Reference:
Coming of Age in Samoa
Margaret Mead
1928 Harper Perennial
Summary:
Samoan society has little tolerance for drawn out conflict or social deviancy. Most conflicts are minor, and are patched up shortly after they arise. In cases of lasting strife, however, one of the involved parties usually leaves the village. Of the deviants that Mead observed, she found that they could be separated into two seperate categories. Girls in the first group would become isolated because of their personality/situation, and would devote themselves to some other calling, like the church. The second group consisted of girls who could be described as delinquents. They would be combative, dishonest and even violent. Mead also observed a deviant who fell into neither category, a girl who was so incompetant that she was held in contempt rather than antagonism.
Discussion:
This chapter brings to mind the whole nature vs nurture theory of personality development. How similar would these deviant girls be if they had been raised in a different environment? Would there be much difference at all? In addition, I find it fascinating how the samoan philosophy tends to center around "do what's expected or else." There is little tolerance for non-conformity, so it seems that little help is offered to people who have genuine problems.
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