The starting point for a consideration of law in former colonies is often a law/custom binary whereby law is the formal legal system imposed during the colonial occupation and retained at independence, and custom the local law disrupted by colonialism. In most South Pacific small island countries, this dichotomy of law and custom has been formalized by the protection of custom by constitutional or statutory provisions. The protection of custom was carried out as a celebration of local culture at Independence, but the effect has been to stymie the development of local custom and to reinforce custom’s post-colonial subsidiary position relative to the formalized legal system. The Kingdom of Tonga avoided the indirect rule of late colonialism and as a result Tonga’s legal system was never dichotomized into law and custom. There was no constitutional protection of custom because custom was never characterized as something other than law. Although it is undeniable that the direction of the development of law in Tonga was impacted by the presence of the Imperial project in the region, the legal change that occurred was led by Tongans. The starting point for legal change in Tonga was, and continues to be Tongan legal traditions even though local custom has not been formally protected. This project considers the two human concepts of apology and the protection of reputation. In Tonga’s hierarchical society both concepts already represented important legal traditions when the formal British-style legal system was adopted. However, these legal traditions were not relegated to something ‘other’ than law. The former continued as an informal legal tradition that addressed legal harms not recognized by adopted legal traditions, while the latter was incorporated into the adopted formal legal system with provisions that continued to reflect the distinctive Tongan society. Both legal traditions have faced challenges recently. Apology was no longer recognized as an efficacious remedy for women in the case of domestic abuse. The protection of the inviolable reputations of the monarch and nobility was limited by the exercise of the constitutional right of the freedom of the press. In both cases Tongans chose to exercise adopted constitutional rights in order to limit what was perceived to be an abuse of the exercise of power in the hierarchical society. Because local legal traditions had not been preserved as something apart from Tongan law, this development did not signal the end of Tongan legal traditions. Rather, it demonstrated the continuing development of Tongan law. / Graduate

"I'm sure you'll figure out that since I'm telling you this story, I didn't die when it happened… But someone did." Thus begins the story of Matt Eyering and his journey from Staten Island to the small New Mexican town of Socorro. He goes for one reason: to exact revenge on his estranged mother. But all sorts of odd characters live in this forgotten place along the Rio Grande, and none of them intends to let Matt pursue his goals smoothly. From revolutionaries to drug lords, romance to addiction, revenge to life threatening illness, what begins as a quest for vindication explodes into an adventure through a gauntlet of small-town politics, class discrimination, racial tension, organized crime, and self-discovery. It is a touching and serious, yet humorous exploration of the human condition, and of life in a place most of America conveniently ignores.

Forgiveness research has seldom been directed toward alcohol use, misuse, and abuse. To date, forgiveness research in the realm of alcohol use, misuse, and abuse has focused on interpersonal consequences (e.g., Lin, Mack, Enright, Krahn, & Baskin, 2005; Scherer, Worthington, Hook, Campana, West, & Gartner, 2009; Worthington, Scherer, & Cooke, 2006), but has paid minimal attention to intrapersonal consequences. Psychologists today are just beginning to explore the complex and murky waters of self-forgiveness (or lack of it) and the alcohol misuser (e.g., Webb, Robinson, Brower, & Zucker, 2006). In the current dissertation, I review the literature on self-forgiveness, drinking refusal self-efficacy, and alcohol misuse. To explore this phenomena, I created a four-hour self-forgiveness intervention based off Worthington’s (2005) REACH model and motivational interviewing techniques (Miller & Rollnick, 2002). I then conducted the study utilizing a waitlist design with a sample of participants (N = 38) undergoing a routine alcohol rehabilitation protocol in one of two mental health centers in Michigan. The four-hour intervention delivered over three group therapy sessions was found to significantly promote reported levels of self-forgiveness, drinking refusal self-efficacy, and significantly decrease feelings of state guilt and state shame over an alcohol-related offense. I attempt to illustrate the necessity and practicality of the current research in standard addiction treatment. I then discuss in detail the self-forgiveness intervention tailored for alcohol misusing populations and discuss the results. Finally, I will provide a general discussion of the results of the self-forgiveness intervention and how the findings relate to the current body of literature.

People agree that forgiveness is a virtue in essentially all countries. However, different cultures have different ideas about how willing one should forgive and under what circumstances. Although the study occurred in the USA, I recruited both foreign-extraction and Virginia born-and-raised female college students (N=102) to participate a six-hour REACH forgiveness intervention, promoting their forgiveness through psychoeducational groups. In my thesis, I investigated whether students of foreign extraction and Virginia-born students would respond similarly to the intervention. I operationalized culture in two ways—by country and by individual self-reported self-construal. I measured forgiveness using two measures—decisional forgiveness and emotional forgiveness. I found that the six-hour REACH forgiveness intervention enhanced participants’ forgiveness regardless of their culture background. But foreign students who were functioning in a US university did not respond differently than Virginia-born students. The similar findings also applied to participants who perceived themselves differently in Collectivism and Individualism.

