Previous research has shown peer victimization during adolescence to have strong lasting effects on mental health. Religiousness and forgiveness are two factors that are positively related to mental health and the current study proposes that they may have a protective influence against the negative effects of peer victimization. Additionally, religiousness and forgiveness may be related in that forgiveness may be a link in the religiousness/health relationship. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationships among religiousness, forgiveness and mental health in the context of peer victimization during adolescence. Mental health was measured by internalizing symptomatology and emotion regulation. Analyses were conducted using Structural Equation Modeling. Results indicate that forgiveness may indeed be a link in the religiousness/health relationship but only when examining private religious practices. Results further show that religiousness may not be a strong protective factor in the context of peer victimization and that certain dimensions of forgiveness (specifically benevolence motivations) may actually exacerbate the effects of peer victimization on internalizing symptomatology rather than act as a protective factor. / Master of Science

Intimate partner violence (IPV) in sexual and gender minority relationships is an underexplored and misunderstood phenomenon. Much of what has been investigated has explored IPV from a heterosexual lens, without taking into account the complexities of these relationship dynamics. Further, outcomes of IPV traditionally focus on negative sequelae, such as depression or anxiety. In this study, we examined the propensity to forgive partner abuse as a means of adaptively coping with the trauma. Further, we looked at resilience as a possible factor in the process of forgiveness. We hypothesized that psychological resilience significantly moderates the forgiveness process in sexual and gender minorities who have experienced IPV. Our sample of 77 gender- and sexual-minority participants completed measures of psychological and physical IPV, resilience, and forgiveness. A regression analysis found our model accounted for 36% of the variance in forgiveness of self (adj. R2=.36, F (4, 72) = 10.34, p < .01) and 20% of forgiveness of others (adj. R2=.20, F (4, 72) = 5.01, p < .01). However, there was no significant moderating effect, nor was IPV a significant contributor to forgiveness. Results suggest trauma does not influence one’s likelihood to forgive, though some personal trait, such as resilience, is more likely to contribute to the forgiveness process. Implications are discussed.

This study reviewed the literature regarding forgiveness and developed a structured group counseling format with the theme of forgiveness. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of forgiveness as used in group counseling upon depression, generalized anxiety, dogmatism, relationships, guilt, and forgiveness in the participants. Thirty subjects were selected to participate in one of three groups: an experimental group, a comparison treatment group, and a control group. The experimental group and the comparison treatment group participated in two-hour group sessions, once a week for ten weeks. The experimental group was didactic and experiential with the focus on forgiveness, whereas the comparison treatment group was problem solving using Redecision Therapy. All groups participated in pre and post test sessions. The seven hypotheses in this study were tested with a multivariate analysis of covariance as well as univariate analysis of covariance for each hypothesis. Significance in differences between means was tested at the .05 level of significance.

This study examined the interrelation of domestic abuse, forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others, and suicide behavior in a community sample of 101 patients receiving primary care from a clinic in the southeastern United States. As expected, it was found that more frequent experience of domestic abuse was associated with more frequent suicide behavior. Results from conducting mediation analyses and using bootstrapping techniques provided support for a model in which the relationship between domestic abuse and suicide behavior was accounted for by forgiveness of self, but not by forgiveness of others. The article concludes with a discussion of some of the implications of the present findings for practice and the study's limitations.

