Reconciliation is stated as “restoration of a state of peace to the relationship, where the entities are at least not harming each other, and can begin to be trusted not to do so in future, which means that revenge is foregone as an option” (Santa-Barbara, 174). This definition is a starting point in understanding reconciliation but does not address the spirit of forgiveness involved. It is important to recognize harms that others have done but it becomes necessary to portray these in a positive and understanding manner. This supplies the persecutor with an image that is not so negative and “monster-like” but also provides for the victim acknowledgement that there has been harm done. For reconciliation to take place, all parties involved must be able to approach one another as though they were family members. They must approach each other with an orientation of goodwill for one another and an open heart desiring to understand the other. It is essential that both parties be open to an unexpected movement of the spirit: apology and forgiveness. Once reconciliation has begun, the long road of rebuilding trust and respect is instituted.
Vern Redekop spoke about orientation being critical to reconciliation. “Smudging” was used as an example of a practice among the “First Peoples.” This exercise uses smoke to symbolically wash the different parts of a persons body and reorient them towards positive goals. This begins with an orientation of being open to see good things and look at the past in the most positive way. Being open to the possibility of peace is crucial to a peace building process. The Handbook puts great emphasis on harm, discovering it and acknowledging it, while Redekop is more concerned with being open to forgiveness. ...
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...eness, then working together to rebuild trust and constructive relationships. Finally, people need to work together after reconciliation to prevent these conflicts from recurring. The greatest forces in reconciliation are love and forgiveness, the greatest hindrance is shame. We are driven mimetically and so we need exemplify a model that does not lead to future harms. If we as humans work together to form lasting and healthy relationships, we will one day achieve a peaceful society. Learning how to deal with hurt and conflict is crucial to human development as it teaches us to become better people and create valuable relations.
Bibliography
Redekop, Vern. The Paradoxes of Reconciliation. January 26-27, 2010.
Santa-Barbara, Joanna. (2009). Reconciliation In C. Webel, & J. Galtung (Eds.), Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies (pp.106-120). New York: Routledge.
In her, “Between Vengeance and Forgiveness,” Martha Minow discusses, not only the tandem needs of truth and justice that arise and intersect in the wake of conflict but also the duality existing between the notions of vengeance and forgiveness that surface as needs, particularly in a society recovering from violence. The central question of Minow’s work explores the idea that there may be a need for middle ground between vengeance and forgiveness. For the purposes of this work, in delineating first the needs of victims and then the needs of society at large in the wake of violent conflict situations, it may be asserted the Minow’s middle ground abides at the intersection of acknowledgment of harms and retribution for harms committed. To demonstrate
According to Graham, reconciliation is both “… a goal in the sense that it aims to restore relationships or to promote agonism or mutual tolerance, respect, and dignity […] [And] it is a process because it requires multiple modes, steps, stages, and transformations across all levels of society and amongst all stakeholders in a conflict” (Graham 2015). Through reconciliation and the related processes of restorative justice, parties to the dispute explore and overcome the pain brought on by the conflict and find ways to build trust and live cooperatively with each other. Restorative justice seeks to have a positive impact on offenders by confronting them with the consequences of their actions and delineating their responsibilities, giving them both the opportunity to repair the damage caused to the victim and to work on finding a solution to their problems (Umbreit, Bradshaw and Coates, 1999). According to Philpott, there are six components of political reconciliation: building socially just institutions and relations between states, acknowledgement, reparations, punishment, apology, and forgiveness (Philpott
After reconciliation the therapists look at how to approach the offended partner using the FREE forgiveness methods which is based on stress-and coping- theory of forgiveness, this theory has 4 parts which the therapists need to properly carry out and evaluate - first is Stressors –as couple counsellor we need to evaluate the degree of hurts or injustices and this varies in individual. Second is Appraisal- this is also based on the different types of stressors like the degree of threat and the size of the injustice gap,
Stewart, M. (2011). The space between the steps: reckoning in an area of reconciliation. Contemporary Justice Review, 14(1), 43-63. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/10282580.2011.541076
Forgiveness and justice are very similar than we believe them to be. We believe that justice is
The essay "Forgiveness," written by June Callwood, explores the concept of forgiving and how it influences people's lives for the better. Her work describes many components of forgiveness, such as how difficult it can be to come to terms with, why it is such a crucial part of humanity, and how it affects all people. Her essay aims to prove that forgiveness is the key to living peacefully and explains specific examples of people who have encountered extremely difficult situations in their lives- all of whom found it within themselves to forgive. To clearly portray this message in her writing, Callwood uses several strategies. She includes fear inducing statistics, makes many references to famous events and leaders, and uses a serious convincing tone, all of which are very effective.
