The term “honor killings” is used to describe murders that are conducted by family members in order to preserve the family name. As a social problem today, it generally involves male family members killing a female member who has in some way challenged the religious or cultural guidelines laid out for her. In an article for Reuters entitled “Pakistani family sentenced to death over ‘honor killing’ outside court”, Mubasher Bukhari examines the sentencing of a recent case in Lahore, Pakistan (2014). In “Honor Killings in the Middle East and North Africa”, Kulczycki & Windle explore honor killings as a social problem from a more general perspective, examining the magnitude of the problem and the effects it has on society (2011).

Overall, the problem of honor killings is identified by both Bukhari (2014) and Kulczycki & Windle (2011) as an issue that affects society as a whole. With the threat of honor killings hanging over (mostly) female potential victims, many individuals in society do not have the freedom to act as they wish. It should also be noted that honor killings are also a global problem, in that certain extremist cultures promote the practice no matter what their geographical location – there have been cases in the U.S. and Europe (Henslin et al., 2013).

The problem is presented by Bukhari (2014) very much as a legal one with respect to the case at hand. The fact that 869 of these killings were reported by the media in Pakistan in 2013 is also noted, as is the belief that the true number is much higher due to the nature of “honor killings”, presenting the problem very much as a social one. In contrast, Kulczycki & Windle (2011) present the problem from a variety of perspectives taking into account previous research on honor killings, looking at the sociology, criminology and legal aspects of the issue.

Bukhari (2014) appears to take the perspective of symbolic interactionism when presenting the problem of honor killings, in that it is noted to be part of an existing culture. Many of the legal aspects of the case are explained in terms of Pakistani law and the basic theory behind the symbolic nature of honor killings in Islam are presented (Henslin et al., 2013). In contrast, Kulcyzcki & Windle (2011) focus on the issue from a feminist perspective as the victims of honor killings are overwhelmingly female. The issue is presented as being part of a culture which values the purity and compliance of women very highly, which means that any transgression is seen as embarrassing for a family (Henslin et al., 2013). In essence, Bukhari (2014) focuses more on the cultural history of the problem whilst Kulcyzcki & Windle (2011) use a narrower focus. Both authors suggest that one solution to the problem is to impose stricter punishments for those who partake in honor killings. Overall, this is a realistic solution as it is legal in nature, but it is unclear what effect it will have on something that is so clearly social in nature.

In conclusion, honor killings are an important social problem because they have the potential to impact society as a whole in a negative way. Not only does it harm the victims and their families, it is also an international problem that still occurs on a fairly large scale. Both Bukhari (2014) and Kulcyzcki & Windle (2011) present the problem in the context of culture, but Bukhari focuses more on the legal aspects of the case with the latter journal article placing more emphasis on a feminist approach. Both suggest that stricter legal sanctions are a good way of approaching the problem but acknowledge that it is unclear how beneficial this will be in the long-term.