Psychocultural Mechanisms of the Propensity toward Criminal Homicide: A Multidimensional View of the Culture of Honor.

Monica G T C Souza,Edson S Da Silva,Bruno C Souza,Antonio Roazzi

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01872

Monica G T C Souza, Edson S Da Silva + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01872

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Abstract

Introduction: Theory of the Culture of Honor is one of the few models in criminology specifically geared toward homicide. It proposes that, in certain societies, men must never show weakness and are required to react violently to any perceived threats to their reputation, thereby increasing their probability of committing a homicide. This has been suggested as the main explanation for the high rates of this type of crime in Brazil, particularly in the Northeast. Underlying this explanation there are complex mechanisms and processes that have yet to be clarified.Objectives: The present research aimed to investigate the workings of the possible psychocultural mechanisms underlying the culture of honor and the process through which they might affect the individual propensity toward homicide.Methods: A total of 336 Brazilian adults were assessed regarding a broad range of sociodemographic, psychological, and sociocultural variables, including their attitudes toward homicide. The resulting dataset was analyzed using Smallest Space Analysis and Facet Theory.Results: It seems that certain cultural elements associated to traditional masculinity and enhanced anger tend to promote negative personality traits and increase one’s propensity toward committing homicide.Conclusion: The findings obtained not only confirm the Theory of the Culture of Honor for the propensity toward homicide, but also explicit and clarify some of the psychocultural processes and mechanisms involved, suggesting a new scientific framework.

Highlights

Theory of the Culture of Honor is one of the few models in criminology geared toward homicide
The present paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the psychocultural workings underlying the culture of honor and its tendency to increase an individual’s propensity toward committing homicide
The present study aimed to investigate the relationships between the different components of the culture of honor and an individual’s experience and attitudes toward criminal homicide, with the identification of the roles of internal psychological variables regarding the dynamics of anger, emotional regulation, and personality, as well as the psychosocial elements of Hyperculture and the value assigned to different moral compasses

Summary

Introduction

Theory of the Culture of Honor is one of the few models in criminology geared toward homicide It proposes that, in certain societies, men must never show weakness and are required to react violently to any perceived threats to their reputation, thereby increasing their probability of committing a homicide. In certain societies, men must never show weakness and are required to react violently to any perceived threats to their reputation, thereby increasing their probability of committing a homicide This has been suggested as the main explanation for the high rates of this type of crime in Brazil, in the Northeast. Even the intellectual authors of the governmental plan against violence in Pernambuco admit that it has significant flaws (Ratton et al, 2014)

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