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Citation |
Rowe M, Kimmel J, Pavlo AJ, Antunes KD, Bellamy CD, O'Connell MJ, Ocasio L, Desai M, Bal J, Flanagan EH. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 2018; 46(4): 486-497. |
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Affiliation |
Dr. Rowe is a Professor, Mr. Kimmel is a Lecturer, Drs. Bellamy and O'Connell are Associate Professors, Dr. Flanagan is a Research Scientist, Dr. Pavlo is an Associate Research Scientist, Dr. Desai is an instructor, Ms. Antunes is Program Coordinator, Ms. Ocasio is a Research Assistant, and Mr. Bal is a Student Intern at the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health, New Haven, CT. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2018, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Publisher American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
30563910 |
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Abstract |
Violence is a serious public health problem in the United States, and a common risk factor for many forms of violence is the perpetrator's motivation to achieve personal justice for past wrongs and injustices. Using a fictional transgression scenario to stimulate revenge feelings, we studied the preliminary efficacy of an intervention designed to mitigate revenge desires among victims of perceived injustice. The intervention consisted of a guided role-play of key figures in the justice system (e.g., victim, prosecutor, defendant, judge, etc.) in an imaginary mock trial of the offender. Study participants' revenge desires toward the perpetrator decreased significantly immediately after the intervention and at a 2-week follow-up interview. Benevolence toward the offender increased immediately postintervention and at a 2-week follow-up interview. These results suggest that the intervention has promise to decrease revenge desires in people who have been victimized, and it potentially opens the door to behavioral health motive control approaches to violence prevention. Language: en |