The Psycho-social Determinants of Revenge and its Association with Feuds in Afridi tribe, Erstwhile FATA-Pakistan

Jan Alam1, Farhat Ullah2 & Sakeel Ahmad3

Abstract
Revenge is a powerful human emotion shaped by socio-cultural practices. It is done more for face-saving, i.e., “how others will think about me”. Keeping in view the prevailing practices of revenge, this study was designed to test the association of psycho-social determinants of revenge with feuds in the Afridi Tribe. Efforts were made to find the costs and benefits of revenge among the tribal people of Dara Adam Khel. The study findings are based on primary data collected through interviews and questionnaires. The population size of the study was835 and a sample size of 214Maliks 4 was selected randomly from each subgroup according to the criteria mentioned by Sekaran and Bougie (2013). The study was quantitative and the relationship between the desirable variables was measured by using the Chi-Square
test (χ2). The study findings show that the forms of revenge may be small-scale feuds
between persons/familiesas well as among tribes. Pakhtun cultural norms suchas Badal/right of retaliation, Tor/social stigmatization, Paighor/Taunt, Ghairat/Chivalry, and Nang/heroism arethose aspects of culture and customary laws which are significantly associated with feuds. It is recommended to avoid bullying and taunt, traditional antagonism may be overcome by educating the masses and the provision of sufficient economic resources and formation of the council at every village that will resolve the feuds at first hand and work to inculcate forgiveness among people.

Keywords: Revenge, aggression, feuds, quantitative research,Afridi tribe.