ABSTRACT
The 14 guilty lifers interviewed for this study have expressed extreme remorse for their crimes and have gone to great lengths to atone for the harm they caused others, particularly the families of the victims of their crimes. This atonement passed through several stages. It started with the awakening discussed in the preceding chapter. Then it passed through a painful process of accepting full responsibility for their crime. Then, usually through the participation in some of the programs described in the previous chapter, it involved gaining insights into their faults and shortcomings, e.g. their self-centeredness, selfishness, irresponsibility, and immaturity. This was followed by their attempts to acquire a responsible and socially beneficent orientation. Finally it has ended with their making plans for living out this orientation when they are released.
