Retaliation, or Restorative Accountability?

By: Will Bledsoe, Ph.D. (2016, 2026)

There is something deeper, existing underneath the impulse to retaliate. There is a deeper instinct of justice that is at once ancient, yet more evolved. I believe that restoration, the restorative instinct, is part of our DNA. Restoration, perhaps, is our species’ original justice sensibility. 

This deeper instinct comes not only from a place of compassion, but from pragmatism. Perhaps this is what Mahatmas Gandhi meant when he uttered his famous quote “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Retaliation doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t solve problems. It doesn’t heal. It only continues the cycle of violence. 

This does not mean that the retaliatory impulse isn’t gratifying on some level. But that level is superficial, momentary, incomplete, and does not, will not, lead to authentic satisfaction. Retaliation is about vengeance. Retaliation perpetuates retaliation.

Retaliation is a very human initial response to reclaiming power. We can very humanly fall into the conviction that the reclamation of power – the antidote to our own sense of powerlessness - requires the forceful overpowering of the other. When this happens, and we choose force and violence over dialogue, we don’t evolve. Nothing really changes.  

It's often the case that while people often enter a restorative dialogue shackled with resentment and a mindset motivated by retribution, this mindset begins to dissolve once people start to see and understand underlying issues that motivated the destructive behavior. We see “the reason why.” This understanding can lead to 'distinguishing between the behavior and the value of the individual.' In turn, we gain some objectivity and can then directly address underlying issues (e.g., mental health).  

This understanding can shine a light on the possibility of authentic change. All of sudden, violations, injustices, situations and incidents of harm – even abuse become restorative potentials. The restorative approach to justice shines a light on what is possible not only in mending human relationships, but liberating us from our impulse to punish in retaliation. It heals bitterness and resentment through accountability, understanding and reparation. It’s a different type of accountability.

It’s an accountability that gets to the root cause of injustice. It’s a different paradigm of accountability wherein accountability becomes the “ability to account”, and it is not an outcome so much as an ongoing process of investigation and discovery.