When Americans are asked what social problem bothers them most, the majority mention violence. Certainly there is no question that violence in this country has become epidemic. But while there are many who are quick to propose building new prisons to house violent criminals, there are all too few who stop to consider the origins of violence in this culture. As former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop stated in 1984, "Violence is every bit as much a public health issue for me and my successors in this century as smallpox, tuberculosis, and syphilis were for my predecessors in the last two centuries."

Many mental health experts believe that all violence represents an attempt to achieve justice, or more correctly, to achieve what the violent individual perceives to be justice. Violence is thus seen as the pursuit of retribution or compensation for what one...