Full Citation

Title: A History of Violence: The Culture of Honor and Homicide in the US South

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2014

ISBN:

ISSN: 1542-4766

DOI:

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Abstract: According to the culture of honor hypothesis, the high prevalence of homicide in the South of the United States originates from the settlement by herders from the fringes of Britain in the 18th century. This paper confirms that historical Scot or Scots-Irish presence is associated with higher contemporary homicide, particularly by white offenders, and that the culture of honor was transmitted to subsequent generations; but only in the South and, more generally, where historical institutional quality was low. The interpretation is that the culture of honor prevailed and persisted as an adaptive behavior to weak institutions. The influence of the culture of honor is also found to be fading over time. The results are robust to using different proxies for institutional quality, to controlling for state fixed effects and for a large number of historical and contemporary factors, as well as to relying on instrumental variables for historical settlements. The results are also specific to a particular type of homicide and background of settlers.

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Authors: Grosjean, Pauline

Periodical (Full): Journal of the European Economic Association

Issue: 5

Volume: 12

Pages: 1285-1316

Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS NHGIS

Topics: Crime and Deviance

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