address the consequences of a past history, whether differentness or discrimination, such as helping immigrant groups like Muslims in European countries to acculturate (Staub, 2007, 2011), Moving toward forgiveness Forgiveness means letting go of anger, the desire for revenge, and moving toward an increasingly positive view of, and acceptance of the party that harmed oneself or the people one cares about (McCullough, Finchman, & Tasang, 2003 ; Worthington,2005; Staub, 2011). Forgiveness is an aspect of reconciliation, central to which is mutual acceptance. But forgiveness is one sided: it comes from the party that is harmed, victimized, injured. Forgiveness by victims after intense victimization is extremely difficult. However, it is much more likely if harmdoers, or the group they come from, acknowledge their actions, the harm they have caused, express regret, apologize and show empathy with their victims or the survivors of their violence. The joining of acknowledgement and progressive forgiveness is then a mutual process, which is the essence of reconciliation. Private forgiveness, with its element of letting go of pain, can bring relief to people who suffered. But one sided public forgiveness can be dangerous. Violence creates an imbalance in the relationship between harmdoers and victims. While publicly forgiving people who have not acknowledged and showed regret for their actions can sometimes make further harmful action by them less likely, this is more probable if there has been no intense hostility between the parties (Wallace, Exline & Baumeister, 2008), or if their power to harm has diminished. It can, instead, increase the imbalance in the relationship, and embolden perpetrators, leading to more violence (Staub, 2005a, 2011).
address the consequences of a past history, whether differentness or discrimination, such as helping immigrant groups like Muslims in European countries to acculturate (Staub, 2007, 2011), Moving toward forgiveness Forgiveness means letting go of anger, the desire for revenge, and moving toward an increasingly positive view of, and acceptance of the party that harmed oneself or the people one cares about (McCullough, Finchman, & Tasang, 2003 ; Worthington,2005; Staub, 2011). Forgiveness is an aspect of reconciliation, central to which is mutual acceptance. But forgiveness is one sided: it comes from the party that is harmed, victimized, injured. Forgiveness by victims after intense victimization is extremely difficult. However, it is much more likely if harmdoers, or the group they come from, acknowledge their actions, the harm they have caused, express regret, apologize and show empathy with their victims or the survivors of their violence. The joining of acknowledgement and progressive forgiveness is then a mutual process, which is the essence of reconciliation. Private forgiveness, with its element of letting go of pain, can bring relief to people who suffered. But one sided public forgiveness can be dangerous. Violence creates an imbalance in the relationship between harmdoers and victims. While publicly forgiving people who have not acknowledged and showed regret for their actions can sometimes make further harmful action by them less likely, this is more probable if there has been no intense hostility between the parties (Wallace, Exline & Baumeister, 2008), or if their power to harm has diminished. It can, instead, increase the imbalance in the relationship, and embolden perpetrators, leading to more violence (Staub, 2005a, 2011).
Deutsch%20Coleman%20Handbook%20chapter.docx