana hasta la media; mientras que los que tenían disminución en la cooperación y en la aprobación tendían a experimentar un aumento más rápido de la depresión en esta misma etapa de la asdolescencia. Los resultados sugirieron que la promoción de las habilidades sociales de los adolescentes podría ser particularmente importante para la prevención de la depresión adolescente.

Forgiveness therapy in a maximum-security correctional institution: A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: Forgiveness Therapy is proposed as a novel approach to rehabilitation for men in a maximum-security correctional institution to alleviate psychological compromises. METHOD: In a two-tiered study, volunteer participants within a correctional institution (N = 103) were asked to report past experiences of abuse and unjust treatment prior to their first crime and were measured on anger, anxiety, depression, hope and forgiveness. Twenty four of the most clinically compromised participants were selected from this initial assessment, with pairs first matched on certain characteristics and then randomly assigned to either experimental or control group interventions followed by a cross-over design (N = 9 in each group at the study's end). Experimental participants received 24 weeks of Forgiveness Therapy. Control group participants received 24 weeks of an alternative treatment followed by Forgiveness Therapy. Dependent variables included anger, anxiety, depression, forgiveness, hope, self-esteem and empathy. RESULTS: Ninety percent of 103 participants reported moderate to severe abuse in childhood or adolescence. Data showed an inverse relationship between forgiveness and anger, anxiety and depression. In the Forgiveness Therapy, anger, anxiety, depression, empathy and forgiveness were statistically significant favouring both experimental groups. These results remained at the 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Forgiveness Therapy is shown to be effective for correctional rehabilitation in healing clinical psychological compromise and in promoting positive psychological well-being in men within a maximum-security facility.

A randomized controlled trial of a forgiveness intervention program with female acid attack survivors in Pakistan.

Despite the traumatic effects of acid violence on its victims, treatment options are very limited. The present study was aimed at examining the efficacy of a forgiveness intervention with female survivors of acid attack violence in Pakistan. Female acid attack victims in Pakistan were randomized to either a forgiveness group (n = 8) or a treatment-as-usual (TAU; n = 8) control group. The forgiveness group received twice-a-week forgiveness sessions for 4 months, whereas the TAU group either received typical psychological treatment sessions for acid attack victims or no treatment. All participants were assessed on their levels of forgiveness, anger, anxiety, depression, and hope four times prior to the 4-month intervention period, twice after the intervention period, and once at the 1-year follow-up. Posttreatment, the forgiveness intervention group showed greater improvement in hope, anger, anxiety, and depression when compared with the TAU group. Upon further examinations, both groups improved on forgiveness from pretreatment to posttreatment, but the forgiveness group had a higher baseline. From pretreatment to the 12-month follow-up, the forgiveness group, when compared with the TAU group, showed greater improvement in all areas except for depression. This is the first study that examined the effects of a forgiveness intervention for acid attack victims in Pakistan. Results showing the improvement posttreatment as well as over a 1-year period posttreatment are encouraging.

Trauma and healing in the underserved populations of homelessness and corrections: Forgiveness Therapy as an added component to intervention.

The purpose of this article is to begin applying the principles of the psychology of forgiveness to people who are without homes and people who are in prisons. A review of the literature shows trauma for both groups. When the trauma is caused by unjust treatment by others, then excessive anger can result, compromising one's psychological and physical health. We review the interventions that have been offered for those without homes and the imprisoned to examine which existing programmes address such anger. Forgiveness Therapy, although untried in these two settings, may be one beneficial approach for substantially reducing unhealthy anger. Forgiveness interventions have shown a cause-and-effect relationship between learning to forgive and overcoming psychological compromise such as strong resentment and clinical levels of anxiety and depression. The literature review here suggests that forgiveness therapy for those without homes and the imprisoned may be a new and important consideration for ameliorating anger and aiding in a changed life pattern.

A meta-analysis of the association between forgiveness of others and physical health.

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis tested the relation between forgiveness of others and physical health (PH) with age, gender, race, education level, employment status, sample type, research design, type of PH variables, and publication status as the potential moderators. DESIGN: Eligible studies had participants with or without physical or mental health problems and had quantitative data on forgiveness of others and PH. The random-effects model was used to aggregate Fisher's z effect sizes, which were converted back to correlation coefficients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: State forgiveness (forgiving an offense or offender) measures, trait forgiveness (a disposition to forgive) measures and physical health measures were included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: A hundred and twenty-eight studies (N = 58,531) were retrieved, in which the mean effect sizes showed a significant positive relationship between forgiveness of others and PH (r = 0.14, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.11, 0.17]). Further, no moderators showed a significant relation between forgiveness of others and PH. CONCLUSIONS: The positive relation between forgiveness of others and PH was not affected by potential moderators. Because the results are correlational, more forgiveness interventions may be needed to examine the causal effect of the relation between forgiveness of others and PH.

