The Juxtaposition of Revenge and Forgiveness in Peer Conflict Experiences of Youth Exposed to Violence

In a sample of 95 urban Colombian mid-adolescents, this mixed-method study examined how youths’ retaliatory desires and actions were juxtaposed with forgiveness and nonforgiveness in their narrative accounts of peer conflict. Quantitative analyses examined how retaliatory desire and action were associated with variations in youths’ lifetime exposure to violence (ETV) and recent victimization by peers at school. These measures of violence exposure were related to revenge only in the context of unforgiven harms. Qualitative analyses explored aspects of youths’ narrative accounts that may underlie the observed associations. Overall, findings suggest that ETV may interfere with youths’ capacity to reflect on revenge in ways that recognize their own fallibility and thus open the door to forgiveness.