See more
When did Margaret Mead wrote Coming of Age in Samoa?
1928Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation is a 1928 book by American anthropologist Margaret Mead based upon her research and study of youth – primarily adolescent girls – on the island of Taʻū in the Samoan Islands.
How long did Mead study in Samoa?
nine monthsMead spent nine months in Samoa more than 50 years ago, and returned to describe an idyllic society filled with guilt-free teen-age love and devoid of stern child-rearing, adolescent stresses, religious inhibitions and aggressive behavior such as rape.
How old was Mead when she went to Samoa?
In 1925, Franz Boas, 'the father of American anthropology', faced by what he called 'the difficulty of telling what part of our behavior is socially determined and what is generally human', arranged for his 23-year-old student Margaret Mead to go to Samoa in Western Polynesia.
What did Mead conclude about the experience of adolescence in Samoa?
After 9 months of study, Mead concluded that unlike stressed American girls, the well-balanced and carefree nature of sexually-active Samoan girls was due to the cultural stability of their society free of conflicting values, expectations, and shameful taboos.
Why is Coming of Age in Samoa important?
A person coming of age is very vital to how they develop their personal characteristics. In opposition to the SamoanSamoanSamoans or Samoan people (Samoan: tagata Sāmoa) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the Samoan language.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › SamoansSamoans - Wikipedia transition, the process of becoming a woman in Western society is marked by responsibilities and social pressure, usually meaning that it is quite a turbulent period for a girl to go through.
Where did Margaret Mead live in Samoa?
Choosing a Household. Some critics of Mead's SamoanSamoanSamoans or Samoan people (Samoan: tagata Sāmoa) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the Samoan language.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › SamoansSamoans - Wikipedia field study have objected to her choice of housing on the island of Ta'u, where she conducted her study of adolescent girls. She chose to live in the naval dispensary with an American family rather than in a Samoan household.
Is Margaret Mead still alive?
November 15, 1978Margaret Mead / Date of death
What happened to Margaret Mead?
Margaret Mead's Death and Legacy Margaret Mead was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1976. She died of pancreatic cancer on November 15, 1978, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1979. She even appeared on a commemorative postage stamp in 1998.
What religion was Margaret Mead?
Though her parents were not religious, Margaret Mead had chosen to be baptized into the Episcopal Church at the age of eleven, and religion played an important role in her life.
Who wrote Coming of Age in Samoa?
Margaret MeadComing of Age in Samoa / AuthorMargaret Mead (1901-1978) began her remarkable career when she visited Samoa at the age of twenty-three, which led to her first book, Coming of Age in Samoa.
What did Mead conclude based on her research?
What did Mead conclude, based on her research? Mainly the result of culture rather than biology. What is cultural relativism and why is it important to social scientists? Belief that cultures should be judged by what they do, not by what they should do.
What is Margaret Mead best known for?
As an anthropologist, Mead was best known for her studies of the nonliterate peoples of Oceania, especially with regard to various aspects of psychology and culture—the cultural conditioning of sexual behaviour, natural character, and culture change.
Where did Margaret Mead do her research?
Mead set out in 1925 to do fieldwork in Samoa. In 1926, she joined the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, as assistant curator.
What did Margaret Mead study?
As an anthropologist, Mead was best known for her studies of the nonliterate peoples of Oceania, especially with regard to various aspects of psychology and culture—the cultural conditioning of sexual behaviour, natural character, and culture change.
Who wrote Coming of Age in Samoa?
Margaret MeadComing of Age in Samoa / AuthorMargaret Mead (1901-1978) began her remarkable career when she visited Samoa at the age of twenty-three, which led to her first book, Coming of Age in Samoa.
What research methods did Margaret Mead use?
She also used advanced fieldwork methods such as photographs, film, psychological testing, as well as teams of both male and female researchers. As a result, Mead's studies pioneered fieldwork on topics such as childhood, adolescence, and gender and was a founding figure in culture and psychological studies.
Overview
The Mead–Freeman controversy
In 1983, five years after Mead had died, Derek Freeman – a New Zealand anthropologist who lived in Samoa – published Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth, in which he challenged all of Mead's major findings. In 1988, he participated in the filming of Margaret Mead and Samoa, directed by Frank Heimans, which claims to document one of Mead's original informants, now an elderly woman, swearing that the informati…
Content
In the foreword to Coming of Age in Samoa, Mead's advisor, Franz Boas, writes:
"Courtesy, modesty, good manners, conformity to definite ethical standards are universal, but what constitutes courtesy, modesty, good manners, and definite ethical standards is not universal. It is instructive to know that standards differ in the most unexpected ways."
Reception
On publication, the book generated a great deal of coverage both in the academic world and in the popular press. Mead's publisher (William Morrow) had lined up many endorsements from well known academics such as anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski and psychologist John Watson. Their praise was a major public relations coup for Morrow and drew popular attention to the book. Academic interest was soon followed by sensational headlines such as "Samoa is the Place for …
See also
• Culture of Samoa
• Heretic, a play by Australian playwright David Williamson that explores Freeman's reactions to Mead.
• The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia
External links
• Mead, Margaret (1928). Coming of Age in Samoa: A psychological study of primitive youth for Western civilisation – via Internet Archive.