Accused, The (film), 269
Aeschylus, 62, 65, 73; Eumenides, 74–78, 195–96, 260; Oresteia, 74–78, 195–96, 260
Afghanistan: and American justice, 9, 31; Badghis Province, 156; public execution, 172–73; punishment for “social crimes,” 156; Ulema Council, Kunduz Province, 156
Albania: blood feuds, 167; boiling of blood, 177; inflaming of revenge passions, 176; Kanun, 168, 169, 170; social ostracism of one who fails to avenge, 166; vendetta killings, 168
Alliot-Marie, Michele, 22
Ally McBeal (TV series), 77
al-Qaeda, 171
altruistic punishment, 94, 102, 111, 198–99; and heightened brain activity, 95–96, 99
anger: ancient Greek view of, 61–62, 65; deemed to be socially unacceptable, 64; expressions of unwelcome in courtrooms, 233–34; and moral injury, 62, 65; as precursor to revenge, 63
anger management courses, 64
anterior cingulate cortex, 95
anterior insula, 95
Anthony, Caylee, 217–18
Aquino, Benigno III, 23–24
Aristotle, 65, 77; Nicomachean Ethics, 61–62
Armstrong, Lance, 59
Ashcroft, John, 106
Ashishi, Rasool, 171
Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and Humanities, 233
atonement, 25
Auden, W. H., 114
Australia, victim impact statements, 225
avenger, 24–25
Avinu Malkeinu, 6
Azhar, Antasari, 23
baad, 155
Bachmeier, Marianne, 148
Badghis Province, Afghanistan, 156
Bahrami, Ameneh, 175
Balkan clansmen, 163
Barton, Charles K. B., Getting Even: Revenge as a Form of Justice, 56, 150, 181, 275–76
battered woman’s syndrome, 236–37, 251, 252
battered women, 147
Beauvoir, Simone de, An Eye for an Eye, 117–20, 127
Beccaria, Cesare, On Crimes and Punishment, 26, 122, 132
Beck, Jamie, 203
behavioral economics, 94; and behavioral genetics, 102
Berbers, 182
Berns, Walter, 125, 215, 218, 222, 265, 278–79
beth din, 25
Bibas, Stephanos, 194–95, 266, 269; The Machinery of Justice, 267
biblical societies: cities of refuge, 25; distinction between murder and manslaughter, 24–25; equation of justice and vengeance, 24; victims entitled to redress, 25
bilateral anterior insula, 92, 98
Bilz, Kenworthey, 244
Blair, Michael, 206–7
Blatt, Thomas, 16–17
blind justice, 160
blood avenger, 24–25
blood feuds, 30, 45, 47, 153, 161; Albania, 167; collective responsibility of relatives of wrongdoers, 180–81; and honor, 179; between Israelis and Palestinians, 41, 42–44; Montenegro, 162–63; Papua New Guinea, 186–87; pervasiveness and social cost, 170; and relationship among honor, family obligation, and revenge, 162, 167; tribal, 45–46, 181
blood money, 173–75
Boehm, Christopher, 162–63, 165
Bones (TV series), 219
Bonin, William (Freeway Killer), 56–57, 205
Booth v. Maryland, 227
Boston Legal (TV series), 77
Bradshaw, Terry, 11
brain, human, 90–111; response to altruistic punishment, 95–96, 99; response to anticipation of revenge, 95, 98, 111; response to injustice and unfairness, 94, 98–99; response to revenge fantasy, 92–93; response to satisfaction of revenge, 93, 94–95, 98
Brasillach, Robert, 117, 118, 119, 127
Braunsteiner Ryan, Hermine, 18
Brave One, The (film), 80, 147, 149
Brennan, William, 197, 198, 199, 221–22
Brunner, Heinrich, 179
Burning Bed, The (TV movie), 250
Burns, Jennifer, 224
Burr, Aaron, 180
Bush, George H. W., 62
Bush, George W., 41; denial of revenge motive after 9/11, 7–10, 26
Busquet, J., 165
Cambodia: belief in disproportionate retaliation, 177–78, 260; genocide by Khmer Rouge, 178
Cambodia, Khmer Rouge trial, 257–60, 261; both civil and criminal proceeding, 257; symbolic restitution, 259; victims’ role in prosecution, 257–59
Campbell, Walter, 201
