Implementation and evaluation of the forgiveness education programmes based on process model and Chinese values with Hong Kong Chinese youth

Abstract

Forgiveness intervention research has previously been conducted mostly with participants from Western cultural settings. The application of forgiveness in education has also been limited, especially forgiveness as a psychosocial or a moral education programme in a school setting. Further, few studies have included cultural values in forgiveness intervention programmes. To address this research gap, the current study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of two forgiveness education programmes as class guidance programmes with Hong Kong Chinese youth; one programme adopted an Enright process-based model, and the other was based on Chinese Confucian values. The participants included boys (n=114) and girls (n=168) aged 16-18 from two schools. To examine the programmes’ effectiveness, a quasi-experimental design including both pre-test and post-test was adopted, with two experimental groups (i.e., Enright group and Chinese-value group) and one control group. A qualitative approach, using focus-group and individual interviews, was also utilized for triangulation and further examination of participants’ perceptions of the process of forgiveness and the effects of the forgiveness programmes. The findings revealed that both programmes had positive effects on the participants’ forgiveness attitudes, as measured by the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI), the Decisional Forgiveness Scale (DFS), the Emotional Forgiveness Scale (EFS), and Forgiveness Self-Efficacy (FSE). Such effects were more prominent in the Enright group than in the Chinese-value group, with improvement in three specific areas: affect and behaviour towards offenders, decisional and emotional forgiveness, and forgiveness self-efficacy. Further analysis revealed that these significant effects were found mainly in participants who indicated that they had been unable to forgive prior to the intervention. These “Unforgiving” participants in the Enright group outperformed their counterparts in forgiveness attitudes, specifically in reduction of negative emotion against offenders.

The quantitative findings did not show significant effects among either the Enright or Chinese-value group, whether in concepts and ranking of importance of forgiveness as value, or in self-esteem, hope and anger. However, the qualitative findings did reveal that both groups saw impacts on participants’ control of emotion, inner peace, and understanding of forgiveness concepts (according to Enright’s conceptualization or to Chinese cultural values). The Enright programme tended to contribute to participants’ handling of their emotions whereas the Chinese-value programme strengthened participants’ knowledge of forgiveness as a core social virtue. The nature of the offence, the offender’s attitude and the offended’s pride were perceived as factors influencing their forgiveness decision, whereas empathy, perspective-taking and reflection were effective strategies in the forgiveness process. Overall, the forgiveness programme based on the Enright process model was found to be exceptionally strong in cultivating forgiveness attitudes and emotional readiness to forgive, whereas the Chinese-value programme cultivated the cognitive understanding of forgiveness as a value.

The implications of these findings in light of the application of forgiveness, both as a process-based psychosocial educational programme and as a moral education programme, are discussed. Three further implications are also noted: developing forgiveness education in school guidance; forgiveness as a psychological construct for positive youth development; and forgiveness as a character education programme.