Psychoeducational program for the enhancement of forgiveness in 9 to 12 year-old children

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Published: Jun 15, 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.22385
Keywords:
anger management children empathy forgiveness psychoeducational group social skills
Μπρούζος Ανδρέας
Στέφανος Βασιλόπουλος
Αγγελική Σουρτζίνου
Βασιλική Μπαούρδα
Abstract
Children’s ability to forgive affects their social relationships and is connected to the development of their social skills and their emotional health. This research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a six-session psychoeducational program designed to enhance forgiveness in children aged 9 to 12. Sixty-seven children (intervention group: n = 30 and control group: n = 37) participated in the study, completing: (a) Enright Forgiveness Inventory for Children (Enright 2000); (b) Behavioral Anger Response Questionnaire (Miers et al., 2007), (c) Bryant Empathy Index for Children and Αdolescents (Bryant, 1982), and (d) Children’s Self-report Social Skills Scale (Danielson & Phelps, 2003). Results revealed that the children who participated in the intervention showed higher levels of forgiveness and enhanced anger management, while there were no changes in the control group. Theoretically basing the intervention on Enright’s forgiveness model (2001) as well as including specifically designed anger management activities may have contributed to the effectiveness of the program. It is suggested that interventions for forgiveness can contribute to the emotional and social health of children.
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