capital punishment, 31, 196–223; arguments against, 199–200, 208; cases based on weak circumstantial evidence, 219; and choice between death penalty and life in prison, 214; and closure for victims, 208–9; criticism of victims who choose to watch the penalty, 207–8; declining number of executions, 218–19, 221; focus on the wrongdoer, 206; humanitarian arguments against, 221–22; imposed on innocent, 219; as justice or vengeance, 13–14; number of states allowing for, 218; outlawed by most Western nations, 196; pacifists and, 209–11; supporters of, and language of vengeance, 127; under terms of absolute certainty, 219–21; vindication that victims cannot achieve in any other way, 206; and wants and needs of crime victims, 213; widespread support for, 196–97
Cardozo, Benjamin, 228
Carpenter, Jeffrey H., 94
Cepelak, Brenna, 64
Changeling, The (film), 56
China, traditional rescue/revenge law, 183–85
Christianity: precepts of turning the other cheek and practicing mercy, 51–52, 65; prescription to “love thy neighbor,” 54; and renunciation of right to avenge, 51–52, 65
cities of refuge, 45
civil recourse, 232
Clancy, Tom, 14
Cleland, John M., 21
Cohen, Rich, The Avengers, 174
Coker v. Georgia, 40
Cold War, 108
Colombiana (film), 80
compensation, and punishment, 47–48
compensatory damages, unsuitable for vindication, 231, 232
consequentialists, 123, 124, 125, 127
Constitution of the United States: Eighth Amendment, 123, 196, 229; Fifth Amendment, 136; First Amendment, 138, 139; Fourth Amendment, 135–36, 143, 144, 270–71; as imperfect moral document, 136; Sixth Amendment, 136, 229, 273
Contador, Alberto, 59–60, 63–64
Corsica: inflaming of revenge passions, 176; revenge rituals, 177; rimbecco, 165, 167
Cortissos, Rudie S., 53
Cosa Nostra, 35–36
Cosner, Paul, 104–5
Cosner, Sharon, 104–5
cost-benefit analysis, of revenge, 90
Count of Monte Cristo, The (Dumas), 70, 80, 150
crimes of passion, 121
criminal justice system. See legal system
Crow, The (film), 54
“cruel and unusual punishment,” 123, 196, 209
CSI (TV series), 218
cultural memory, 259
Curatola, Michael, 15
Daly, Margo, 177
Daly, Martin, 100
Dargis, Manohla, 71
Davis, Gary, 220
Days of Awe, new edition, 5–6
death penalty. See capital punishment
death row, number of prisoners on, 218
Death Sentence (film), 80
Death Wish (film), 70, 72, 240, 242
debt, owed to victims of wrongs, 27–28, 32
Debt, The (film), 174
decision making, and irrational conduct, relation between, 91–92
Dekraai, Scott, 220
Demjanjuk, John, 16–17, 18, 52–53
Denning, Lord Justice, 216
deterrence, as rationale for punishment, 121; and paradox of just deserts, 125–27
Diamond, Jared, 186
Dictionary Game, 95–96
Dinah, rape of, 38–40, 41, 45, 49
Djilas, Milovan, 165
DNA evidence, 218–19
Doctorow, E. L., Ragtime, 73
dorsal striatum, 90, 91, 93, 110–11
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, 97–98
Doucet, Jeff, 267
Douglass, Brooks, 207–8
Driver, Daniel, 139
Druce, Joseph L., 114
drug dealers, 163
Druze tribesmen, 163
dueling, 179–80
Durham v. United States, 247–48
“earned time” law, 168, 200, 201
economic theory, and revenge, 90
Eighth Amendment, 196, 197–98, 229
Eisenstat, Lee, 270
emotion: aversion to in legal system, 194, 232–34; and critical thought, 100; lawyers’ lack of training in, 67–68, 275; mitigates murder to lesser crime, 235–36. See also revenge, and emotions
emotional development, and reasoning facility, 90
England, medieval, recoveries for tortious injury, 51
equal protection guarantee, 136, 225, 250
Estell, Ashley, 206
Estell, Richard, 207
ethnic violence, 45
Eumenides (Aeschylus), 74–78, 195–96
evolution, and revenge, 100–109, 132
exclusionary rule, 143–44
executions, 172–73; declining number of, 218–19, 221
eye for an eye, 46, 49, 55, 153–54, 212
Eye for an Eye (film), 192–93
fairness, instinct for, 85, 88
Faldo, Nick, 64
Federal Witness Protection Program, 142
Fifth Amendment, 136
Filkins, Dexter, The Forever War, 171–72
Finland, victim impact statements, 225
