 The fear is that punitive damages encourage a vindictive, revenge seeking state of mind in the claimant and society more generally.In the UK, "Rookes v Barnard" limited the situations in which punitive damages can be won in tort actions to where they are expressly authorised by a statute, where a defendant's action is calculated to make profit, or where an official of the state has acted arbitrarily, oppressively or unconstitutionally.In the United States, though rarely awarded in tort cases, punitive damages are available, and are sometimes quite staggering when awarded.