Forgiving and Not Forgiving as Processes of Sense-Making Among Victims/Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Abuse

Violence Against Women. 2026 Jun 12:10778012261458794. doi: 10.1177/10778012261458794. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Most research into forgiveness in the contexts of domestic and sexual abuse involves quantitative studies of the benefits or risks of forgiveness for victims/survivors. This paradigm constructs forgiveness as an achieved event, largely overlooking victims/survivors’ forgiveness experiences. Furthermore, existing research scarcely addresses not forgiving among victims/survivors. This article shows both forgiving and not forgiving are utilized in processes of sense-making by victims/survivors. We argue that forgiving and not forgiving in this context should be understood not simply as an achieved event or specific form of experience, but rather as socially available vocabularies through which ongoing processes of sense-making are channeled.

PMID:42286879 | DOI:10.1177/10778012261458794