Marissa Kochan

August 31st, 2015

Forgiveness: A Social Justice

We live in in a world of hurt. Atrocities around the globe are committed

every day, societies and citizens who should be helping to lift each other up
are competing with one another, oppressing not only each other but
themselves as well, unknowingly. We are all negatively affected by
indifference, hate, and a severe drought in what should be a great flowing
river of human kindness. What if there was a simple way to aid these severe
injustices we all will eventually fall victim to? What if, by simply educating
each other about forgiveness, compassion, and love, we could all benefit
from a more peaceful, successful global community as a whole? Some say
its quite possible - and all it would take is education. Knowledge is power,
that much is clear, and when were provided with the tools to educate
ourselves toward a better lifestyle, there should be no hesitation in accepting
that power. The problem with power is, not everyone gets a filling slice of the
metaphorical pie. The resources are there, in addition to the knowledge, we
just have to adopt a more effective means of distribution. Once the
knowledge is distributed, then we can all benefit from more power.
The International Forgiveness Institute was established as a private,
non-profit organization in 1994 by Dr. Robert Enright, a licensed psychologist
and professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison. Dr. Enright has completed many studies researching bullying,
sexual abuse victims, substance dependency, and at-risk adolescents all

Marissa Kochan
August 31st, 2015
across the globe for the last three decades. Although its not surprising, in
these research studies, the experimental groups (those who benefitted from
forgiveness therapy) were ultimately much more emotionally and
psychologically sound than the control groups. The experimental groups
experienced reduced anger, anxiety, and depression; specifically the at-risk
youth also benefitted from an improvement in behavior as well as academic
performance (International Forgiveness Institute, 2015). Their mission
statement reads, The International Forgiveness Institute is dedicated to
helping people gain knowledge about forgiveness and to use that knowledge
for personal, group, and societal renewal (IFI 2015). Dr. Enright has
developed a fairly simple, yet effective method of educating children on the
topic of forgiveness.
In the first of four phases in process of forgiveness is called the the
uncovering phase - it involves confronting negative emotions and
understanding the injury that was sustained, whether that be a physical
injury or a violation of trust. In the decision phase which is the second
phase of the program involves the injured committing to the idea of forgiving
those who have caused their suffering. In the work phase the injured tries
to put themselves in the shoes of the person who hurt them - in order to
understand why the offense was committed in the first place. In the fourth
and final phase, or the outcome/deepening phase the person who was

Marissa Kochan
August 31st, 2015
injured comes to realize how important it is to give and receive the gifts of
mercy, generosity, and moral love. This is the final step in healing after
falling victim to an injustice. Another program developed by Dr. Enright and
the International Forgiveness Institute is The Anti-Bullying Forgiveness
Program: Reducing the Fury Within Those Who Bully. Bullying, in all forms, is
a huge social justice issue that children face all over the world, and this
program is meant to help those who bully by teaching them how to forgive
those who hurt them in family, school, or neighborhood (IFI, 2015).
In thinking about the amounts of useful material that is provided, and
how helpful this information can be, not only for students but for people all
over the world, it seems a shame to charge money for it. Although the cost
isnt necessarily bank-breaking (as each program manual costs $30 USD,
renewable annually) if a school district were to purchase all the basic
materials, the final cost would be $450 (IFI, 2015). If there are multiple
elementary, middle, and high schools in the district, this could get pricey.
Many public schools in the U.S. face great hardship year after year with
regards to financial support. According to the Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities, countless public schools are extremely underfunded, with new
budget cuts being implemented every year (Leachman, Mai 2014). When
schools are concerned with such vital issues - like having their funding cut
back at not only the federal level, but the state level - such a liberal program
about getting in tough with ones feelings might not seem very appealing to

Marissa Kochan
August 31st, 2015
take on as an additional cost. Conversely, there have been many instances
which have proved that our school systems are in dire need of some
direction on how to educate children about self-love and forgiveness. In
exploring the relationship between bullying and suicide, the Center for
Disease Control (2014) found, Negative outcomes of bullying (for youth who
bully others, youth who are bullied, and youth who both are bullied and bully
others) may include: depression, anxiety, involvement in interpersonal
violence or sexual violence, substance abuse, poor social functioning, and
poor school performance, including lower grade point averages, standardized
test scores, and poor attendance. Considering there are a heap of
organizations dedicated to end bullying, improve self-esteem, and provide a
higher quality of education for children, finding funds to support programs
like forgiveness education would, surprisingly, be the easy part. What might
prove to be much more trying is convincing school districts to make space in
the school schedule for the extra curriculum.
Although it may seem out of reach for the time being, there could be a
middle ground formed that may ultimately benefit everyone. If schools
around the world could make the time to adopt this program or one like it,
then agencies like the International Forgiveness Institute should be willing to
provide the materials for free. Especially given that nearly every school in
the U.S. has access to internet - there would be almost no cost to distribute
this information. Considering this idea on a global scale, there are also many