Childhood Victimization, Recent Injustice, Anger, and Forgiveness in a Sample of Imprisoned Male Offenders.

The links between childhood victimization, subsequent emotional dysregulation, and insufficient coping skills have been repeatedly documented in the scientific literature. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the role of forgiveness as a coping strategy and relationships between offense-specific hurt, chronic anger, and early victimization. The goals of our study were (a) to explore how offenders cope with recent unjust treatment, and test the links between type of injustice, hurt experienced due to injustice, and use of forgiveness; (b) to test the links between childhood victimization, hurt, and chronic anger; and (c) to assess the mediating role of chronic anger in relation to hurt and forgiveness. The results reveal that multiplicity and severity of victimization exposure in the prison sample are positively associated with chronic anger, but not with hurt. The type of injustice affects the level of hurt and forgiveness, while chronic anger mediates the link between hurt and forgiveness. To improve coping and promote forgiving, offenders should be helped to identify everyday sources of stress and learn to express vulnerable feelings beneath anger.

Beyond Grief and Survival: Posttraumatic Growth Through Immediate Family Suicide Loss in South Korea.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the characteristics of posttraumatic growth arising from losing an immediate family member to suicide in Korea. We used interpretative phenomenological analysis for data collection and analysis and conducted in-depth interviews with 11 participants in Korea to evaluate the positive changes subsequent to the suicide. Participants revealed positive outcomes in response to losing an immediate family member to suicide after suffering the "most unimaginable pain" including (a) "Now I know what the most important thing in life is," (b) "Warm and intimate relationships matter," and (c) "Survivors of suicide's search for meaning." The implications of these findings and avenues for future research are discussed.

The influence of family unions and parenthood transitions on self-development.

The present study discusses the impact of union and parenthood transitions on individuals' self-esteem and sense of mastery development from midadolescence to young adulthood by using multilevel analyses with longitudinal data of 7,339 individuals between ages 15 and 38. The results show that, first, individuals in marital unions show significantly greater rates of growth in self-esteem and sense of mastery, compared with singles. Therefore, entering into marriage provides greater protections to individuals' self-esteem and sense of mastery. Second, the transition to parenthood brings significant decreases in levels and increases in rates of change in self-esteem and sense of mastery among new parents. The degree of the aforementioned changes differs by new parents' gender, union status, and living arrangement with the child at childbirth. Women are influenced more negatively than men. Living with the child at childbirth reduces the degree of decreases in self-esteem and sense of mastery, especially for mothers. In sum, from midadolescence to young adulthood, the development of individuals' self-esteem and sense of mastery is shaped by their union and parenthood transitions. Moreover, the context where these transitions take place, including the type of union and the living arrangement, moderates the degree of the impact. Our findings have important implications for research and practice in promoting the family transition experience.

Case study of a survivor of suicide who lost all family members through parent-child collective suicide.

BACKGROUND: South Korea is characterized by a high percentage of parent-child collective suicide. AIMS: This case study explores one individual's personal experience as an adult survivor of suicide who lost his wife and his only son through parent-child collective suicide in South Korea. METHOD: The study reports data from a semistructured interview, which were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). RESULTS: Two themes were identified through the analysis of the narratives of the survivor. The first theme provides a detailed picture of the survivor's explanation of why the parent-child collective suicide occurred. The second theme examines how the participant experienced complicated bereavement after his heart-breaking loss of both wife and son. CONCLUSION: We discuss the importance of support from other people or grief experts for the survivors of suicide who lose family to collective suicide.

A Forgiveness Intervention for Women With Fibromyalgia Who Were Abused in Childhood: A Pilot Study.

This pilot study compared the efficacy of a forgiveness intervention with a fibromyalgia (FM) health intervention on women with FM who have experienced emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, and emotional or physical neglect, in childhood by one of their parents. Eleven women with FM between the ages of 21 and 68 were randomized to the forgiveness intervention (n = 5) or the FM health intervention (n = 6), and completed the once-weekly individualized program for 24 weeks. The participants completed measures assessing forgiveness, overall FM health, depression, anger, anxiety, self-esteem, and coping strategies at the pretest, the posttest, and the 12-week follow-up test. They also completed the forgiveness intervention and FM health intervention final tests at the posttest, which assessed their knowledge on forgiveness and FM health. The forgiveness intervention participants had greater improvements in forgiveness (p < .001) and overall FM health (p = .046) from the pretest to the posttest, and in forgiveness (p = .018) and state anger (p = .027) from the pretest to the follow-up test than the FM health intervention participants. Moreover, the forgiveness intervention participants scored higher on the forgiveness final test than the FM health intervention participants (p < .001), and the FM health intervention participants scored higher on the FM health final test than the forgiveness intervention participants (p < .001). The results indicate that the forgiveness intervention was potentially helpful in improving forgiveness and overall FM health, and in decreasing state anger of this particular sample of women with FM.

