Dr Liz Gordon – Getting even
Getting revenge is built deeply into our psyche. There are lots of words for it: “payback”, “balance sheet”, “settlement”, “nemesis”, “an eye for an eye” and so on. Where a person is killed, the victim’s family often feel high levels of anxiety until such time as the perpetrator is punished. It is partly that unexplained level of emotion – often stronger even than grief – that drives the failed punitive systems of justice.
