Self-Forgiveness: the Stepchild of Forgiveness Research

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Self-Forgiveness: The Stepchild of Forgiveness Research Roshunda Brown Liberty University August 26, 2012 Summary Julie Hall and Frank Fincham, authors of this article, give great insights into what Self-Forgiveness actually means. Self-forgiveness is when one emphasizes self-love and respect in the face of one’s own wrongdoing. It is when one often does something wrong and then attempts to do something better to clear his or her mind. Holmgren (1998) argues that in self-forgiveness, the offender recognizes his/her intrinsic worth and its independence involves a restoration of self-respect (Dillon, 2001: Holmgren, 1998) and consists of three elements (Holmgren, 1998); first, self-forgiveness requires an objective fault or wrongdoing; second, negative feelings triggered by this offense must be overcome; and, third, an internal acceptance of oneself must be achieved. In psychology literature, self-forgiveness is defined as “a willingness to abandon self-resentment in the face of one’s own acknowledged objective wrong, while fostering compassion, generosity, and love toward oneself” (Enright, 1996, p. 115). The research was stimulated on this topic by conducting a conceptual analysis of self-forgiveness, where self-forgiveness was defined and distinguished from interpersonal forgiveness and pseudo self-forgiveness. There were conditions by which self-forgiveness was identified and made available to conduct this research in a proper manner. There was a model describing the process involved in self-forgiveness following the perpetration of an interpersonal transgression, which outlines the proposed emotional, social-cognitive, and offense-related determinants of self-forgiveness. They were all described in full detail. The limitations of the model and its implications for the future were also

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