Review of the Article Self-Forgiveness The Forgotten...

Counseling article review: Hall, Julie Fincham, Frank D. (2005). Self-forgiveness: The stepchild of forgiveness research. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24 (5): 621-637 Summary The article Self-forgiveness: The forgotten stepchild of forgiveness research is a qualitative rather than a quantitative study of the phenomenon of self-forgiveness. The authors distinguish self-forgiveness versus forgiveness of an other in an outwardly-directed fashion. They state that self-forgiveness has been under-studied in the existing literature. The beginning of the article is devoted to a literature review of existing writings upon the subject, with using a working definition of self forgiveness as a set of motivational changes whereby one becomes decreasingly motivated to avoid stimuli associated with the offense, decreasingly motivated to retaliate against the self Ã¥Å" °nd increasingly motivated to act benevolently toward the self (Hall Fincham 2005: 622). Self-forgiveness is said to be a positive development because it dissociates the individuals conception of the stable self from the bad behavior. Much like interpersonal forgiveness it is a conscious decision to move forward although it does not imply that the offending behavior is acceptable and should be ignored. (Hall Fincham 2005:623). Even more so than interpersonal forgiveness, it implies the need for some sort of self-directed change. The phenomena of self and other-directed forgiveness are