Retributive Justice: The Restoration of Balance Vicki A. Spencer Contents Introduction ....................................................................................... 2 The Key Elements of Retribution ................................................................ 2 State and Personal Revenge ...................................................................... 5 The Emotional Need for Vengeance ............................................................. 6 Retribution and Positive Peace ................................................................... 8 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 9 References ........................................................................................ 10 Abstract Retribution is one of the oldest justifications for punishment. In Western thought, it is perhaps most famously evident in the Old Testament’ s adage of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. In modern theory, the eighteenth-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) developed this classic notion further by linking its justification to the state’ s authority. It has often been criticized in more recent times as a regressive theory that is no more morally superior than revenge. Retribution and revenge share a common structure. Unlike the theories of deterrence and rehabilitation that are legitimated on the basis of producing the future good of crime reduction, retribution and revenge are back- ward focused. Both are performed due to a past wrong. This chapter explores the differences and similarities between retribution and revenge and argues that while retribution has its limitations, it contains important elements necessary to restore balance in society and to create a positive peace. First, that the full extent of the wrong committed is publicly acknowledged, and second, that unlike the dangers inherent in revenge and deterrence, the punishment cannot create more harm than was caused by the crime. V. A. Spencer (*) Politics, School of Social Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand e-mail: vicki.spencer@otago.ac.nz © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 K. Standish et al. (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3877-3_20-1 1