Il presente lavoro considera il perdono di sé come una strategia di coping che permette al soggetto di diminuire i sentimenti negativi (ad es. colpa) legati all’offesa commessa ed aumentare quelli positivi verso il sé (es. compassione di sé), laddove prerequisito del processo è l’assunzione di responsabilità per quanto commesso. In specifico si ritiene e si è mostrato come il perdono di sé sia un costrutto frutto dell’interdipendenza dei comportamenti tra vittima e offensore. Attraverso un set di studi sperimentali il presente studio ha, infatti, mostrato come i comportamenti conciliatori dell’offensore e il perdono concesso dalla vittima predicano un maggiore perdono di sé dell’offensore. Successivamente il costrutto è stato indagato all’interno di una closerelationship, dove i partner si sono confrontati su offese realmente commesse. I modelli di equazione strutturale hanno confermato come il perdono di sé dell’offensore è legato sia al perdono concesso dalla vittima che alle condotte riparatrici attuate dall’offensore.Grazie all’analisi dell’interdipendenza dei dati, modello APIM, si è inoltre evidenziato come il perdono di sé del partner offensore promuove sia la propria soddisfazione di coppia che quella del partner, vittima dell’offesa subita. / Recently psychosocial literature starts to study self-forgiveness: the psychological process by which an offender is able to forgive himself for an injury caused to himself or others. This paper considers self-forgiveness as a coping strategy that allows the person to decrease negative emotions (eg guilt) related to the offense committed and increase positive ones toward the self (eg self-compassion), where the offender starting point is taking responsibility for the wrongdoing. Self forgiveness is also considered as the result of offender and victim behaviours. Experimental studies revealed that offender conciliatory behaviours and victim forgiveness increase offender self forgiveness. Self forgiveness is also studied in a closerelationship about a real partner offence. Structural equation models have confirmed that self forgiveness is improved by offender conciliatory behaviours and victim forgiveness. Repairing ducts were found associated with feeling guilty which is linked to the offender perception of seriousness. Through analysis of the interdependence of data, APIM model, it was also revealed that the partner's self-forgiveness offender promotes both offender couple satisfaction and victim couple satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to develop a theoretical understanding of the relationship between empathy, cross-community contact, and religiosity and the impact on forgiveness for Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Based on the existing literature, three distinct guiding questions emerged: 1) "How are members from the Catholic and Protestant communities conceptualizing and defining forgiveness?", 2) "What role does religion and religiosity play in the conceptualization and process of forgiving members of the Protestant or Catholic communities?" and 3) "How does contact with members of the Catholic or Protestant community impact forgiveness and empathy?"Using a snowball sampling method, 17 participants ages 19-30 were identified and interviewed for 60-90 minutes. A modified grounded theory design was used to guide data collection and analysis, resulting in several main themes. The main themes that emerged from this study included a deeper understanding of forgiveness and the peace process from the perspective of participants, glimpses into the influences on their likeliness to forgive, and insight into the impact of cross-community contact. Forgiveness was universally valued by all participants, although this importance was balanced with concerns related to the interrelationships between politics, the peace process, justice, and the definition of forgiveness.Forgiveness was primarily defined by participants as the right of the individual, and as a means to interrupt a cycle of revenge. Among these responses to this topic, there was uncertainty about whether forgiveness could take place without an apology, and even greater confusion about whether forgiveness and justice could exist side-by-side. In addition, cross-community contact also seemed to influence the development of empathy and forgiveness between Catholics and Protestants. These findings were discussed in relation to Allport's (1954) contact hypothesis and Dixon et al.'s (2005) recent critique of the contact literature. In general, these results appeared to be consistent with previous literature on forgiveness, the contact hypothesis, and collective guilt assignment. There was evidence to indicate that contact was a necessary, but not sufficient condition for forgiveness. Limitations for the study and implications for practice and research are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-223).

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-223).

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-223).

