Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Beschreibung

Anger, hatred, resentment, grudges—when the products of conflict smolder for years, decades, or centuries, the idea of peace may seem elusive and unrealistic. At the same time, people and societies need to move beyond these negative traumatic effects so they can heal. Forgiveness and Reconciliation explores in depth two different yet essential components of this peace-building process. Unlike most books on the subject, which tend to focus on the individual’s development of forgiveness from a single perspective, Forgiveness and Reconciliation reaches across the spectrum of approaches—socio-psychological, biopsychological, therapeutic, developmental, and spiritual among them—to offer examples of intervention at the individual, community, generational, and national levels. This inclusiveness (and a range of real-world illustrations from U.S. race relations to the Armenian genocide) gives readers access to not only the core issues of forgiveness and the dialogic nature of reconciliation, but also the intersecting psychological and social processes involved as they affect all participants in conflict. Highlights of the coverage: Reconciliation efforts in Rwanda, Darfur, India, and Pakistan. Restorative conferencing and its role in fostering forgiveness. Lessons in empathy and repentance from lifers in prison. Promoting reconciliation through arts and the media. The potential for forgiveness despite revisionism, denial, and continued injustice. Reconciliation in the divided society. Forgiveness and Reconciliation breaks new ground as a volume that will enhance the work of social and peace psychologists, students and researchers in intergroup and international relations, and peace and conflict studies.
We all long for peace within ourselves, families, communities, countries, and throughout the world. We wonder what we can do about the multitude of con?icts currently wreaking havoc across the globe and the continuous reports of violence in communities as well as within families. Most of the time, we contemplate solutions beyond our reach, and overlook a powerful tool that is at our disposal: forgiveness. As a genocide survivor, I know something about it. As the genocide unfolded in Rwanda in 1994, I was devastated by what I believed to be the inevitable deaths of my loved ones. The news that my parents and my seven siblings had indeed been killed was simply unbearable. Anger and bitterness became my daily companions. Likewise, I continued to wonder how the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda could possibly reconcile after one of the most horrendous genocides of the 20th century. It was not until I came to understand the notion of forgiveness that I was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Common wisdom suggests that forgiveness comes after a perpetrator makes a genuine apology. This wisdom informs us that in the aftermath of a wrongdoing, the offender must acknowledge the wrong he or she has done, express remorse, express an apology, commit to never repeating said harm, and make reparations to theextentpossible.Onlythencanthevictimforgiveandagreetoneverseekrevenge.
Identifies the central issues related with forgiveness and reconciliation Inclusive, multidisciplinary, multi-ethnic, multi-generational and international perspectives and pathways Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Ani Kalayjian

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From the reviews: “This book is full of insights and analyses that help the reader to apply forgiveness and reconciliation to any interpersonal or international conflict. … This is not just another academic book about an obscure topic, namely, psychology and peacebuilding, but a truly useful handbook on getting beyond war and violence. … This fundamentally practical and needed book adds … essential to the literature by defending the value of the harder road.” (Michael Funk Deckard, Metapsychology Online Reviews, Vol. 14 (21), May, 2010)
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