This paper examines the role of apology as a vehicle for shame management in the aftermath of historical institutional abuse (HIA). It draws on extensive fieldwork in Ireland, North and South, including: archival research on public apologies; focus groups with members of the public and with victims; and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. It focuses on the complexities of apology in managing ‘shame’ and ‘self-blame’ for those constituencies affected by HIA – survivors, apologisers, institutions and wider society. Drawing on the notions of ‘shame’ and ‘shame management’, it proposes an interdependent model in order to better understand the function and meaning of apology in such contexts. In addressing the multi-layered relational dimensions of shame surrounding HIA, apology is presented as a potential means of invoking: (a) truth for victims; (b) accountability of offenders; (c) leadership of institutions; and (d) the re-imagination of national identity. The paper concludes by examining the additional performative aspects of shaming and the emotional expression of remorse in establishing proximity to historical wrongdoing.

This article reviews developments in the field of elder abuse and neglect since the publication of Elder Abuse and Neglect in Canada (1991). The arguments made here are twofold: first, we have no idea of the size and nature of the problem of abuse and neglect in the community or in institutions; second, we do not know how to solve these problems or their attendant issues that have been masked by rhetoric and the recycling of information for the past 20 years. It is time to move forward from the “awareness phase”. What we must tackle in the future is as obvious now as 20 years ago. Our knowledge is incomplete (i.e., our glass remains half full) because we lack the type of investigations we most urgently need: prevalence studies in the community and institutions, serious theory development, and random clinical trials to test our interventions both socially and legally.