Forgiveness in Children Placed in Children's Homes: Understanding, Process and Motivation for Forgiveness
Date
2019-10-19
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Child Care in Practice
Abstract
Children placed in children’s homes encounter negative
experiences in the form of abuse from caregivers, interpersonal
conflicts with peers and victimizations from community members.
How these children negotiate forgiveness of these negative
experiences is unknown due to limited studies on the subject. The
present study explored the nature of negative experiences
reported by children in residential care, their understanding of
forgiveness, as well as the process and motivations for extending
forgiveness. Participants were 10 children in residential care, aged
between 9 and 18 years, resident in two Children’s Homes in
Accra. Results from these interviews show that while participants
have cordial relationships with their peers and caregivers, they
experience daily relational problems in the form of insults,
bullying, being lied about, teasing and denial of gift items. Their
knowledge of the meaning of forgiveness is largely different from
all the three existing conceptualizations of the concept, and is
influenced by religious, contextual factors in their relationships
and the perceived benefits of forgiveness. Forgiveness process
involved deferral to God, educating or confronting the offender
on the impact of their behavior and reporting the offender to an
authority. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Children in residential care, children’s homes, negative experiences, forgiveness