Since research on forgiveness has flourished over the past three decades, multiple interventions have been developed to aid individuals in this arduous process. Two interventions in particular have been most-widely studied with diverse groups: Enright’s process model (Enright & Fitzgibbons, 2000) and Worthington’s REACH Forgiveness model (2006). Thus far, these forgiveness interventions have been led by trained professionals in an in-person group. In-person interventions pose issues of cost and attendance. In the current study, I adapted Worthington’s Christian-adapted REACH Forgiveness intervention into a self-directed workbook for Christians who have experienced an offense within a religious community. Participants (N = 52) voluntarily completed the workbook for partial course credit, taking an average of 6.66 hours of time, and assessments at three time points. I found a significant treatment condition x time interaction, Wilks’ ë = .31, F(6,31) = 11.57, p < .001, partial ç² = .69, which indicates that the effect of time depended upon the treatment condition to which participants were assigned. In addition, the current study produced a larger effect size comparable to benchmarks of previous in-person REACH Forgiveness interventions (d = 1.63), and fell within the upper limit of the standard of change. The current findings encourage further analysis of this self-directed intervention which is cost-effective, easily disseminated, and found effective in this initial study.

Insofar as forgiveness of oneself enables one to responsibly manage the consequences of wrongdoing, the practice of self-forgiveness may be essential to the preservation of one’s physical, psychological, relational, and spiritual health. In the present thesis, an intervention wait-list design was employed to investigate the efficacy of a 6-hour self-directed workbook designed to promote self-forgiveness. University students (N = 204) who reported perpetrating an interpersonal offense and who experienced some sense of remorse were randomly assigned to either an immediate treatment or wait-list control condition, and assessments were administered on three occasions. Participants’ self-forgiveness ratings increased in conjunction with completion of the workbook, and the effect of treatment depended upon self-administered dose and baseline levels of dispositional self-compassion in some cases. In summary, the workbook appeared to facilitate the process of responsible self-forgiveness among perpetrators of interpersonal wrongdoing, though replication trials are needed in which lower rates of attrition reduce the possibility of biased results.

Although the scientific study of forgiveness has flourished in recent years, the study of the effects of culture on forgiveness has been minimal. The present thesis reviews the literature examining the effects of individualism and collectivism on forgiveness. In Study 1, four scales are created that are hypothesized to relate to the study of culture and forgiveness. Evidence for the reliability and validity of these scales are presented. In Study 2, the effects of individualism and collectivism are empirically tested. Collectivistic forgivers understand forgiveness within the context of reconciliation, social harmony, and relational repair. Collectivistic forgiveness primarily involves a decision to forgive, but this decision often does not result in the reduction of negative emotions associated with unforgiveness.

D.Litt. et Phil. / Forgiveness is generally a controversial phenomenon within the psychological literature. While it is regarded by feminist scholars like Lamb (2005) as part of an oppressive societal discourse that is harmful to victims of sexual violation, researchers on forgiveness provide empirical data that links seeking forgiveness and forgiving to psychological well-being. The psychological benefits of seeking forgiveness are documented in the two studies undertaken by Meek, Albright and McMinn (1995) and Witvliet, Ludwig and Bauer (2002). Studies conducted by Freedman and Enright (1996), Coyle and Enright (1997), Gisi & D'amato (2000), Worthington Jr, Kurusu, Collins, Ripley and Baler (2000) provide evidence of the existence of a positive correlation between forgiving and psychological well-being. In the midst of the forgiveness controversy, offending individuals continue to make pleas for forgiveness. Forgiveness-seeking models presented by Schmidt (1995) and Ashby (2003a, 2003b) show that an offender can engage in a genuine forgiveness-seeking effort. A perpetrator's experience of seeking forgiveness is documented in a forgivenessseeking model developed by Schmidt (1995) and the two presented by Ashby (2003a, 2003b). These three forgiveness-seeking models are problematic because they are not based on any empirical foundations. This exploratory phenomenological study was undertaken to empirically identify the essential features of a child molester's experience of seeking forgiveness. The three pilot study respondents (PC, PI, PW1) and the three respondents (P1 ,P2,P3) who were part of the study's sample were recruited from Childline Durban in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. While the three forgiveness models presented by Schmidt (1995) and Ashby (2003a, 2003b) suggest that offenders can engage in genuine forgiveness-seeking endeavours, perpetrators of child sexual abuse are, however, not generally perceived as the type of offenders that could seek forgiveness authentically. Child molesters are generally mistakenly perceived as psychopathic and sadistic beings, incapable of seeking forgiveness (lvey & Simpson, 1998). This common perception of child molesters necessitated an in-depth exploration of the literature on child sexual abuse and a pilot study. The literature review on child sexual abuse assisted the researcher to identify the psychological constellation of a male child molester for the purpose of determining whether a male child molester's psychological make-up will enable him to consider seeking or seeking forgiveness. The literature review on child sexual abuse indicated that some male child molesters may be able to engage in authentic forgiveness-seeking endeavours. Child molesters who do not have antisocial, psychopathic, narcissistic tendencies and those who are not alexithymic can make genuine attempts to seek forgiveness.

