CHAPTER 3 recognition R ecognition--acknowledging the offense--is the first dimen- sion of apology. It establishes that an offense requiring apol- ogy has been committed. To the offender this step may seem as obvious as the offense itself, and therefore it may be tempting to just get through the apology to "get on with it." But more often than not, skipping the recognition step results in a statement that just compounds the offense because it leaves the victim