Self-forgiveness in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

This study investigated whether low levels of self-forgiveness were associated with eating disorder symptomatology. Participating women (N = 51) had diagnoses of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or no eating disorder diagnosis. They completed 3 measures of self-forgiveness. Women with eating disorders had lower levels of self-forgiveness compared with control participants. Results suggest that incorporating self-forgiveness interventions into current eating disorder treatments should be evaluated in future research as they might enhance clinical outcomes.

A palliative care intervention in forgiveness therapy for elderly terminally ill cancer patients.

Palliative care is now considered an essential part of end-of-life care, yet little research examines the efficacy of interventions addressing the psychological treatment of dying patients. Forgiveness therapy has been shown to be effective in improving psychological well-being and may provide a valuable addition to a terminal cancer patient's overall treatment plan. This study experimentally tested the effectiveness of a four-week forgiveness therapy in improving the quality of life of elderly terminally ill cancer patients. Participants (n = 20) were randomly assigned to a forgiveness therapy group or to a wait-list control group, which received forgiveness therapy in the second four-week period. All participants completed instruments measuring forgiveness, hope, quality of life, and anger at pre-test, post-test 1, and post-test 2. The forgiveness therapy group showed greater improvement than the control group, with one-tailed t-tests, on all measures. After receiving forgiveness therapy, participants in both forgiveness treatment conditions demonstrated significant improvements on all measures. The aggregated effect size was large. The four-week forgiveness therapy demonstrated psychological benefits for elderly terminally ill cancer patients and thus may be an appropriate addition to the treatment plan for terminal cancer patients.

The effects of a forgiveness intervention on patients with coronary artery disease.

This research assesses the effects of a psychology of forgiveness pilot study on anger-recall stress induced changes in myocardial perfusion, forgiveness and related variables. Thirty-two patients were administered baseline rest and anger-recall stress imaging studies, and 17 of these participants who demonstrated anger-recall stress induced myocardial perfusion defects (forgiveness group, n = 9; control group, n = 8) were randomly assigned to a series of 10 weekly interpersonal forgiveness or control therapy sessions with a trained psychologist, and underwent additional anger-recall stress myocardial perfusion nuclear imaging studies post-test and at 10-week follow-up. Patients assigned to the forgiveness group showed significantly fewer anger-recall induced myocardial perfusion defects from pre-test to the 10-week follow-up as well as significantly greater gains in forgiveness from pre-test to post-test and from pre-test to follow-up compared to the control group. Forgiveness intervention may be an effective means of reducing anger-induced myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease.

Perdão interpessoal e contextos de injustiça no Brasil e estados Unidos / Interpersonal forgiveness and the contexts of injustices at Brazil and United States

Este estudo sobre contextos de injustiça e o grau de perdão buscou investigar se uma pessoa perdoa uma outra pessoa em graus diferentes quando a ofensa ocorre na família, entre amigos ou no trabalho. 188 americanos e 390 brasileiros do sexo masculino e do sexo feminino, com idade média de 32 anos e seis meses participaram deste trabalho. Foram administradas a Escala de Atitudes (EFI) e uma escala de Desejabilidade Social. Os resultados indicaram que o perdão variou em grau de acordo com o contexto de injustiça. Os participantes mostraram que familiares e amigos receberam maior grau de perdão do que colegas de trabalho.O perdão associou-se à estrutura do contexto de relações familiares, relações entre amigos e relaçõesprofissionais, demonstrando, portanto, a possibilidade de eqüidade nas decisões para o perdão.

This is a qualitative study aiming at verifying the relationship between the degree of interpersonal forgivenessand the contexts of injustices, those contexts being among family, friends, or in the work place. The sampleconsisted of 188 Americans and 390 Brazilians who participated in this study. We used the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI) as a measure of interpersonal forgiveness and a measure of social desirability.Findings showed that people are less likely to forgive if the offense occurs in the work environment. It seemsthat an offended person is more motivated to restore positive perceptions with an offending family member and friend than with a coworker. Perhaps people are more motivated to forgive in family and friendship contexts because of affective ties. Therefore, forgiveness is context related and, apparently, people use equity in the degree to which they forgive others.