Confession vs. Apology

In my opinion, confession is a more extreme step than an apology. I feel that apologies happen out of ones free will, based off of home training (if you will). For example, when kids are growing up they are forced by an authoritative figure to apologize when they wrong someone. Although they may not understand at the time why they are doing it, they eventually learn that its the right thing to do, and it becomes instilled in them. HOWEVER, confession (excluding Catholicism, and any Christian belief for that matter) is the act of "spilling the beans when you get caught" or a more formal definition (thanks to dictionary.com), " to reveal by circumstance". Not until after the confessor gets caught or his/her secret is jeopardized be revealed is the confession made. To me, confession is one's last attempt to save face, it includes an apology but its so much more than that. Confession, can also include revealing information that is frowned upon and admitting to some kind of information. My roommate used the analogy if an apology is walking, confession would be running.