ABSTRACT
Despite the great increase in attention to the construct of forgiveness in the psy-chological and broader social science literature over the past 15-20 years (e.g., Enright & North, 1998; Worthington, 1998a), a number of signifi cant gaps exist in our understanding of the ways in which forgiveness is important for families and family functioning. For example, what types of events or interpersonal transgressions arise in families that most often call for one person to forgive another? Without intervention, how do families typically negotiate the process of forgiveness? How does this process vary for different types of families? Finally, and perhaps most important, how does forgiveness-or lack of forgiveness-following relational injuries relate to the overall functioning and well-being of a family? Although these are critical clinical and research questions to address, the answers remain unclear. In this chapter, we review the emerging theoretical and empirical literature relevant to the process of forgiveness within the family context. In addition, we describe our group’s research in this area, which includes interview-based assessments of 102 community families. Finally, we discuss clinical implications based on existing data and present recommendations for future research.
