Getting even : revenge as a form of justice

Throughout most early cultures, the first form of justice was revenge. When a wrong occurred, revenge was an acceptable, even encouraged way to find redress. However, contemporary Western society condemns revenge both legally and socially. There are still penalties for taking the law into your own hands. In Getting Even, Charles K. B. Barton challenges the notion that revenge is always wrong. He argues that revenge is personal retribution and that, like any other form of punishment, it can be both just and unjust. Framing the issue in the broadest context as a way to address the needs of victim, offender, and society, he offers a blueprint for improving the justice system and attaining a true resolution to crime. Barton makes a compelling case for implementing institutionalized revenge as a way of allowing victims to attain adequate material restitution, apology, and justice. Throughout most early cultures, the first form of justice was revenge. When a wrong occurred, revenge was an acceptable, even encouraged, way to find redress. However, contemporary Western society condemns revenge both legally and socially. There are still penalties for taking the law into your own hands.In Getting Even, Charles Barton challenges the notion that revenge is always wrong. He argues that revenge is personal retribution and that, like any other form of punishment, it can be both just and unjust. Framing the issue in the broadest context as a way to address the needs of victim, offender, and society, he offers a blueprint for improving the justice systems and attaining a true resolution to criminal cases. Barton makes a compelling case for implementing institutionalized revenge as a way of allowing victims to attain adequate material restitution, apology, and justice. "In Getting Even, Charles Barton contends that revenge can be a form of justice that is constructive and healing for our society. Our current judiciary system, he explains, denies both victims and the accused an active role in the legal proceedings and resolution of their cases, reducing them to bystanders in what is essentially their own conflict. Barton does not argue for an individual's right to take the law into his own hands, but does show that the courts should recognize the revenge motive as legitimate and rational within the rules of justice."--pub. desc Paradigms Of Justice -- Pious Myths About Revenge -- Punishment And Revenge -- Rationality And Revenge -- Retribution And Justice -- Retribution And Revenge -- Revenge : Its Nature And Definition -- A Defense Of Moral Retributivism -- Victim Justice And Institutionalized Empowerment -- Beyond Restorative Justice : The Primacy Of Empowerment. Charles K.b. Barton. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [160]-170) And Index. The above aphorisms capture well the divergent attitudes that the idea of revenge often evokes.