Outline For Reconciliation Essay

“Those who use forgiveness in counseling because it helps people feel better often acknowledge the religious meaning of forgiveness” (McMinn, pg.

I read an article about a woman who was sexually abused by her older brother. During the restorative justice program she wanted answers that would give her closure. She asked him why he did what he did, told him how he has affected the first 30 years of her life, and how she is now moving on from what he did to her. She just wanted an apology to go forward and she

It has been observed that sexually abused children tend to be less socially competent, more aggressive, and more socially withdrawn than non-abused children. A specific interpersonal effect of sexual abuse among children is that of increased sexual behavior. This is prominent when we were

Sexual abuse can be hard to define because of the many different forms it can take on, the different levels of frequency, the variation of circumstances that can occur. Until a child is fit to function as a self-supporting and informed adult, we have an obligation not to take advantage of their lack of power or protection to inflict damage, or demand submission to acts that are not in their own best interests within. Children are being abused every day in different countries. While commonly accepted wisdom had been that childhood sexual abuse results in long lasting negative outcomes.

One major effect of well-developed spirituality include having a positive and meaningful view of life and developing a sense of coherence that allows survivors of abuse and neglect to comprehend and make meaningful sense of trauma, and manage personal resources to deal with stressors in life (Glenn, 2014). As a Christian it is easy to make the correlation between a strong, confident spiritual relationship with the ability to overcome struggles and trauma of our past. It is encouraging to see empirical research to support our beliefs.

The general topic of forgiveness has received a magnitude of attention and research on a conceptual level in recent years. Hall and Fincham consistently noted, however, that self-forgiveness had little to no empirical study or research documented and believe this is a critical piece to an individual’s overall emotional health. In an effort to stimulate additional research on the

The authors acknowledge various concerns of need of further study (see Reed & Enright, 2006, for discussion). Two concerns that stand out are the small sample and the limited ethnic diversity. Not addressed by the authors was the lack of research regarding males who experience, as recipients, spousal emotional abuse. There could be very different implications for males. It would be of interest whether forgiveness therapy would be as effective for males. In addition, even with follow-ups completed, it would be beneficial to have additional follow-ups at 5 and 10 years. This would allow more evidence of efficacy.

The journal article, Intervention Studies on Forgiveness: A Meta-Analysis, written by Thomas W. Baskins and Robert D. Enright examines several studies on forgiveness. Based off the many studies, the definition of forgiveness is having the ability to end the feelings of resentment against another individual. The process of forgiving has been around since the beginning of time when God gave mankind a cure for the curse that started when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of life. However, it was not scientifically studied until the 1990’s.

In defending the Church's actions, some psychiatrists and bishops contended that people could be cured of such behavior through counseling . Membership in the church hierarchy has argued

One of the most perverse traumas experienced by children is sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is an unfortunate reality for many children all over the world. Most

Karajurt and Silver wrote the article, “Therapy for Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors Using Attachment and Family Systems Theory Orientations,” to show how Childhood Sexual Abuse affects the child through adulthood. Childhood sexual abuse is better known as any sexual contact that an adult does by using threats, force, deception, touching, and anything that the child does not know is wrong due to age and mental stability. Karakurt and Silver (2014), says that:

Forgiveness have important medicinal effect on health. Researchers and study have shown that people who forgive have less chances of health issues like heart attack and brain tumor. “People who hold tolerance views of human nature and don’t seem to nurse grieveness unduly tend to have blood pressures in the normal range” (Callwood, J. 2007, p. 153). Writer in the above findings tells her readers the medicinal effect of tolerance. She beautifully explains the positive effect of forgiveness in contrast with unforgiveness where her contrasting finding says “Unforgiving people, some studies show, are three times more likely to have heart diseases as people who don’t carry grudges”(Callwood, J. 2007, p.153). Writer here is addressed to people who cannot or do not forgive and tells them how harmful holding grudges are to their health. She beautifully explains the finding by telling first the negative effect of not forgiving in comparison to

Reconciliation is stated as “restoration of a state of peace to the relationship, where the entities are at least not harming each other, and can begin to be trusted not to do so in future, which means that revenge is foregone as an option” (Santa-Barbara, 174). This definition is a starting point in understanding reconciliation but does not address the spirit of forgiveness involved. It is important to recognize harms that others have done but it becomes necessary to portray these in a positive and understanding manner. This supplies the persecutor with an image that is not so negative and “monster-like” but also provides for the victim acknowledgement that there has been harm done. For reconciliation to take place, all parties involved

Hebl and Enright (1993) conducted a study on elderly females who had suffered from various injusticies such as spousal conflict and overmedication to show forgiveness can be induced and with therapeutic goals. Further findings come from Coyle and Enright (1997) who used a forgiveness intervention on males who had been hurt by a partners abortion who found forgiveness lead to reductions in anger, anxiety and grief, therefore forgiving does have a positive effect on mental health. A second study by Al-Mabuk, Enright and Cardis (1995) on students who had been love deprived. In an experimental group where the students went through seventeen steps of the process model had decreased anxiety and improved their attitude towards their mother/father

Child abuse or maltreatment is a problem that affects people around the globe. “In every country, studies have established a prevalence of abuse far exceeding the scope of the problem that would be inferred from the number of cases that were officially reported” (Finkelhor, 1984). While there are different forms of child abuse or maltreatment which include physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and child neglect, sexual abuse is the most common form. The scope of this paper will focus primarily on child sexual abuse and the resilience of child sexual abuse victims. The paper will explore the gender differences of victims and the variations in their prevalence. Although child sexual abuse is an abusive act that harms a child physically, emotionally, and mentally, recovery and leading a healthy adult life is possible and attainable.