Institutional apologies for harm can coexist with active legal resistance

Evidence

In these cases, senior churchmen expressed remorse to the victims for the abuse and asked for forgiveness while instructing their lawyers to fight the civil compensation suits. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 541

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to broader psychology-of-apology literature and to the book’s theme of moral disengagement through euphemistic/ceremonial responses — performative remorse as damage control. — connects to: Apologies are judged authentic only through changed attitudes and actions, not words — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 162; Official apologies for past wrongs have not triggered legal liability in practice. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 795
• SEED: Angle: ‘performative repentance’ — when apology functions as a litigation strategy rather than an admission of wrongdoing.