Civic Repentance

by Bazemore, Gordon; Carney, David; Etzioni, Amitai; Frankel, Estelle; Glynn, Patrick; Haley, John O.; Harrison, Jeffrey L.; Platman, Stanley

• ISBN13: 9780847692354
• ISBN10: 0847692353
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-22
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

This collection of essays by scholars of diverse backgrounds explores the notion of repentance in our culture, focusing on individuals who have been excluded from society as a result of violating its laws. What must these individuals do to gain redemption and be readmitted? Amitai Etzioni argues that the lack of a well-grounded concept of civic repentance has significant negative social consequences for our society. Denying people the opportunity to regain their social standing and membership in their communities is simply unfair, and the absence of such opportunities for restoration through repentance exacts heavy social costs. The essays in this collection address these issues from a variety of perspectives and discuss possible ways of filling this void, including restorative justice, physician rehabilitation programs, and religious reconciliation rituals.

Table of Contents

Preface: Civic Repentance	vii
Amitai Etzioni
Part One
Repentance, Redemption, and Transformation in the Context of Economic and Civil Rights	3	(42)
Jeffrey L. Harrison
Communities, Victims, and Offender Reintegration: Restorative Justice and Earned Redemption	45	(52)
Gordon Bazemore
Apology and Pardon: Learning from Japan	97	(26)
John O. Haley
Part Two
Repentance, Psychotherapy, and Healing: Through a Jewish Lens	123	(22)
Estelle Frankel
Racial Reconciliation: Can Religion Work Where Politics Has Failed?	145	(10)
Patrick Glynn
Repentance in Political Life: Case Studies of American Public Figures	155	(40)
David E. Carney
Rx: Redemption	195	(16)
Stanley Platman
Index	211	(6)
About the Contributors	217