Blood feud and its impact on the Albanian criminality

Blood feud in Albania still exists. It is spread throughout the country, but it is more alarming in northern Albania. The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the phenomenon in order to know its impact on the Albanian criminality. The literature review indicates that blood feud in Albania is adaptable to circumstances and it is associated with the weakness of the state. The analysis is based on combining data from different sources. The data show that during the years 1992-2012, the 7 Albanian districts out of 36 where blood feud is more present have a higher crime rate. The district of Shkodra, where Kanun has more influence, registers the highest crime rate. The results thus indicate that blood feud could be considered a significant criminogenic factor. Comparing to other countries taken into analysis Albania has, after Montenegro, the highest crime rate among Balkans. The data also show that blood feud does not have a great impact on a larger scale, since Albania ranks 14th out of 26 analysed countries for years 2006-2010.