Effects of Process and Reach Models on Forgiveness and Anger among College Students with Hurts in the Upper West Region, Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Process and REACH models on forgiveness and anger among college students with hurts in the Upper West Region, Ghana. REACH is an acronym which stands for: Recall the hurt, Empathise with the one who hurt you, Altruistic gift of forgiveness, Commitment to forgive and Hold on to forgiveness. A Quasi-experimental design was adapted for the study. This study used three groups, consisting of two experimental groups and a control group. A total of 60 second year college students in the Upper West Region of Ghana, who had low level of forgiveness and high level of anger, participated in the study. The Enright (2001) Forgiveness Inventory and Reynolds, Walkey and Green (1994) Anger Self Report Questionnaires were adapted for the study. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at significant level 0.5 was used for the data analysis. The study revealed that the Process and REACH Models had significant positive effects on forgiveness among college students with hurts. Participants reported a high tendency to forgive persons who offended them. The study also indicated that significant differences existed in the mean scores of anger of participants exposed to the experimental groups of forgiveness and the control group at post-test (among college students with hurts). In addition, the study revealed that gender and age were not significant determinants of forgiveness and anger among college students at post-test. Based on the findings and conclusions, it was recommended that counsellors in Ghana should use the Process and REACH Models in counselling because the two therapies have the potency of improving the college students’ forgiveness level as well as reducing their anger levels.