You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The Value of Revenge
Vengefulness (is)… part of human potential and a common aspect of interpersonal connectedness
In developing a discourse on the subject of revenge, it is useful to begin by asking what value such a discussion holds for the field of analytic theory and enquiry, and how this subject is relevant to psychotherapeutic practice.
The quote above offers a succinct answer to the first of the questions raised - revenge, as Feiner suggests, is an integral aspect of human capacity and of relationship and therefore germane to analytic discussion. Surprisingly, however, a review of the analytic literature reveals that there is a dearth of focused dialogue on the subject of revenge. In fact no substantial core text directly or exclusively addressing this theme can be located; however, fertile ground for thought and application can be found in papers relating to the subject. This limited exchange on the subject of revenge is highlighted by Socarides, who asserts that ‘Vengeance - one of the most persistent and powerful emotions of man - has had little attention from scientific investigators’ (1966, p. 157) and Feiner (1995) infers that social embarrassment about such emotions contributes to the way in which revenge has been ignored. Indeed he suggests that ‘we do seem to feel more content when we assume its appearance is attributed to the more disturbed. Nevertheless, our vengefulness, like our shadow, is there’ (1995, p. 381).
Taking up on the second point raised: how is the concept of revenge pertinent to psychotherapeutic practice? Since revenge is an aspect of human potential and interrelatedness, this potential may be mobilized in either the client or the therapist within the therapeutic alliance. Racker's (1974) attention to the talionic nature of the transferential relationship, and Jacobs's (1995) assertion that ‘Revenge is one of the reasons why we are in the caring business’, embody two of the main reasons why a discussion of this concept is r