Flesch, William, 69
Fletcher, George P., 241, 266, 274; Justice for Some, 273
food, and revenge, 83–84
Foreman, John, 168–69, 200–201
forgiveness, 65–66
Foster, Paula, 224
Fourth Amendment, 135–36, 143, 144, 270–72
Free, James, 226
free speech, 138
French, Peter, The Virtues of Vengeance, 40, 55, 62, 115, 137, 144
French Muslims, 22
frontiersmen, American, 163
Furies, 260; role of in administration of justice in ancient Greece, 184, 195–96
Furman v. Georgia, 197, 261–62
Gambino crime family, 141–42
gang rape, 156–58
gang-related violence, 179
Garvey, Stephen P., 206
Gaza War (Operation Cast Lead), 43–44
general deterrence, 121
Genesis, book of, and rape of Dinah, 38–40, 41
Geoghan, John, 114–15
Gerwitz, Paul, 76
Gibson, Mel, 71–72
Glasser, I. Leo, 142
Gluckman, Max, 163
goating, 176
Godfather, The (film), 36–38, 71, 83, 88, 165, 207
Golden Rule, and revenge, 65, 107–8
Goldman, Ronald, 231
Good Samaritan, story of, 51
Gospic, Katarina, 98
Gotti, John, 142
Gould, Roger, 170
Graham-Moon, Sally, 64
Grant, Bob, 220
Grasso, Richard, 16
Gravano, Salvatore (“Sammy the Bull”), 141–42
Greece, ancient: and revenge, 45–46, 74; role of Furies in administration of justice, 184, 195–96; view of anger, 61–62, 65
Gregg v. Georgia, 196, 197–98, 215–18
Gruden, Jon, 11
Guardian Angels, 241
Hagen, Debra, 144–45
Halimi, Ilan, 22
Hamas, 43
Hamilton, Alexander, 180
Hamilton, Lee H., 172
Hamlet (film), 71
Hamlet (Shakespeare), 45, 48, 53, 70, 165, 167, 254, 255
Hammurabi Code, 51
Hampton, Jean, 129
Handa clan, New Guinea, 186
Hannie Caulder (film), 40, 147
Harrington, Ellen, 13
Harrison, Ann, 13–14
Harrison, Bob, 13–14
Harrison, Janel, 13–14
Hassian, Abdullah, 171
Hatfields and McCoys, 30
Hayes, Steven, 13, 201–2, 204, 210–11
healing, and vengeance, 206
“heat of passion,” mitigates murder to lesser charge, 235–36, 254
Herman, David Lee, 224
Hibbing, John, 97
Hinckley, John, 247
Hitchcock, Alfred, 84
Holocaust survivors: refusal of restitution payments from Germany, 174; self-denial of revenge motive, 16–19
homicide, vengeance and, 24–25
honor: intrinsic value of, 48–49; loss of as legitimate basis for vengeance, 158; means “avenging insults” in many languages, 36; as more valuable than money in ancient societies, 49; objective standards of, 160
honor killings, 30, 161; disproportionate to alleged injury, 161–62; pervasiveness and social cost, 170; provoke blood feuds, 162; and relationship among honor, family obligation, and revenge, 167; result of failure to retaliate, 163
Hudood ordinance, Pakistan, 157
human rights groups, 221
Hume, David, Treatise on Human Nature, 93
Hume, Paul, 86
Hussein, Saddam, 156
Iceland: compensatory tort model of tribes, 173, 176; inflaming of revenge passions, 176
I Know What You Did Last Summer (film), 54
Indochinese Mantagnards, 163
Inglorious Basterds (film), 80, 174
injustice: as price of freedom, 137; as source of human suffering, 140
insanity defense, 247–55; applied to rational wrongdoers, 249–53; as cover for revenge, 247, 250; and exchange of dignity for freedom, 255; “irresistible impulse” defense, 247; M’Naughten case, 1843, 247; temporary insanity, 250; used most often to avoid murder convictions and death sentences, 248–49
In the Bedroom (film), 149–50
Iran: blood money and legal punishment system, 174; victim as centerpiece of trial, 174–75
“irresistible impulse” defense, 247
Islamic Army of Iraq, 171–72
Islamic law, 153, 156, 160, 175
Israel: blood feud with Palestinians, 41, 42–44; invasion of Gaza, 443
Ivan the Terrible, 52
Jackson, Andrew, 180
Jacob (patriarch), 38–40, 50, 207
Jacoby, Susan, Wild Justice: The Evolution of Revenge, 18, 40, 69–70, 146, 147, 236, 237–38, 249–50, 251, 255, 261
Jaworski, Ron, 11
Jefferson, Thomas, 26
