Date

11-2021

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

John Petko

Keywords

Forgiveness, The Attitude of Forgiveness, REACH Model, Couples Satisfaction Index, Enright Forgiveness Inventory

Disciplines

Counseling

Abstract

This study evaluated the impact on the attitude of forgiveness in married couples participating in a 3-hour forgiveness group that incorporates Everett Worthington’s Forgiveness Model: REACH (Worthington, 2008). The study measured the impact of the REACH-based curriculum from Become a More Forgiving Person in Less Than Two Hours (Worthington, 2020) in 32 couples attending the forgiveness class. The study used a quantitative approach/correlational design exploring the relationship between participation in a forgiveness class and attitude towards forgiveness. The focus was on measuring whether program participation increases an attitude of forgiveness and if the couple’s reported satisfaction influenced the attitude of forgiveness using the pre-test and post-test responses to The Enright Forgiveness Inventory (Enright & Rique, 2004) and marital satisfaction based on the pre-test and post-test responses to the Couples Satisfaction Index (Funk & Rogge, 2007). Results from this study showed that the REACH class was effective as an intervention in increasing the attitude of forgiveness in couples and that the couples' satisfaction influenced the increment in the attitude of forgiveness. Couples who reported higher levels of satisfaction also reported a higher increase in the attitude of forgiveness after they participated in the REACH class.

Included in

Counseling Commons

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