TY - JOUR
T1 - Forgiveness in Children Placed in Children's Homes
T2 - Understanding, Process and Motivation for Forgiveness
AU - Salifu Yendork, Joana
AU - Boadu, Selina Owusu
AU - Amankwah-Poku, Margaret
AU - Osei-Tutu, Annabella
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Child Care in Practice Group.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Children in residential care
KW - children’s homes
KW - forgiveness
KW - negative experiences
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075159034&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13575279.2019.1681362
DO - 10.1080/13575279.2019.1681362
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075159034
SN - 1357-5279
VL - 28
SP - 20
EP - 42
JO - Child Care in Practice
JF - Child Care in Practice
IS - 1
ER -