Jews, Conservative, 5
Jibaro Indians, Ecuador and Peru, 182
Judge Alex (TV show), 96
Judging Amy (TV series), 77–78
jury nullification, 242
“just deserts,” 9
justice: call for always involves revenge, 27; and deterrence of future crimes, 23; justice/vengeance paradox, 23; in modern times, 26–27; and revenge, false distinction between, 27; through self-help, denial of, 12–13; witnessing of in television courtrooms, 96
Justice Not Vengeance (Wiesenthal), 18
Kahan, Dan, 235
Kaloev, Vitaly, 253
Kaminer, Wendy, 223–24
Kant, Immanuel: distinction between retribution and revenge, 128–29; “last man on the island” lesson, 130–31; Metaphysics of Morals, 124; and retribution, 124–25
Karadzic, Radovan, 90
Karolinska Institute Osher Center, Stockholm, 98
Kelley, James, 144–45
Kelley, Linda, 207
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, 14
killing: in “heat of passion,” 235–36; vs. murder, 211; in war, 211. See also honor killings
King, Rodney, 131–32
Kleist, Heinrich von, Michael Kohlhaas, 73
Knutson, Brian, 99
Komisarjevsky, Joshua, 13, 201–2
Kurdistan, honor killings, 161–62
laissez-faire, 169
Lake, Leonard, 105
Lang, Berel, 53
Langone, Kenneth G., 16
Law Abiding Citizen (film), 80, 113
lawless societies, and honor killings, 163
law of the talion (lex talionis), 46–47, 55, 128, 134, 209; eye for an eye, 46, 49, 55, 153–54, 212; in Hammurabi Code, 51; in The Merchant of Venice, 50; in minds of ordinary citizens, 218; and minimal requirement for revenge, 48; obligatory revenge, 47; and proportional retaliation, 144; recoveries for tortious injuries, 51, 173; scale of symmetrical punishments, 154; types of exchanges other than body parts, 173–75; versatility, 175–76; workers’ compensation laws, 51
lawyers: and adversarial system, 273–74; lack of concern with moral injury, 67–68; lack of training in human emotion, 67–68, 275
Legally Blonde (film), 77
legal retribution, 66–67; importance of including victims in, 114–15; moral problems, 134–35; requires sentence consistent with just deserts, 20–21; same aim as vengeance, 132; substitution for revenge, 55–56
legal system: absence of moral concerns, 181; administrative justice, 263; adversarial system, 273; aversion to emotion, 194, 232–34; burden of proof on state, 135; concept of reasonable doubt, 135; deficiencies and moral corruption, 169; denial of revenge impulses, 21–22, 66; depersonalization of punishment, 132–33; devaluing of crimes, 222–23, 263, 279; different treatment of crimes committed in familial context from other crimes, 252–53; failure to consider emotional injuries, 192–93; failure to recognize moral and emotional connection between justice and vengeance, 67; fear of excess revenge, 263; fear of repercussions of revenge, 262; focus on act rather than harm, 189; focus on “causes of action,” 193; goal of discipline over moral purpose, 191; and “honor” crimes, 244–46; inadequate punishments, 262–63; little citizen confidence in, 190; monopoly over revenge, 121; of nineteenth century, 194–95; no duty to rescue, 184; not guided by moral criteria, 181, 184–85; notion that crimes are committed against society, 223–24; poor surrogate for revenge, 26, 110, 119, 133; presumption of innocence of accused, 135, 164; pretense that courtrooms are emotion free, 237; and rights of the accused, 32; state as only victim in criminal proceeding, 129, 145–46; treatment of victims, 191–92, 224; trials as performance pieces, 119, 273; unjust outcomes, 28, 29, 131–32, 210, 222–23; vengeance through subterfuge, 31, 195–96, 247, 253–54
