Understanding Honor and Honor-related Violence

Honor-related violence is a problem, not only in so-called honor cultures but also in non-honor cultures. Yet, very little is known about it. We present a new theoretical model that addresses three gaps in the literature on honor: (1) the lack of a social-psychological process explaining honor-related behavior, (2) the lack of focus on the associates of the dishonored person (the ones who aggress/kill), and (3) the lack of a systematic understanding of the influence of culture. We address these gaps by describing a social-psychological process based on an extensive and interdisciplinary literature review, in which we focus on the dishonored person as well as his/her associates. We suggest that honor-related responses result from the need to protect one’s moral reputation. Subsequently, we present three systematic ways in which culture (operationalized on the community level) influences this process: what is considered dishonorable and what is considered appropriate punishment across communities differs, also the extent to which the social context triggers guarding one’s moral reputation may vary, resulting in less or more severe responses. Our model suggests that a Turkish women having an affair is in a similar boat as an academic committing academic fraud. And, we can understand how culture ‘colors’ this process: why the one is killed and the other banished. Understanding why people around the world commit crimes in the name of honor will advance the academic study of honor and also aid professionals (police, social work, law) in dealing with the victims and perpetrators of honor-related violence.