ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we take up the psychological mechanisms that can explain the emergence of both revenge fantasies and actual acts of revenge. We also present the revenge spiral, the model that we use to describe the mechanisms of revenge and also the opposite—to focus instead upon the restoration of the self. Can ordinary people become perpetrators? Is the human being a potential avenger? There is a destructive potential in all of us, a shadow from our forefathers that can be brought to bear if we lack counterbalances.
