ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the usefulness of distinguishing between remorse and its related emotions of shame, guilt and regret. It makes suggestions for the assessment of remorse and its relatives in future research endeavours. The chapter proposes hypotheses for the effects of remorse and its relatives according to observer, offender and victim perspectives, as part of proposal for future research agendas. It is important to develop measurement instruments that assess shame, guilt, regret and remorse simultaneously in order to assess the relative relationships of these four emotions to desirable outcomes for victims and offenders in restorative justice settings, and for offenders and criminal justice authorities in court and probation settings. The development of a suitable assessment instrument for remorse, shame, guilt and regret would enable researchers to pursue a number of questions concerning the implications of offence-related emotions for offenders, victims and others.
