Healing the sense of unjustness and promoting forgiveness in a male prison group

Abstract

This study is founded on the proposition that not enough attention is given to the rehabilitation of offenders serving sentences of imprisonment. The results of our pilot study examining the implementation of a group therapy programme for healing past injuries and promoting forgiveness in the central male prison facility in Slovenia showed that members of the group had experienced an equal or greater number of types of childhood abuse than the rest of the prison sample and general population. They also experienced equal or greater levels of anger, anxiety, and depression and had less hope and were less willing to forgive than the rest of the prison sample and general popula­tion. It was found that in their current lives the participants often perceive to be treated unfairly and remain deeply hurt, regardless of the time that had elapsed since the unfair incidents. Group participants showed improvements in forgiveness (albeit statistically non-significant) from the pre-test to the post-test. They were more willing than before to accept the possibility of linkage between childhood abuse and their later decision to commit crime, and positively evaluated the programme. The results indicate that the programme for healing past injuries and promoting forgiveness is a promising therapeu­tic method for the male prison population.