legal system, and institutionalization of revenge, 264–65; participatory role of victims in criminal proceedings, 265–66, 270–78; reform of plea-bargaining process, 269, 270, 275; reform of role of public prosecutor, 268–69; revenge statutes, 280–81; right of victims to appeal a sentence in violent felony cases, 270; right of victims to appeal lower-court rulings, 270; right of victims to make opening statements and question witnesses, 272; right of victims to veto all decisions in cases of violent crime, 271; right of victims to veto power in pretrial stage, 270–71; victim impact statements, 268
Levine, Louis D., 6
Luke, book of, 51
Ly Monysar, 258
lynch law, 277
Mad Max (film), 72
Madoff, Bernard, 19–21, 31, 122, 213
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 89, 92
Maitland, F. W., 179
Malvo, Lee Boyd, 105–7
Mandingo, Isum, 187
Manson, Charles, 225–26
Maori tribesmen, New Zealand, concept of utu, 182
Marcos, Ferdinand, 23
Marwa, Abu, 171–72
mass murder, and burden to punish, 261
Matsch, Richard, 213
Matthew, book of, 51
Matthews, Peter Hans, 94
McBride, Judy, 147
McCullough, Michael, Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct, 85
Medea (Euripedes), 78–80
medial prefrontal cortex, 95
Mendoza, Kenny, 242
Mentalist, The (TV series), 31
Merchant of Venice, The (Shakespeare), 50, 83, 229
Meyers, Robert, 15
Middle East: failure to take responsibility for actions of the past, 44; Shariah law, 156
Miller, William Ian, 48, 49, 112, 143, 164, 170, 271–72
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, 73
M’Naughten case, 247
money: blood money, 173–75; as compensation for loss, 173–74, 231; little relation to revenge, 232
monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), 102
Montenegro: blood feuds, 162–63; boiling of blood, 177; osveta, 165; retaliation against wrongdoer or his father or brothers, 182; retaliatory homicide, 165
Moore, Michael S., 100, 124, 130, 251
moral authority, of avenger, 115
moral cowardice, and failure to avenge, 55–56, 62
moral injury, 200; and anger, 62, 65; lawyers’ lack of concern with, 67–68; and rational actor model, 97; and resentment, 62; revenge as response to, 32; subject to objective standard, 160–61
moral outrage: and Casey Anthony case, 217–18; as moral basis for capital punishment, 215–16; and vengeance, 279
moral relativism, 176
Movahedi, Mojid, 175
Muhammad, John Allen, 105–7, 204
Mukhtar Mai, 157–58
Munich (film), 41, 42–43, 111–12
Munson, Lester, 21–22
murder: vs. killing, 211; mass murder, 261; mitigated to lesser crime by emotion, 235–36; no statute of limitations on, 260
Murphy, Jeffrie G., 66, 114, 129, 199, 221, 229
Mutairi, Khaled al-, 154
National Bureau of Economic Research, 89
nations, revenge among, 41–44, 85
Nazi death camps, 17
Nazis, 257–60
NCIS (TV series), 219
Neo-Nazis, 138–39
New Guinea highlanders, 186–87
New Testament: principal of loving one’s enemies, 51–52; renunciation of right to avenge, 51–52
New York: self-defense statute, 240; urban crime, 240
Ng, Charles, 104
9/11, and denial of revenge motive after, 7–10
Noah, 24
Nordegren, Elin, 64
No Retreat Doctrine, 239
Nunley, Robert, 13
Nussbaum, Martha, 235
NYPD, 241
Obama, Barack, framing of Bin Laden killing in language of justice, 10
Oklahoma City bombing case, 204, 213
Old Testament, and revenge, 45, 49
Ombal clan, New Guinea, 186
omerta, 165
orbitofrontal cortex, 90
Orentlicher, Diane, 259–60
Ortiz, Pablo, 15
osveta, 165
Pakistan: gang-rape of woman in retaliation for behavior of her brother, 157–58; Hudood ordinance, 157
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), 41
Papua New Guinea, blood feuds, 186–87
“Paradoxical Consequences of Revenge, The,” Journal of Personal and Social Psychology, 110–11
parietal cortex, 90
Parker, Dorothy, 83
Pashtun tribal society, 154–55
passive-aggressiveness, 64
Paterno, Joe, 21
payback. See retribution
Payne v. Tennessee, 226–27, 227–28
People’s Court, The (TV show), 96
