Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil.
Forgiveness is generally a controversial phenomenon within the psychological
literature. While it is regarded by feminist scholars like Lamb (2005) as part of an
oppressive societal discourse that is harmful to victims of sexual violation,
researchers on forgiveness provide empirical data that links seeking forgiveness and
forgiving to psychological well-being. The psychological benefits of seeking
forgiveness are documented in the two studies undertaken by Meek, Albright and
McMinn (1995) and Witvliet, Ludwig and Bauer (2002). Studies conducted by
Freedman and Enright (1996), Coyle and Enright (1997), Gisi & D'amato (2000),
Worthington Jr, Kurusu, Collins, Ripley and Baler (2000) provide evidence of the
existence of a positive correlation between forgiving and psychological well-being. In
the midst of the forgiveness controversy, offending individuals continue to make
pleas for forgiveness.
Forgiveness-seeking models presented by Schmidt (1995) and Ashby (2003a,
2003b) show that an offender can engage in a genuine forgiveness-seeking effort. A
perpetrator's experience of seeking forgiveness is documented in a forgivenessseeking
model developed by Schmidt (1995) and the two presented by Ashby
(2003a, 2003b). These three forgiveness-seeking models are problematic because
they are not based on any empirical foundations. This exploratory
phenomenological study was undertaken to empirically identify the essential features
of a child molester's experience of seeking forgiveness. The three pilot study
respondents (PC, PI, PW1) and the three respondents (P1 ,P2,P3) who were part of
the study's sample were recruited from Childline Durban in KwaZulu-Natal Province,
South Africa.
While the three forgiveness models presented by Schmidt (1995) and Ashby (2003a,
2003b) suggest that offenders can engage in genuine forgiveness-seeking
endeavours, perpetrators of child sexual abuse are, however, not generally
perceived as the type of offenders that could seek forgiveness authentically. Child
molesters are generally mistakenly perceived as psychopathic and sadistic beings,
incapable of seeking forgiveness (lvey & Simpson, 1998). This common perception
of child molesters necessitated an in-depth exploration of the literature on child
sexual abuse and a pilot study. The literature review on child sexual abuse assisted
the researcher to identify the psychological constellation of a male child molester for
the purpose of determining whether a male child molester's psychological make-up
will enable him to consider seeking or seeking forgiveness. The literature review on
child sexual abuse indicated that some male child molesters may be able to engage
in authentic forgiveness-seeking endeavours. Child molesters who do not have
antisocial, psychopathic, narcissistic tendencies and those who are not alexithymic
can make genuine attempts to seek forgiveness.