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Forgiveness: Theory, Research, and Practice

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This is the first book to systematically and scientifically explore the topic of Forgiveness. The book is divided into three parts: I. Conceptual and measurement issues, II. Basic psychological research, and III. Applications in counseling, psychotherapy and health. Chapter 1 by Mucullough, Pargament, & Thoresen provides a historical context of how the scientific inquiry of forgiveness evolved. Chapter 2 by Rye et al. is very interesting, because several authors from different religious backgrounds dicuss how each religion defines forgiveness. Chapter 4 is devoted to the issues of assessment of forgiveness, its thorough review calls for caution in using various fogiveness scales in reasearch. Part II examines fogiveness from four very different perspectives: Newberg et al. disuss the nueropsychological correlates of forgiveness; Mullet & Girard review and critic the cognitive developmental approach on forgiveness; Exline & Baumeister link forgiveness and repentance together from a social psychological point of view; and Emmons explores the personality dimensions of forgiving others. Th 3rd part provides a very useful account on how to apply fogiveness concept in four special clinical settings: individual counseling, marital therapy, group interventions, and health promotion. In the final, the editors summrize the latest research trends and offer seven directions for the psychological study and practice of forgiveness in the future. Overall, I found this book very informative and it provides a solid base for further research on forgiveness. It also inspires me to start to think of applying forgiveness in my counseling work with college students with interpersonal wounds.

This handy volume contains chapters useful for the budding researcher or doctoral student who needs to see how theory, research, and practice fit together in a dissertation.