Perreux, Emmanuelle, 22
Petit, William, 13, 201–3, 204
Pillsbury, Samuel H., 194
Pinker, Steven, 36, 49, 125–27, 130, 163, 179, 248
Plato, 120
Plauche, Gary, 267
plea bargaining, 141–43, 168, 169, 222, 230, 263, 266, 277; reform of, 269, 270, 275
Polanski, Roman, 226
positron emission tomography (PET), 92
posse comitatus, 276
Post, Hudson, 13
prefrontal cortex, 90, 91, 92, 95
President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime, 1982, 226
presumption of innocence, 164
Princess Bride, The (film), 113, 208
Prisoner’s Dilemma, 108–9
protected speech, 139
Public Enemy, 179
Puke, Sophie Arie, 167
punishment: can achieve many different values, 131; “cruel and unusual,” 123, 196, 209; and deterrence of future crimes, 121; effect on the victim, 200–206; moral dimensions of, 120, 128; under the rule of law, 129; trivialized, and revenge instinct, 263, 279; utilitarian goals of, 120–23
Quervain, Dominque de, 89, 110–11
Racine, Phedre, 73
Rackauckas, Tony, 220–21
rape: appropriate punishment for, 40–41; of Dinah, 38–40, 41, 45, 49; gang rape, 156–58; resistance as proof of non consent, 243–44; victims denied retroactive revenge, 252–53
rape fantasies, male, 244
rational actor model, 91–92, 101–3, 186; fallacy of, 163; and moral injury, 97; view of revenge as illogical, 101, 103
rational choice theory, and blood revenge, 179
Reagan, Ronald, 247
reasonable doubt, 137
reasoning facility, preceded by emotional development, 90
recidivist rates, 121–22
reciprocity, principal of, 107
Redmond, Lula, 208
refuge, cities of, 25
rehabilitation, 120
Rell, M. Jodi, 202
remembering, failure of, 52, 53–54
reparations, 174
resentment, and moral injury, 62
Reservation Road (film), 80
restorative justice models, 205–6
retribution, 124–25, 127, 128, 130; and absence of social utility, 131; acts of, 17; distinguished from revenge, 20; and restoration of moral balance, 129
revenge: aftermath of, 110–14, 209; alternatives to, 54–55; anticipation of, 95, 98, 111, 209; application of risk-reward, cost-benefit calculations to, 101–2; benefits of, 6; brings long-term stability to competitive rivalries, 100; confusion about relation to justice, 7–10; creates order out of chaos, 85; cultural conflict about proper role of, 7; as cultural taboo, 5; denial of, 5–33; differences in cultural tolerance for, 89; economic calculation of, 90; emotional paradox of denial, 19; evolutionary basis, 100–109; and food, 83–84; goals of, 117–51; and Golden Rule, 65; and homicide, 24–25; and honor, 48, 158; and human brain, 90–111; and instinct for fairness, 85, 88; as matter of principle, 16; and memory, 53, 124; mixed signals about from governments and religions, 6; and moral clarity, 63; necessary to achieving justice, 27, 44; original meaning of justice, 25–26; practiced by everyone at some level, 6–7; regarded as irrational by society, 101; regarded as undignified by society, 9, 32; relation to money, 232; response to human needs of victims, 61, 159; as response to moral injury, 32; and restoration of dignity and honor of victim, 28; retreat of with advancing civilizations, 26; rules of, 49–51; unjustified, 153–61; and voyeurism, 32; wide range of attitudes about in US, 179; wrongdoer must be apprised of why he is being punished, 112–13
Revenge (TV series), 71
revenge, and emotions: emotional pleasure of revenge, 66–67; revenge as both pleasure and addiction, 93; revenge brings emotion and rationality into harmony, 102; and society’s teaching that anger and resentment are unhealthy, 61–62
revenge, justified (moral vengeance): conditions for, 46, 115; requires proportionate response, 45, 46; requires restraint by avenger, 35–36; satisfaction as outcome of, 208
