The article draws on the results of two empirical studies to develop new theoretical views on apology and forgiveness in relation to crime: research on mitigation and sentencing in the criminal courts; and an evaluation of three English restorative justice schemes undertaking conferencing and mediation primarily in relation to serious offences and adult offenders. Though forgiveness does not require apology (nor even knowing who the offender is), the important interactive and communicative aspects of restorative justice link it firmly to apology. Yet apology is complicated, being in the case of crime to both the victim and the state. When considering forgiveness, the immediate pairing is the possibility of forgiveness by victims to offenders, but it is also conceivable to consider forgiveness by offenders to themselves and forgiveness of the offender by supporters/families and the local community (though not, it seems, the state). The article moves beyond current depictions of apology to consider the interaction between apology and acceptance, and victims’ (and supporters’) reactions. Empirically, these victim reactions include achieving closure (for both offenders and victims), supporting offenders’ efforts to change their lives, and appreciating offenders’ apologies and courage in answering questions and communicating. Healing and reconciliation are less mentioned (or relevant). The word ‘forgive’ is only rarely mentioned. The questions then are whether these reactions can be considered to amount to or link to forgiveness, and whether ‘forgiveness’ is directed to the offender or the act.

中文翻译：

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宽恕和恢复性正义：有必要吗？有用吗？

本文借鉴了两项实证研究的结果，提出了与犯罪相关的道歉和宽恕的新理论观点：刑事法庭减刑和量刑研究；以及对主要针对严重犯罪和成年罪犯进行会议和调解的三个英国恢复性司法计划的评估。尽管宽恕不需要道歉（甚至不知道罪犯是谁），但恢复性正义的重要互动和交流方面将其与道歉紧密地联系在一起。然而，道歉是复杂的，既是对受害者也是对国家的犯罪。在考虑宽恕时，直接配对是受害者对罪犯宽恕的可能性，但也可以考虑犯罪者对自己的宽恕以及支持者/家庭和当地社区（尽管似乎不是国家）对犯罪者的宽恕。这篇文章超越了目前对道歉的描述，考虑了道歉和接受之间的相互作用，以及受害者（和支持者）的反应。从经验上讲，这些受害者的反应包括（对犯罪者和被害人）达成结案，支持犯罪者改变生活的努力，以及感谢犯罪者的道歉和回答问题和沟通的勇气。治愈与和解较少提及（或相关）。“原谅”这个词很少被提及。那么问题是这些反应是否可以被视为等于或与宽恕有关，