Submitted by Maike Costa (maiksebas@gmail.com) on 2017-07-19T12:58:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2059931 bytes, checksum: a25c1fefc8cf23360199f9f3641568c2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-19T12:58:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2059931 bytes, checksum: a25c1fefc8cf23360199f9f3641568c2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-03 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / This study is based on Enright‟s interpersonal forgiveness theory, who conceive forgiveness as a moral attitude and propose its study in three dimensions: forgiving another - dimension of the victims, and receiving forgiveness and self-forgiveness - dimensions of offenders. For each dimension are proposed clinical processes that have a similar structure composed of four phases: uncovering, decision, work and outcome. This dissertation is an intervention work with the aim of promoting attitudes to receiving forgiveness and self-forgiveness in a group of inmates. The intervention was based on the phases and units of the clinical processes and was performed in 16 sessions each lasting approximately 90 minutes. A quasi-experimental design was used with two groups submitted to pretest and posttest: an experimental group that received the intervention treatment and a control group that received no treatment. Participants were 10 male inmates in semi-open regime, with five participants in the experimental group, ages ranged from 28 to 47 years, and five participants in the control group, ages ranged from 22 to 37 years. Measures of Receiving Forgiveness, Self-forgiveness, Social Desirability, Vulnerability, Anxiety, Depression and Self-Esteem were used. The results showed that the experimental group showed significant differences from pretest to posttest in the following variables: attitude to receiving forgiveness, social desirability, vulnerability and anxiety. The Jacobson and Truax method was used to individually analyze participants in the experimental group, evaluating the changes that can be reliably attributed to the intervention and the clinical significance of this change, that indicates if they are strong enough to be considered relevant. Were found reliably improvement of four participants in atitude to receive forgiveness, of two participants in atitude to self-forgiveness, of three participants in self-esteem, of two participants in vulnerability, and of one participant in depression. All changes in the attitude of receiving forgiveness, atitude to self-forgiveness, and self-esteem were clinically significant. The best results with the dimension receiving forgiveness were expected, since literature points out that the self-forgiveness process is the most difficult among the three dimensions of forgiveness. The results indicated that this study partially achieve the objective of contributing to significant advances in the promotion of forgiveness and to the improvement of the well-being of the intervention participants. It is considered that the skills and strategies worked may help participants in their interpersonal relationships and conflict resolution. / Este estudo fundamenta-se na teoria do perdão interpessoal de Enright, que concebe o perdão como uma atitude moral e propõem o seu estudo em três dimensões: oferecer o perdão – dimensão referente às vítimas, e receber o perdão e autoperdão – dimensões referentes aos ofensores. Para cada dimensão são propostos processos clínicos que possuem uma estrutura semelhante composta por quatro fases: reconhecimento, decisão, resolução e aprofundamento. Esta dissertação consiste em um trabalho de intervenção com o objetivo de promover atitudes para receber o perdão e autoperdoar-se em um grupo de apenados. A intervenção foi baseada nas fases e unidades dos processos clínicos e foi realizada em 16 sessões com duração de aproximadamente 90 minutos cada. Foi utilizado um delineamento quase-experimental com dois grupos submetidos a pré-teste e pós-teste: um grupo experimental que recebeu o tratamento da intervenção e o grupo controle que não recebeu nenhum tratamento. Participaram do estudo 10 apenados do sexo masculino em regime semiaberto, sendo cinco participantes do grupo experimental, com idades entre 28 e 47 anos, e cinco participantes do grupo controle, com idades entre 22 e 37 anos. Foram utilizadas medidas de Receber o Perdão, Autoperdoar-se, Desejabilidade Social, Vulnerabilidade, Ansiedade, Depressão e Autoestima. Os resultados mostraram que o grupo experimental apresentou diferenças significativas entre o pré-teste e o pós-teste nas seguintes variáveis: atitude para receber o perdão, desejabilidade social, vulnerabilidade e ansiedade. O método de Jacobson e Truax foi utilizado para analisar individualmente os participantes do grupo experimental sobre as mudanças que poderiam ser confiavelmente atribuídas à intervenção e sobre a significância clínica dessas mudanças, que indica se elas foram robustas o suficiente para serem consideradas relevantes. Verificou-se que quatro participantes apresentaram melhoras confiáveis na atitude para receber o perdão, dois participantes na atitude para autoperdoar-se, três participantes na autoestima, dois participantes na vulnerabilidade e um participante na depressão. Foram clinicamente significativas todas as mudanças na atitude para receber o perdão, na atitude para autoperdoar-se e na autoestima. Os melhores resultados com a dimensão receber o perdão estão de acordo com o esperado, uma vez que a literatura aponta que o processo de autoperdão é o mais difícil entre as três dimensões do perdão. Os resultados obtidos indicam que este estudo atingiu parcialmente o objetivo de contribuir para avanços significativos na promoção do perdão e para a melhoria do bem estar dos participantes da intervenção. Considera-se que as habilidades e estratégias trabalhadas poderão auxiliar participantes em suas relações interpessoais e na resolução de conflitos.