ABSTRACT
Throughout history, governments have acted with prejudice and cruelty toward groups of people who differ on some identifiable dimension from the majority of their citizens. At the time, these discriminatory acts often result from deliberate political choice and are approved by legislatures, courts, and the majority of citizens. When the abuses finally end and those who perpetrated and endorsed the discriminatory acts pass from the scene, successive governments must decide how to respond to demands for redress from the victimized groups. In this chapter, the authors discuss when and how successive governments respond to historical injustices, as well as the psychological implications of their responses for members of the previously victimized group and the nonvictimized majority. In particular, the authors focus on political apologies for historical injustices, examining their antecedents, nature, and effectiveness.
