Apology, justice, and trauma recovery.

He added that the church was “unequivocally committed to compassionate and effective care for the victims, their families, the whole community and the offenders themselves.” We are, it seems, in an era of public apology. In the past few years, the Pope has apologized for the sins and injustices committed by the Catholic church, including wrongs inflicted on Jews, minorities, and women; the Japanese government has apologized for atrocities committed in World War II; President Clinton has apologized for America’s history of slavery and for America’s support of foreign dictators; and the Canadian federal government has apologized for the executions of 23 Canadian soldiers during World War I, volunteers who were shot for desertion or cowardice. The move to public apology stems in part from a belief that public actions can cause personal pain. An aspect of this belief is the notion that apology is a necessary prerequisite to forgiveness and that forgiveness in turn leads to recovery. A second aspect is an increased interest in restorative justice as an alternative or adjunct to criminal sentencing or civil liability. This alternative process encourages offenders to take responsibility for their actions and to make restitution, with the joint goals of assisting the victim in the healing process and reintegrating the offender into society. In this article, we seek to explore the issue of apology and justice within society and to consider the impact of these processes on the healing of individual victims.