In its broadest sense ‘Reconciliation’ is the Australian term that refers to the unity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. To support reconciliation means working to overcome the separation and inequality between all Australians (Australia, n.d.). In 1992, then Prime Minister Paul Keating, delivered the Redfern Park speech that publically acknowledged European soldiers were responsible for many crimes against Indigenous communities, "We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice (Government, 1992)." Since 1993, Reconciliation Week is a national event that celebrates a positive and respectful relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It enables all Australians to close the gaps, and to achieve a shared sense of fairness and justice. The ultimate goal of the week is to build a strong and trusting relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and other Australians, as a foundation for success and to enhance national wellbeing (Australia, n.d.). However, this advocacy for Indigenous rights and recognition was advanced be civil right activists in the 1950’s and 1960’s. One significant activist from this period and until her death in 1993 was Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Oodgeroo Noonuccal has significantly contributed to the civil rights of the Indigenous people in Australia due to her tireless campaigning to educate non-Indigenous Australians and enact political change that would not only recognize Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander people within the census but further understand their rich and diverse culture. Noonuccal’s contribution can be seen through her significa...
Forgiveness is crucial for a clear conscience and peace of mind for the both of them. However, all of this is arguable by the fact that today’s experiences are incomparable to those of Hitler’s times. One cannot begin to place one in each other’s shoes and know exactly how to respond to the events happening. One can only guess how they would respond, but until they are in that moment, all plausible reasoning can change. Nevertheless, forgiveness continues to be an aspect of everyday life in every century.
McLaughlin, Greg, and Stephen Baker. The Propaganda of Peace. Bristol, UK: Intellect Ltd., 2010. Print.
A group can only be called a team if the members are actively working together toward a common goal. A team must have the capability to set goals, make decisions, solve problems, and share responsibilities. For a team to be successful, trust must be earned between its members by being consistent and reliable (Temme & Katzel, 2005). When more than one person is working on a particular task, inconsistent views or opinions commonly arise. People come from different backgrounds and live through different life experiences therefore, even when working towards a common goal, they will not always see eye to eye. Major conflict that is not dealt with can devastate a team or organization (Make Conflict Work, 2008). In some situations, conflict can be more constructive than destructive. Recognizing the difference between conflict that is constructive to the team and conflict that is destructive to the team is important. Trying to prevent the conflict is not always the best way to manage conflict when working within a team setting. Understanding conflict, what causes it, and how to resolve conflict effectively, should consume full concentration.
Hamilton, Tim and Sharma, Satish. "The violence and oppression of power relations" Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 9.4 (1997). 22 Mar. 2011
Forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense. It is also the discarding of negative emotions, such as revenge, with an increased ability to wish the offender well. In this study, the researcher explored how justification and apologies have to be phrased and framed to render them acceptable to the victims.
DuNann Winter, D., & Leighton, D. C. (2001 ). Structural Violence . Peace, conflict, and violence: Peace psychology in the 21st. New York : Prentice-Hall.
Richters, A., Dekker, C. de Jonge , k, and Ullrich, J. (2008). The Role of Acceptance and empowerment in promoting Reconciliation from the perspective of the needs- based mode. Social issues and policy reviews, 2(1), 159,186
After decades of war in Afghanistan in late 2001, first attempts have already been made by Afghans and international organizations to consult the Afghan people on how to build capacities in pace-building which was an encouraging sign. However, the people in general are still too reluctant to speak about their suffering during the war. Instead, their current priority is to struggle for economic survival in the highly competitive post-conflict reconstruction business with its emerging social injustice. This pragmatic attitude causes a basic problem. If the past is not addressed, efforts to build a lasting peace are endangered. As lessons from other post-conflict societies have shown, national reconciliation contributes to overcoming the past and reuniting a war-divided society (Schirch, Rafiee, & Sakhi, 2013). There are several ways to bring about peace, stability and harmony in Afghanistan. This paper reviews some issues crucial for discussing and designing a strategy of national reconciliation. Moreover, for narrowing the gap between the rival perceptions there is also a need for an Afghan peace process to prepare the ground for peace-building and a future reconciliation process and implementation of an Afghan mechanism of national reconciliation including the ‘’lessons learned’’ from the post-conflict societies.