revenge, in other cultures, 153–87; honor killings, Kurdistan and Iraq, 161–62; Hudood ordinance, Pakistan, 157; Islamic law, 153, 156, 160, 175; moral and cultural obligation of family members to avenge murdered relatives, 165–67; multiple purposes, 180; Pashtun tribal societies, 154–55; Saudi Arabia, 153–54, 156–57; Taliban, 154–55; universality of rituals, 177; Wahhabi law, 156–57
revenge, in popular culture, 29–30, 66–67, 68–80; altruistic punisher, 69, 94; and longing for justice, 28; moral realism, 73; narratives about men whose family and/or property have been violated, 72–73; narratives as morality tales, 80; revenge films, 70–74, 80, 148–50, 166, 209, 277–78; and vicarious satisfaction, 69–70
revenge, private. See self-help
revenge, proportional, 35–57, 115; among nations, 41–44; and Eumenides, 74–78; and Medea, 78–80; must always take account of prior actions, 44; necessary for moral revenge, 45, 46; requires proper measurement of amount of retaliation called for, 37–40, 43–45, 46–48; and satisfaction, 53
revenge, releasing. See legal system, and institutionalization of revenge
revenge and justice, should serve same societal purpose and fulfill same human needs, 190
revenge fantasy, and increased blood flow to brain, 92–93
revenge films, 70–74, 80, 148–50, 166, 209, 277–78
revenge paradox, circular, 262
revenge/rescue law, 185–86
revenge societies: collective responsibility and obligation, 180–83; and free-market capitalists, 169–70; requirement of just and proportionate retaliation, 183
revenge societies, and nonexistent or ineffective legal system, 169
revenge statutes, 280–81
Rewards for Justice Program, 9
Righteous Kill (Film), 74
Ring, The (film), 54
Rivera, Nelson M., 204
Roberts, John, 138
Rodgers, Walter, 210–12
Rogers, Aaron, 10–12
Romans, book of, 51
Rosenbaum, Thane, The Myth of Moral Justice: Why the Legal System Fails to Do What’s Right, 192–93
Rosenberg, Ethel and Julius, 219
Ross, Ernie, 204
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 26, 132
rule of law, 12, 66, 136, 144; derived from social contract, 216; modern society’s reliance on, 55; punishment under, 129; substitute for revenge, 26
Sacco and Vanzetti, 219
Sanford, Jenny, 14
Sanford, Mark, 14
Sartre, Jean Paul, 117
Saudi Arabia, 156–57
Scalia, Antonin, 227
Schnorr, Clara, 13
Scotland, inflaming of revenge passions, 176
Scottish highlanders, 163
Searchers, The (film), 72, 112
Secret in Their Eyes, The (film), 47
self-defense, 31, 185; against attacker in one’s own home, 242–43; connection to revenge, 239–43, 245; legal basis for right of retaliation, 244–45; legally acceptable self-help, 238; and maintenance of honor and dignity, 238–39; preemptive, 252; retroactive, 252
self-help, 30, 189–255, 286n13; denial of, 12–13; in lawless societies, 178; and perceived futility of legal system, 267; risks of, 110
self-incrimination, 136
self-respect, 66
sentencing guidelines, 272
Sermon on the Mount, 51
Serpico, Andrew, 226
Serpico, Bonnie, 226
sex crimes, and punishment, 122
sexual molestation, by family members, 237–38
Shakespeare, William, 73; Hamlet, 48, 53, 70, 165, 167, 254, 255; The Merchant of Venice, 50, 83, 229
“Shalom,” 164
Shariah law, 156
Sharif, Sami, 22
Sharp, Dudley, 197
Shawshank Redemption, The (film), 71
Sheehan, Barbara, 252
Sherman, Dale, 201
Sicily: goating, 176; principal of omerta, 165
Simpson, O. J., If I Did It, 231
Sixth Amendment, 136, 229, 273
Skyguide, 253
Snyder, Matthew A., 138
Snyder v. Phelps, 138
social adversity, denied as legal excuse for criminal behavior, 248
social behavior, 91
social contract: and deprivation of victims’ right to seek revenge, 191; and rule of law, 216
Sok Chear, 258
Sokol-Hessner, Peter, 89
Solomon, Robert C., 25, 27, 30, 55, 56, 61, 77, 109
Sophocles, 73
Sopranos, The (TV series), 83
