Courtesy of James Kimmel, Jr.

This May, James Kimmel Jr., a lawyer, lecturer in psychiatry at the School of Medicine and the founder and co-director of the Yale Collaborative for Motive Control Studies, is set to publish “The Science of Revenge,” a book that explores how revenge-motivated violence should be treated as a form of addiction.

Kimmel’s research explores the intersection of revenge, violence and addiction. “The Science of Revenge” seeks to merge several academic fields: evolution and brain biology, criminology and psychology and addiction. 

“The Science of Revenge,” Kimmel explained, will serve as a non-violence toolkit. By distributing this information, he intends to inform policy makers, educators, parents, mental health professionals and the criminal justice system about violent and non-violent revenge seeking behavior.

“It’s based on the research of more than 60 neuroscientists at universities around the world, and I’ve been able to bring it all together with other research that talks about the role of revenge in violence and put that all together with all of the addiction research that exists,” Kimmel said.

Kimmel’s previous work has attempted to prevent and treat violent tendencies.

In the past, Kimmel launched the website SavingCain.org in an attempt to prevent homicides and mass shootings. SavingCain, modeled after suicide prevention websites, speaks directly to prospective killers before they strike. The site includes a page titled “Warning Signs of a Revenge Attack” based on popular public health campaigns for heart attacks. 

Kimmel also created The Nonjustice System, a “12-step program” to recover from revenge addiction, an unseen brain biological addiction triggered by a grievance, and the related Miracle Court App. This mental practice puts one’s mind inside an imaginary, or virtual, courtroom with the wrongdoer on trial. In this court, the wronged individual plays prosecutor, victim, judge and jury. This process, Kimmel elaborated, is intended to enable forgiveness while releasing revenge cravings and honoring that human desire for accountability. 

Human violence, Kimmel mentioned, is primarily a consequence of revenge addiction. Kimmel hopes this newfound understanding of revenge related behavior will demonstrate why we harm other people, but also provide pathways for solution. 

Jessica Stern, a professor at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies who has taught classes on counter-terrorism and the history of terrorism, finds Kimmel’s discussion of revenge as an addiction powerful.

“Kimmel demonstrates that emerging neuroscientific and behavioral research indicates that retaliatory impulses from perceived injustices stimulate the same neural reward pathways as those activated in substance dependence,” Stern wrote to The News.

Kimmel argues that society should address revenge in the same way it addresses behavior addiction, which Stern finds compelling. 

Dr. Michael Norko DIV ’10, a professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine, is a forensic psychiatrist who worked in the state’s mental health system for years. Norko was intrigued by Kimmel’s work. 

“These concepts of harm that people do to one another, and then the outcomes of those, is something I have a lot of experience with from a different perspective,” said Norko. “So Kimmel’s work resonates with me.”

Norko was impressed with the accessible writing of Kimmel’s book, and found its narrative style to be engaging and interesting.

By telling his own personal stories and presenting his information in a storytelling framework, Norko believes that Kimmel can reach a broad audience, which could be powerful in helping people to think about how society addresses revenge, including in the news and media.

“I think it can potentially have a profound effect on efforts to mitigate those effects in our lives,” Norko said. 

“The Science of Revenge” will be released on May 27.