Forgiveness and blame among suicide survivors: A qualitative analysis on reports of 4-year self-help-group meetings

This article presents the qualitative analysis of reports obtained through participant observations collected over a 4-year period in a series of suicide survivor self-help group meetings. It analysed how grievers’ healing was managed by their own support. The longitudinal study was focused on self/other blame and forgiveness. Results show how self-blame was continuously present along all the period and how it increased when new participants entered the group. This finding indicates that self-blame characterizes especially the beginning of the participation, and that any new entrance rekindles the problem. However, no participant had ever definitively demonstrated self-forgiveness, while a general forgiveness appeared when self-blame stopped. It is also suggested how to facilitate the elaboration of self-blame and forgiveness.