The Development of Intergroup Forgiveness in Northern Ireland

Abstract

As societies like Northern Ireland, Israel, and South Africa strive to resolve social conflict, there is growing theoretical and empirical interest in the role of intergroup forgiveness. This study examined intergroup forgiveness among 340 young adults in Northern Ireland. A short form of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory explored possible influences on propensity to forgive. All participants were Catholic and female (mean age 17.36 years), and had experienced verbal or physical injury or bereavement due to the Northern Irish political violence. Overall forgiveness levels were low in comparison with previous studies of interpersonal forgiveness but similar to previous studies of intergroup forgiveness in Northern Ireland. The strongest (negative) predictor of forgiveness was the perceived degree of hurt caused by the injury.

When the past haunts the present: Intergroup forgiveness and historical closure in post World War II societies in Asia and in Europe

“…social identity, collective guilt and shame, intergroup contact, group-based emotions) in a single society (e.g. Čehajić, Brown, & Castano, 2008;Manzi & González, 2007;McLernon, Cairns, Hewstone, & Smith, 2004;Noor, Brown, & Prentice, 2008;Tam et al, 2007). In general, research applying the SIT paradigm has found strong evidence that post-conflict intergroup forgiveness is influenced by identity processes and contact, and is supported by the development of positive attitudes.…”

Drug-related Deaths and the ‘Special Deaths’ of Late Modernity

“…Folkman et al, 1996;Mendelsohn, 1997), death in war and political conflict zones (e.g. Keough et al, 2005;McLernon et al, 2004), death in hostage crises and suicidal terrorist events (e.g. Speckhard et al, 2005).…”

Time Heals All (Shallow) Wounds: A Lesson on Forgiveness of Ingroup Transgressors Learned by the Feyenoord Vandal Fans

“…Forgiveness encourages the aggrieved individual to move from a desire to retaliate to a desire to reconcile (McCullough et al 1997(McCullough et al , 2001(McCullough et al , 2003Pargament et al 2000) and it could represent an important issue in research on group reactions to internal deviance. Indeed, as pointed out by recent research, sharing the same social identity with the victims of transgressions leads to a low chance of forgiveness (McLernon et al 2004;Wohl and Branscombe 2005;Rullo et al 2016).…”