Exploring the nature, attributes and consequences of forgiveness in children: A Qualitative Study

Forgiveness is a desirable virtue of human beings that has conventionally been assumed to be the subject matter of philosophy, ethics and theology. Now, forgiveness constitutes an interdisciplinary area of scientific inquiry that has been observed to be linked with a host of life outcomes of people across all the developmental periods. Most of the previous research has been confined to the scientific study of adults’ forgiveness adopting largely quantitative methods and has ignored the study of forgiveness of children in spite of its similar relevance to their life outcomes. The present study aims to explore the nature of forgiveness of children. The study was carried out on 4 males age ranging from 5 years to 10 years (Mean = 7.25, SD = 2.22) and 4 females age spanning from 4.50 years to 9.50 years (Mean = 7.00, SD = 2.20). The fulltime mothers and caretakers were the chief source of data. The mothers were asked about the nature of wrongdoing and emotional, social and cognitive concomitants of forgiveness in children. The contents of interviews were audio-taped and inscribed verbatim that was analyzed by the thematic analysis method. The findings evinced that the transgression of children relates to their immediate and tangible realities of facts. The significant others play a facilitative role in the forgiveness of children. The children easily accept their wrongdoings. Some temperamental personality attributes regulate the understanding of their wrongdoings. The findings showed that the forgiveness of children is more explicit and easy. In essence, forgiveness has shown a significant role in explicating social, emotional and interpersonal development of children. Moreover, the children differed in their understanding and acceptance of wrongdoings that were guided by their liking/disliking, relationship, mood and concreteness. The findings have significant implications for parents, teachers and counsellors. The directions for future researchers and the limitations of the study have also been discussed.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331045099_Exploring_the_nature_attributes_and_consequences_of_forgiveness_in_children_A_Qualitative_Study