O foco analítico deste trabalho se dá sob o olhar de um psicólogo inserido num programa de formação de facilitadores em práticas restaurativas. Diferentemente de formações dessa natureza e finalidade, a formação das Escolas de Perdão e Reconciliação convidam o educando a cumprir um deslocamento subjetivo por meio da prática do perdão, apoiando-o através de um espaço grupal acolhedor, catártico, linguageiro e reflexivo. Compreendendo o humano em suas quatro dimensões (comportamental, emocional, cognitiva e espiritual), as ESPERE provocam um espaço de tensão política ao aproximar a teoria e a prática do perdão à experiência de justiça. Com base na Educação Popular, a pedagogia do curso investe esforços no autocontrole e no apoio das relações humanas através de atividades plásticas, jogos e dinâmicas de grupo, fazendo com que as pessoas tenham, ao final, podido restaurar-se de um episódio violento de seu passado, experimentar essa nova relação com ele e querer multiplicála em sua prática como facilitador. Com a ajuda do outro, o participante do curso ainda promove a desconstrução de antigas verdades, reflete sobre as relações de poder dos conflitos, questiona-se quanto ao papel da vingança e da punição na sociedade e alfabetiza-se emocionalmente para se comunicar de modo assertivo. Isto cumpre consolidar práticas restaurativas informais para que possam seguir em direção à formalidade. Os capítulos do trabalho foram divididos da seguinte maneira: (1º) é feita uma explanação sobre as práticas restaurativas, seus valores e princípios, para levarmos em conta a hipótese destas estarem vinculadas a dois polos fundamentais que se apoiam: a exigência de uma repactuação social conseguida na radicalização do protagonismo dos envolvidos; (2º) fazemos um levantamento histórico-institucional do Centro de Direitos Humanos e Educação Popular de Campo Limpo (CDHEP) para que possamos situar as ESPERE dentro de um projeto de sociedade que a ONG empreende até os dias de hoje; (3º) abordamos a chegada das ESPERE no CDHEP como ponte fundamental para possibilitar a construção de uma Justiça Restaurativa independente e popular; (4º) reservado à descrição da formação das ESPERE e apontamentos para reflexão; (5º) são colocadas algumas contribuições e reflexões que articulam nossas experiências como educadores, retomando a hipótese e os apontamentos a fim de caracterizarmos as mudanças fundamentais da Justiça Restaurativa no que tange seus resultados, pressupostos, entendimentos e ética / This research is based on the outlook of a psychologist in a training program for facilitators in restorative practices. As opposed to other programs of this nature, the training programs of the Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation invite the students to create a subjective dislocation through the practice of forgiveness, supporting them in a welcoming, cathartic and reflexive group context. Understanding the human being in its fours dimensions (behavioral, emotional, cognitive and spiritual), the ESPERE schools create a context of political tension by uniting the theory and practice of forgiveness to the experience of justice. With its basis in Popular Education, the trainings theory is based in self-control and the support in human relations through artistic activities, games and group dynamics, in such a way that permits the participants to, in the end, restore themselves regarding a violent episode from their past, experience a new relationship with it, and pass this on as a facilitator. With the help of others, the participants achieve deconstruction of old truths, reflect about the power relations in conflicts, question themselves about the role of revenge and punition in society and build an emotional basis to communicate assertively. This consolidates informal restorative practices, in order to later move on to a formal approach. The chapters of this dissertation were divided as follows: (1st) an explanation about restorative practices, their values and principles, considering that these practices are linked to two main ideas, which support one another: a demand for social repactuation achieved by the radicalization of the empowerment of those involved. (2nd) The second chapter is a historical account of the institution Center for Human Rights and Popular Education of Campo Limpo (CDHEP), placing the ESPERE in the context of a project of society that the NGO continues to carry out to this day; (3rd) The third chapter addresses the arrival of the ESPERE at CDHEP as a fundamental bridge for the construction of an independent and popular Restorative Justice; (4th) The forth chapter is reserved for the description of the ESPERE training program and notes for reflection; (5th) In the fifth chapter contributions and reflections are put forth, which articulate our experiences as educators, and resume our hypothesis characterizing the main changes in Restorative Justice regarding results, assumptions, understandings and ethics

Forgiveness is argued, by scholars and lay persons alike, to play an important role in substance abuse recovery. However, little empirical research has been conducted to verify such assumptions. Cross-sectional naturalistic data from a sample of 126 Southern Appalachian college students identified as likely to be hazardous or harmful drinkers were analyzed through multiple-mediation statistical procedures. The general hypothesis of this study was that, while controlling for demographic characteristics, including lifetime religiousness, higher levels of forgiveness would be associated with both better mental health and higher levels of social support, which in turn would be associated with salutary alcohol-related outcomes. In the context of forgiveness of self, for four of the five alcohol-related outcomes, the relationships operated mainly through mental health and primarily in an indirect rather than mediating fashion. Feeling forgiven by God was directly associated with three outcomes. Forgiveness of others was not associated with any of the outcomes measured. While forgiveness appears to be important and beneficial in association with alcohol-related outcomes, it may be that forgiveness of self is most important. Limitations discussed include sample- and measurement-related issues.