The game I hand in mind was the Egypt DCL which I think was Raging Barbs - I can't remember how much culture I got from barb kills but I know it was a lot.
In any case it doesn't matter - we're talking here about Sweden. The case was to get the early Honor Great General and the bonus to spawning Great Generals and then probably the experience bonus policy.
Farming barb camps is just a way to help offset the culture cost to augment the value of the Honor tree. That is it - quite often you get a barb kill and the culture speeds your next social policy by 1 turn. A few more barb kills and it can shave off a few turns to the next social policy - it helps. It's less important in the late game but in the early game where social policies come very slowly everything helps.
Also you need to consider the military bonus vs barbs too. Sometimes you can be at a risk of losing units to barbs which essentially sets you back several turns if tiles are plundered or you have to rebuild a unit - yes that is probably sloppy play but sometimes it happens. The Honor opener helps protect you from that risk - it's hard to see the exact value in it but it is there.
