Expiating Evil: Reflections on the Difficulties of Cultural, Organizational and Individual Reparation

Abstract

Evil actions by human beings show little sign of diminution as the twenty‐first century unfolds. Evil can be defined as the knowing infliction of pain and suffering – physical and/or psychological – on another human being. It can be perpetrated by individuals, by organizations, and by nation states, among others. It can take the form of administrative evil, in which people participate in acts of evil while thinking they are just doing what they should be doing in their organizational role. Under conditions of moral inversion, evil can be engaged in under the guise of doing good. While some aspects of evil’s aftermath are clear enough through the trail of mass graves, broken bodies and lives, and trans‐generational reverberations, the possibilities of expiating evil, including administrative evil, through processes of forgiveness, reconciliation and reparation, especially on the part of organizations and states, remain under‐explored. This article begins that exploration.

Conflicts of Values and Political Forgiveness

“…Th e importance of the citizen perspective cannot be stressed too strongly. In the fi rst place, the account presented here is not driven by considerations of criminal and/or restorative justice (Adams and Balfour 2008;Digeser 2001;Griswold 2007, 39). Th is is not to say that these considerations are not valid or that they should be replaced by the refl ections presented here.…”

Role of virtues in the relationship between shame and tendency to plagiarise

“…Repair behaviour is defined as the act of repairing or correcting the wrong deeds (Adams and Balfour, 2008). According to Desmet et al (2011), repair behaviour is acceptable for backward-oriented basis.…”

Face-to-Face: Social Work and Evil

“…In terms of remedying historical harms, Adams & Balfour (2008) explain that only restorative justice forums can heal wounds and only the re-education of future generations can prevent a repetition of history. The Reconciliation in Child Welfare programme in Canada is a restorative justice forum modelled on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa where indigenous people tell their truth to social workers who acknowledge their own errors and the resulting evils as the prerequisite for redeeming relationships and reconfiguring a culturally sensitive social work practice (Blackstock 2009).…”