Page 146 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

A Portrait of a Christian Psychologist: Paul C. Vitz

te self-forgiveness based on its difference from giveness relatively easily.”(p.683) (Could Hitler
other-forgiveness. have forgiven himself?) The present paper pre-
A study by Tangney, Boone & Dearing (2005) sents a case that a general narcissistic character
sought to measure whether self-forgiveness was for clients responding to self-forgiveness should
a useful therapeutic process. The main conclusi- be expected.
on was that current measures of self-forgiveness In conclusion, we strongly suggest that self-
are not yet adequately constructed to answer acceptance be substituted for the term “self-
the question. The major reason for drawing this forgiveness” because the use of the word “for-
conclusion was that the measures used correla- giveness” inaccurately suggests that other and
ted positively with narcissistic characteristics in self forgiveness have much more in common
their subjects. This was an unexpected finding. than is the case.
The portrait of the self-forgiver that Tangney, et
al provide is a person who is narcissistic, self- References
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the self-forgiveness process. There are several chological Review, 97(1), 90-113.
possible explanations for Tangney’s results: a) Baumeister, R. F., Stillwell, A. M., & Heatherton, T. F.
the self-forgiveness measures could measure (1994). Guilt: An interpersonal approach. Psychological
Bulletin, 115(2), 243-267.
some kind of pseudo self-forgiveness associated Blatier, C. (1999). Towards a constructive response to
with narcissistic traits; b) the self-forgiveness young offenders: Reparation at the levels of justice and
process itself could be especially attractive to individual psychology. Journal of Social Work Practice,
those who are narcissistic; or, c) the self-for- 13(2), 211-220.
giveness model encourages the development of Care, N. S. (2002). Forgiveness and effective agency. In
Lamb & Murphy (Eds.), Before forgiving: Cautionary
such narcissistic features. Tangney interpreted views of forgiveness in psychotherapy (pp. 215-231).
her self-forgiveness scales as measuring pseudo New York: Oxford University Press.
self-forgiveness since the results contradicted Coleman, P. W. (1998). The process of forgiveness in mar-
her general hypothesis. riage and the family. In Enright. & North (Eds.), Explo-
While Tangney, et al noted that their instru- ring forgiveness (pp. 75-95). Madison, WI: University of
Wisconsin Press.
ment for measuring narcissism might have Coyle, C. T. (1999). Self-forgiveness: Dangerous myth?
been at fault, they also commented, however, The World of Forgiveness, 2(3), 6-8. Madison, WI: Inter-
that the heightened focus on self, found in self- national Forgiveness Institute.
forgiveness, might in fact become detrimental Coyle, C. T., & Enright, R. D. (1997). Forgiveness inter-
to client healing. “Self-forgiveness is an awful- vention with postabortion men. Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology, 65(6), 1042-1046.
ly self-focused construct that seriously misses DiBlasio, F. A. (1998). The use of a decision-based forgi-
the point. One can waste away precious hours, veness intervention within intergenerational family the-
months, or even years delving into what is es- rapy. Journal of Family Therapy, 20(1), 77.
sentially a self-focused analysis of selfish con- DiBlasio, F. A. (2000). Decision-based forgiveness treat-
cerns when the real issue is a harmed other …” ment in cases of marital infidelity. Psychotherapy: Theo-
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Edenfield, T. N. (1999). Forgiveness and brokenness con-
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(2002) that the forgiveness narratives of “offen- Eifert, G. H., & Forsyth, J. P. (2005). Acceptance & com-
ders who forgave themselves were self-focused mitment therapy for anxiety disorders. CA: New Harbin-
and portrayed victims as deserving what they ger.
got. These offenders seemed to achieve self-for- Enright, R. D. (1996). Counseling within the forgiveness
triad: On forgiving, receiving forgiveness, and self-forgi-

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