An exploration of perceptions of an offender's true sorriness in an interpersonal context: An offended intimate partner's perspective

A study by Allan, Allan, Kaminer, and Stein (2006) revealed that forgiveness was enhanced by apology and significantly enhanced by true sorriness. Allan et al. (2006) further observed that little is known about what true sorriness is, or about what factors influence perceptions of true sorriness. In response to these findings and observations, this study explored true sorriness in an interpersonal context. Twenty-three participants, aged between 26 years and 58 years old, who had experienced a serious offence by their partner during the past two-years whilst in a committed relationship with that partner, were recruited through community networking. Participants attended a semi-structured interview and completed the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI; Enright, Rique, & Coyle, 2000). A qualitative approach combined the principles of hermeneutic phenomenology and grounded theory to identify the factors that influence perceptions of true sorriness, the experiential meaning of true sorriness from an offended individual's perspective, and the consequences pertaining to perceptions of the absence or presence of true sorriness. The findings of this study suggest that true sorriness can be understood as a validation of care, code and conduct that is perceived by the offended through the core components of affect, affirmations and actions. The / redemptive and conciliative nature of these core components promotes reparation, restoration, and reconciliation. The interactive influence of the core components of true sorriness operate as a sanative process. The findings of this study offer further support for the notion that apology contributes toward forgiveness and true sorriness significantly contributes towards forgiveness (Allan et al., 2006). The theoretical and clinical contribution of these findings is discussed in relation to apology and forgiveness theory.

Grantor dc:publisher

Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia

Year dc:date

2006

Author dc:creator

• Slocum, Debra

• Remorse
• Forgiveness
• Interpersonal conflict.
• Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence

Repository record dc:identifier

https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/338

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ro.ecu.edu.au:theses-1338