People supporting apology often deny collective guilt and responsibility

Evidence

Surprisingly, only four e-mails in our database drew on the explicit argument that all Australians – past and present generations – should bear collective responsibility and guilt for the assimilation practices of successive governments. Rather, the predominant argument in the “Yes” texts involved the construction of an apology as an act that served important social functions – such as acknowledging past wrongs and expressing sympathy and understanding, but not of accepting responsibility, blame, or guilt. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 1677

Categorization

• SEED: The ‘apology without guilt’ finding suggests an essay on how symbolic social gestures get drained of their uncomfortable moral content — how the Yes camp and the No camp both refuse collective responsibility.
• XREF: Connects to the earlier chapter finding that perceiving situational justification blocks collective guilt, and to wetherell & Potter’s discourse analysis work. — connects to: Advantaged groups deploy four distinct strategies toward reparative action — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 806; People feel emotions for group members and deny their group’s harmful acts — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2092; Widely shared collective guilt has produced formal apologies and reparations — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 54 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• People feel emotions for group members and deny their group’s harmful acts #expands (0.75) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2092