Marissa Kochan
August 31st, 2015
schools who arent able to access the internet in the classroom, which means
there would also have to be a way for materials to be printed and mailed to
certain destinations. Fortunately, there are many generous people and
organizations in this world who dedicate themselves to providing donations
to help facilitate these actions. One such organization, the Fetzer Institute,
solely works to fund programs all over the world which are dedicated to
fostering love, forgiveness, and compassion (The Fetzer institute, 2015). The
John Templeton Foundation also prides itself on funding many programs that
are solely focused on character development for both children and adults
(The John Templeton Foundation, 2015). The earlier we start teaching
children how to embody qualities such as forgiveness, empathy, and
compassion, the earlier they will start practicing how to adopt these
concepts into their everyday ways of living.
Helping children develop character and strong morals is something
that not only parents, but schools should be practicing. There is so much
competition in the world - some parents force their children to strive to be
the absolute best. They dont want their children to simply be on the
basketball team, they want them to be the MVP. Some parents arent
satisfied with their children only interested in the sciences, they want them
to bring home the gold medal from the state science fair. Wanting the best
for children isnt negative goal by any means, but it becomes toxic when
children grow up learning that they need to be number one, by any means

Marissa Kochan
August 31st, 2015
necessary. In her book, Imagine Forgiveness: A Guide to Creating a Joyful
Future, Dr. Juliet Rohde-Brown discusses not only the benefits of positive
community intentions, but also the implications of the opposite,
Unfortunately, there is a flip side to this phenomenon, and that is that group
negativity is powerful as well. If an individual has negative intentions (or nonforgiveness) toward another, this has an impact on the health and well-being
of both individuals (Rohde-Brown, 125). In order to nip the negativity in the
bud, children need to be deterred from altruistic behavior introduced to the
idea of forgiveness and worthiness of others. Just like learning how to read
and write, these habits will work best if the students are able to begin
practicing at an early age. In the first and second grade curricula developed
by Dr. Enright and the IFI, important topics such as inherent worth and
moral love are explored. Although this could be heavy information for such
tender minds, its necessary if we want to instill self-esteem and compassion
in them early on. The more we can integrate the various ways of knowing,
the rational, empirical, and intuitive, the more we can understand the
importance of the social situation, the better informed we are on what it is to
be human, and the better able we are to experience the empathy and
compassion necessary for forgiveness and joy (Rohde-Brown, 2010).
Educational programs that work to teach the benefits and paradigms of
forgiveness are, without question, just as valuable as any math, science, or

Marissa Kochan
August 31st, 2015
english courses. For this is what will make children better able to use every
other skill and good quality they pick up throughout their life.
Whether in our lifetime or the next, once the idea of forgiveness
education becomes mainstream, only then can humankind begin to blaze the
trail toward a steady, more harmonious world. If governments wont be
responsible for providing this type of education, then it is up to contributors like the International Forgiveness Institute, the Fetter Institute, and the John
Templeton Foundation to name a few - to dedicate more time and resources
to making this information available to anyone and everyone. If more
children grew up with greater confidence, higher self-esteem, and more truly
genuine friends, ultimately, more of these children will succeed in being
compassionate, contributing modern-day fighters of equality and peace.

Bibliography
Center for Disease Control. (2014). The Relationship Between Bullying and
Suicide: What We Know and What it Means for Schools. Chambley, GA.
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-suicide-translation-finala.pdf
International Forgiveness Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2015.
https://www.internationalforgiveness.com
Leachman, M., & Mai, C. (2014). Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Most
States Still Funding Schools Less Than Before The Recession.
http://www.cbpp.org/research/most-states-still-funding-schools-less-thanbefore-the-recession
Our Work, The Fetzer Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2015).
https://www.fetzer.org/work

Marissa Kochan
August 31st, 2015
Rohde-Brown, J. (2010). Imagine Forgiveness: A Guide for Creating a Joyful
Future. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse.
What We Fund, The John Templeton Foundation, (n.d.). Retrieved August 31,
2015.
https://www.templeton.org/what-we-fund
Center for disease control - national center for injury prevention and control division of violence prevention - The Relationship Between Bullying and
Suicide: What We Know and What it Means for Schools