Practicing forgiveness: A framework for a routine forgiveness practice.

Abstract

Forgiveness, although a difficult task, allows those who have experienced injustice and injury to move beyond the pain of anger and resentment to a state of greater well-being. Yet it is possible that genuine forgiveness in the face of major transgressions may most readily occur when victims have already gained mastery with the forgiveness process by practicing it in daily life. This article proposes a short forgiveness practice that allows individuals to gain experience forgiving minor transgressions on a routine basis. Although other forgiveness practices exist, this practice is unique in that it is informed by a philosophically and empirically grounded understanding of the forgiveness process, and is meant to strengthen ones' ability to forgive in the face of more challenging injuries and injustice that may arise in the future. Individuals engage in this practice by reflecting upon minor instances of transgression from their daily life and working through six stages, each drawn from research on forgiveness therapy and selfcompassion, to move from resentment to compassion. A case study is provided to showcase one individual's experience engaging in a single iteration of routine forgiveness practice in the aftermath of a minor transgression.

Exploring personal and relational motivations and processes of forgiveness in religious families

“…Relationally, family members followed individual and joint religious practices along with practical ways to resolve conflict through offering forgiveness. As reflected in the numeric content analysis (see Table 1), forgiveness in the family context was a prominent, even “routine,” relational practice (Smallen, 2019). These routine religious and relational rituals facilitated the development of forgivingness as well as the ability to forgive specific events.…”

Engaging Dispositional Forgiveness: A Structure for Consistent Forgiveness Praxis

“…Albeit forgiveness praxis has been previously clearly stated, a consistent forgiveness praxis that guides a person through the steps of a philosophically and scientifically sound forgiveness procedure has not been developed yet. Such praxis could demonstrate a beneficial method of enhancing the capability to forgive, with all of the interpersonal benefits that emanate from such a capability (Smallen, 2019). This manuscript as such articulates a forgiveness praxis that may be engaged in on a consistent basis to practice passing through the process of a well-substantiated forgiveness plan, which of Enright and associates as profiled in Enright and Fitzgibbons (2015).…”