Revenge

Salman Akhtar, MD, is a professor of psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College. He is also a training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. Henri Parens, MD, is a professor of psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College. He is also a training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia.

The cycle of humiliation, revenge, and counter-revenge is a central paradigm which plagues our species. Finally there is a fascinating study of this all too human phenomenon which draws on the insights of child development, psychoanalytic experience, great literature, and biological considerations. Written by premier clinicians and theoreticians, this book is both very rich in ideas and is very readable. Therapists at all levels of experience will learn much from this text and become more able to address these issues in treatment.

• AcknowledgmentsChapter 1: Revenge: An OverviewSalman Akhtar, MD Chapter 2: Green Wounds: Revenge as Preserver of the SelfKerry Kelly Novick, AB, BAChapter 3: Revenge and Reparation: Thoughts About the Treatment of a Boy and His FamilyBarbara Shapiro, MDChapter 4: ‘As the Twig is Bent, So Grows the Tree’: Reparation, Rage, and ResynthesisDaniel M.A. Freeman, MDChapter 5: Revenge and Reparation: Loss and RestitutionFrederick Fisher, MDChapter 6: The Spectrum of Narcissistic TransferencesOtto Kernberg, MDChapter 7: Cautionary Tales: A Private Practitioner’s Experience Treating Severe Narcissistic PathologyMelvin Singer, MDChapter 8: Three Literary Characters in Search of RevengeEve Holwell, BAChapter 9: The Ubiquitous Nature of Revenge: Biopsychocultural PerspectivesRao Gogenini, MD, and April Fallon, PhDChapter 10: Narcissism, Rage, and Revenge: Concluding CommentaryHenri Parens, MDAddendumReferencesIndexAbout the Editors and Contributors