HARLAN, KENTUCKY Erin Barry Willem Glans Emily Meccia James DenBleyker

Summary In chapter 6, the main topics are rage and anger, and how it was prevalent in people who lived in the south, mainly Harlan Kentucky. There were many cases of violence and death among families who lived in Harlan. In specific, there were two families called the Turners and Howards. Many members from both families were killed over a cow that belonged to one family and went on the other family's property. This was one of the many cases of murder that occurred in Harlan, Kentucky among families. Researchers conducted a test to detect the amount of rage a Southerner has compared to a Northerner. The researchers would insult the people from the south in order to get a response. Using the word “asshole,” caused the greatest reaction. It was miraculous to see that when researchers performed this test on people from the north, there was almost no reaction.

Culture of Honor What is the “culture of honor” that takes place throughout the Appalachian Mountains? “When one family fights with another it is a feud, when lots of families fight with one another in identical little towns up and down the same mountain range, it’s a pattern.” “Culture of Honor” describes the social behavior patterns of the families not only in Harlan, Kentucky, but in other places in the South as well. Psychologists from the University of Michigan wanted to study the “Culture of Honor” so they studied the people of Harlan, Kentucky.

Herdsman Herdsman were clans of families that were very tight and close and placed loyalty to blood above all else. Most of these clans were from Ireland or Scotland and moved over to North America. When they lived in Ireland they lived on rocky, infertile land and when they came to America they moved into the center of America to reproduce the culture of honor they had created in Ireland.

Violence Why is violence required throughout Harlan Kentucky? Violence and anger was a common occurrence for people in the south. Many of the people that lived in the southern region were quickly enraged when insulted. For northerners there was almost no effect. In Harlan Kentucky the people that lived there were notorious for having anger and seeking revenge in foes. In Harlan Kentucky there was a story about the Howards and the Turners, which were two families that killed each over small arguments that escaladed to death. There were many families just like the Howard’s and Turner’s.

Cultural Legacies This chapter speaks of cultural legacies. What is the significance of these? cultural legacies give a region, or a family a sense of pride, a sense of confidence, and a sense of morality. families that have a large amount of pride about themselves tend to protect their legacy, and usually go out of there way to protect it. When they go out of their way they usually commit crimes or start wars with other families that did them wrong. The Hatfield's & McCoy’s had their legacies that they tried to live up to, and that meant not to let the other family ruin their legacy.

Questions Why did the psychologists at the University of Michigan decide to study Harlan, Kentucky?  The psychologists decided to study the town of Harlan, Kentucky because they found that the town had the highest “Culture of Honor”. What made the psychologists want to experiment these people?  They wanted to experiment because they wanted to know why the people from the South got more angry by insults then people in the North did.

Questions Why do families take it to the extreme?  The reason why families take things to the extreme is due to jealousy to other families, weather it comes from wealth, the amount of land they have, or what their attitudes are towards you. Why would they stay so close with their families?  The families that stay closer together end up being very dependent on each other and cared a lot about each other.

Connections Study Finds School Shootings More Likely in 'Culture of Honor' States This article is about researchers from the University of Oklahoma studying how school shootings occur more in the “Culture of Honor” states. They found that students from states considered to be high for their culture of honor were a lot more likely to bring a weapon to school than students from other states. research/2009/10/study_finds_school_shootings_m.html