The revenge motive: a developmental perspective on the life cycle and the treatment process

In this article, vengeance and other manifestations of aggression and hostility are differentiated, then the developmental origins and later manifestations of the revenge motive through the life cycle are traced. Consideration is given to each phase of the life cycle, each of which may impart its distinctive stamp onto the patient's desires for revenge. Consistent with this developmental perspective, it is pointed out that desires for revenge may have important adaptive functions, helping the patient contain anxieties associated with developmental tasks that have not been mastered. A brief case example is used to illustrate how unresolved problems from various developmental stages may lend a particular coloration to the patient's later vengeful motives. Also provided is another case history of an early adult homosexual woman. The article is concluded with a set of technical recommendations for working with such patients in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.