NCJ Number
90772
Journal
Revue internationale de criminologie et de police technique Volume: 34 Issue: 2 Dated: (April-June 1981) Pages: 125-142
Date Published
1981
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article delineates the fundamental characteristics of traditional vendetta justice and describes its practice among the Bedouins, the Albanians, the Corsicans, and the Sardinians.
Abstract
Generally, vendettas pit two families, clans, or ethnic groups against each other and concern specific crimes such as homicide or offenses against the honor of specific victims, i.e., persons who fall within the protection of the group. Vengeance in the name of honor is executed by a designated male representative of the offended group and its purpose is to kill or injure the offender -- in modern times usually with firearms. As a self-perpetuating cycle of violence, vendettas can be halted only under ritualistically prescribed conditions; sometimes they culminate in the complete extinction of a clan or family. Vendetta justice is grounded in the patriarchal social order and usually coexists alongside the formal justice system of the State. Orally transmitted retribution laws of the Bedouins contain complexities relating to social hierarchies, the status of women, and ritualistic procedures. In Albania, the oral vendetta tradition has been coded in writing since 1933 and prescribes vengeance not only for violations against persons but even dogs, who play an important role in the sheepherding culture. Corsican decisions on family vengeance are made in a setting of elaborate funerary rituals, intended to incite feelings of retribution. Sardinian retributive violence has two forms -- vendetta against an offender's person or pillage of his property. A particularly onerous offense -- equal to that of homicide or sexual violation of a clanswoman -- is the denunciation of someone to the criminal justice authorities. Photographs and 12 footnotes are given.