The science of revenge : understanding the world's deadliest addiction--and how to overcome it
(2025)

Nonfiction

Book

Call Numbers:
NEW 152.4/KIMMEL,J

Availability

Locations Call Number Status
New & Popular Genl Nonfic NEW 152.4/KIMMEL,J Available

Details

PUBLISHED
New York : Harmony, [2025]
©2025
DESCRIPTION

xxiii, 303 pages ; 24 cm

ISBN/ISSN
9780593796511, 0593796519 :, 0593796519, 9780593796511
LANGUAGE
English
NOTES

A revenge revolution -- The deadliest addiction -- Quest to find a killer -- This is your brain on revenge -- This is what revenge addicts want you to know -- These are the screams of revenge addicts in pain -- These are the deadliest revenge addicts in human history -- This is America on revenge -- This is humanity on revenge -- This is your brain on forgiveness -- This is how to kick the revenge habit -- This is the nonjustice system for setting yourself free -- A revenge recovery story

"There is a hidden addiction plaguing this country right now: revenge. Researchers have identified retaliation in response to real and imagined grievances as the root cause of most forms of human aggression and violence. From vicious tweets to road rage, murder-suicide, and armed insurrection, perpetrators almost always see themselves as victims seeking justice. Chillingly, recent neuroimaging studies of the human brain show that harboring a personal grievance activates the neural pleasure and reward circuitry of addiction. Although this behavior is ancient and seems inevitable, by understanding retaliation and violence as an addictive brain-biological process, we can control deadly revenge cravings and save lives. In The Science of Revenge, Yale violence researcher and psychiatry lecturer James Kimmel, Jr., JD, uncovers the truth behind why we want to hurt the people who hurt us, what happens when it gets out of hand, and how to stop it. Weaving neuroscience, psychology, sociology, law, and human history with captivating storytelling, Dr. Kimmel reveals the neurological mechanisms and prevalence of revenge addiction. He shines an unsparing light on humanity's pathological obsession with revenge throughout history; his own struggle with revenge addiction that almost led him to commit a mass shooting; America's growing addiction to revenge as a special brand of justice; and the startlingly similar addictive behaviors and motivations of childhood bullies, abusive partners, aggrieved employees, sparring politicians, street gang members, violent extremists, mass killers, and tyrannical dictators. He also reveals the amazing, healing changes that take place inside your brain and body when you practice forgiveness. Emphasizing the necessity of proven public health approaches and personal solutions for every level of revenge addiction, he offers urgent, actionable information and novel methods for preventing and treating violence"--Provided by publisher