Mark Cooney - Execution by family : a theory of honor violence

Execution by Family

Across many parts of the world, violence inflicted in the name of family honor is attracting an increasing amount of attention. Family honor violence, otherwise known as honor-based violence, is physical force inflicted primarily on women for conduct defined as dishonorable. This book explores these conflicts of honor, how they are triggered, how they are handled, and why some lead to death.

Drawing on a range of case studies and employing Donald Blacks concept of social geometry, Execution by Family incorporates and goes beyond patriarchy, culture, and kinship to develop a unified theory of family honor violence. It discusses the honor belt, a series of countries stretching from north Africa to southeast Asia, in which similar forms of inequality, patriarchy, group authority, and gerontocracy are prevalent and how, within the confines of this inequality, honor violence flourishes. Reviewing survey data and pointing to a multi-pronged, cross-national social movement, the book also discusses the future of honor-based violence.

Given the growing awareness of family honor violence, Execution by Family will be of interest to anybody concerned with family conflict, violence, crime, and popular morality. It will be invaluable reading for academics and students in the fields of criminology, criminal justice, sociology, social psychology, and anthropology.

Mark Cooney is Professor of Sociology at the University of Georgia, USA. A specialist in the study of moral conflict, he has authored numerous articles on the subject as well as two previous books, Warriors and Peacemakers: How Third Parties Shape Violence (1998) and Is Killing Wrong? A Study in Pure Sociology (2009).

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Execution by Family

A Theory of Honor Violence
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First published 2019

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2019 Mark Cooney

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Cooney, Mark, 1955 author.

Title: Execution by family : a theory of honor violence/Mark Cooney.

Description: 1 Edition. | New York : Routledge, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018058668| ISBN 9780815375135 (hardback) | ISBN 9781351240659 (eBook)

Subjects: LCSH: Honor killings. | Family violence.

Classification: LCC HV6250.4.W65 C665 2019 | DDC 306.87dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018058668

ISBN: 978-0-8153-7513-5 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-351-24065-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo

by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear

To Mary, for everything

I came to family honor violence in a roundabout manner. For some years now, I have written about various aspects of the sociology of moral conflict and its management. In 2009, I published a book titled, Is Killing Wrong? A Study in Pure Sociology, which addresses the response to homicide in human societies, drawing on anthropological, historical, and modern sources. In the course of my research, I was struck by the contrast between the universal moral prohibition, Thou shalt not kill (at least within the society), and the wide variation with which real life homicides are handled. At one extreme are those killings that result in very severe penalties, such as torture and death. At the other extreme I found some killings that result in praise for the killer. Examples of homicides that commonly attract acclaim are the slaying of rebellious slaves, notorious outlaws, and dishonored women in certain societies. These jumped out at me. When do they occur? Why does our moral assessment of lethal violence make a U-turn in some circumstances? Why do other people regard such actions as justified? Given that the execution of women by their own families in the name of family honor has generated a substantial body of research, I felt that it offered me the best opportunity to investigate the question of why the moral status of killing another human being can vary so widely: why wrong becomes right.

I mention this circuitous route because it sets me apart from others who study the topic. The primary mission of many scholars in the field is political to highlight the heinousness of family honor violence and foster support for its elimination. I understand that sentiment. Even after several years of reading about the issue, I am still not inured to killings in the name of family honor. To honor the memory of the young women and men whose lives have been taken sometimes in particularly brutal ways I use their real names rather than pseudonyms, wherever possible, in describing cases in the following pages. But I am trying to do something different in this book. Instead of condemning family honor violence, I seek to understand it. I seek a theory that explains when family honor violence will occur and, especially, when it will lead to death. I seek a theory that explains the content of this moral system, and why it is so strict and severe. I seek a testable theory that explains as many facts as possible with the fewest ideas as possible. I seek a scientific theory.

In writing this book, I have been aided and assistance by several people. For their helpful comments on an earlier draft, I thank Daniel Boches, Scott Phillips, Jason Manning, and Leslie Simmons. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Donald Black for his advice and support over the years, for his characteristically penetrating insights into a prior draft, and, most importantly, for creating the theoretical framework that structures this work.