Pledging future amends can deflect criticism of present wrongdoing without requiring restitution

Evidence

Armstrong plans to make amends to those whose lives he harmed, although he emphasizes that he has just “started the process.” Pledged amends can fend off criticism of wrongdoing. At the outset of a reparations process, one should not expect restitutive action from the offender beyond acknowledging that one is sorry. However, a hard-driving flaw does not lend itself readily to moral self-censure or repentance. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 247

Categorization

• QUESTION: How does a psychologist parse a confessor who never says the word ‘sorry’? Bandura gestures at this but the semantics of non-apology apology language would be a rich thread.
• XREF: connects to: Even sincere institutional apologies rarely lead to restitution or lasting change — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 163; Official apologies for past wrongs have not triggered legal liability in practice. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 795