Meanings and Preconditions of Forgiveness Among Young Adult War Survivors in African Context: A Qualitative Study

摘要

Forgiving the enemy and perpetrator is considered important for peace building and reconciliation. War victims, however, have been exposed to severe traumas and injustices, which may influence their willingness to forgive. There were 2 study objectives: (a) describe experiences of war, atrocities, and losses of young refugees in an African context and (b) explore the meanings, readiness, and preconditions for forgiving the wrongdoings of their perpetrators. The participants were 13 Liberian 25-35-year-old male and female refugees living in Ghana. The data collection included semistructured interviews with analysis of transcripts following a phenomenological approach. Results revealed, first, that most vivid and traumatic memories were related to cruelties toward family members. Second, the analyses revealed 5 main themes with multiple subthemes reflecting the meanings that participants give to the forgiving process and their readiness to forgive: religious beliefs, apology and act of contrition, importance of justice, personal choice, and influence of revered leaders. The findings are discussed in relation to young adults' experiences of civil war, reflecting both key themes underlining willingness to forgive docu-mented in previous studies and specific motivations underlying forgiving perpetrators in an African context.