Sorkin, Aaron, 41
Sorkin, Ira, 19
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice, 190
South Central Los Angeles, 179
Soviet Union, 110
specific deterrence, 121
Spielberg, Steven, 41
Spitzer, Eliot, 16
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (film), 83
Star Wars program, US, 110
Stevens, John Paul, 213
Stewart, Potter, 215–16, 218, 261–62
stoning, 156
street justice, 69–70
Sue, Marie-Joseph (Eugène), 83
Sunni Awakening, 171–72
Suozzi, Tom, 16
Swantoro, Herri, 23
Sweeney Todd (film), 71
Taken (film), 80
Tarantino, Quentin, 174
Tate, Doris, 226
Tate, Sharon, 226
temporal lobes, 90
temporary insanity plea, 31. See also insanity defense
terrorists, and question of civilian trials, 14–15
Thomas, Lance, 242
Time to Kill, A (film), 40, 71, 74, 149, 254–55
tit for tat, game theory, 107–8
Todorovic, Savo, 165
Torah, 24
tortious injury, recoveries for, 51, 173
Tour de France 2010, 59–60, 63–64
trials, as performance pieces, 119, 273
tribal societies: civil payment as compensation for maiming and murder, 54; equation of justice and vengeance, 24; rationale for punishment, 121
True Grit (film), 71, 166–67, 203, 255, 276
Truman, Margaret, 85–87
Trust Game, 94–95
12 Angry Men (film), 78
Ulema Council, Kunduz Province, Afghanistan, 156
Ullmann, Thomas J., 202
Ultimatum Game, 96–98
Unforgiven (film), 74, 112, 133–34
United Nations Human Rights Council, 43
utilitarian views, of punishment, 120–23
utu, Maori culture, 182
Van den Haag, Ernest, 212, 219
Vatanpour, Lida, 203
vengeance. See revenge
vengeful dispositions, study of, 89
V for Vendetta (film), 70
Vichy collaborators, 17, 117–19
victim impact statements, 31, 195, 223–35; allowed only after guilty verdict is reached, 230; allowed only in capital cases, 230; arguments against, 228; beginning of, in US, 225–26; effect on victims, 227; impact on judges, 232–33; judicial responses to, 232–35; legalized loophole allowing revenge in courtroom, 227; limitations on, 230–33; and prejudice against victims, 234; for purpose of discharge of emotion only, 225, 230; at sentencing stage only, 224–25, 226–27; should be read aloud, 268
victims: and capital punishment, 206, 207–8, 213; debt owed to, 27–28, 32; effect of inadequate legal punishments on, 200–206; effect of revenge on, 28, 61, 159; importance of including in legal retribution, 114–15; necessity of vindication, 25, 27–28, 32, 49; of rape, 243–44, 252–53; treatment of in legal system, 191–92, 224
victims’ rights bill, 208
victims’ rights movement, 225, 228–29
vigilante films, 148–50
vigilantism: American attitudes toward, 240; as preemptive self-defense, 239–47; response to government’s neglect, 239–40
Voltaire, 132
voluntary manslaughter, 235–38, 245; in cases of infidelity, 246–47; killing committed in “heat of passion,” 235–36
Von Kleist, Heinrich, Michael Kohlhaas, 251
Wahhabi law, 156–57
war: as vengeance against nations, 85; won by killing, 211
“warrior gene,” 102
Washington, George, 87
Watson, Lyall, Dark Nature: A Natural History of Evil, 222–23
Welch, Darlene, 204
Welch, Raquel, 147
Wemp, Daniel, 186–87
West Wing, The (TV series), 41
white-collar crimes, 121
Whitehead, Noah, 203
The Who, “Behind Blue Eyes,” 45
Wiedergutmachung, 174
Wiesenthal, Simon, 18
wife batterers, 237
“wild justice,” 178
Wilson, James Q., 198
Wilson, Margo, 100
Wilson, Martin, 177
Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, 56
women: battered women, 147; denial of right to avenge, 40, 147–48; dirge singers, 176; more vengeful than men, 89; Slavic revenge rituals, 177; under Taliban rule, 154–55
Woodmansee, Michael, 168, 200–201
Woods, Tiger, 64
workers’ compensation laws, 51, 173
Yami, Rozanna al-, 156
Yanomamo Indians, Brazil, 182
Yemen, 171
Zipursky, Benjamin, 232