A sociology of forgiveness in relationships: why the sociology of personal life should be interested in forgiveness

Abstract

Abundant research in adjacent disciplines shows forgiveness (including forgiving, not forgiving, being forgiven and not being forgiven) to be an ordinary feature of how personal relationships are maintained, repaired and rescinded. Sociologists, however, have scarcely considered forgiveness at all. This article shows why sociologists of personal life should be interested in forgiveness, and how this contributes to sociological interpretations of conflict and repair in relationships. It is argued that sociologists of personal life should be interested in forgiveness because it seems to be part of the ordinary vernacular through which relationships are made sense of. It is also argued that sociologists of personal life can deliver a perspective on forgiveness in relationships that is missing from existing forgiveness research agendas.