Outline of Crime and Customs of Savage Society

Outline of Crime and Custom in Savage Society

Who wrote it? * Bronislaw Malinowski * Was born in 1884 in Krakow, Austria-Hungary (now Poland) but lived most of his life in Britain * Known as the Father of Social anthropology * Written in 1926 * He did not participate in the activities; he was an observer only * Takes place in the Trobriand Archipelago, an island near New Guinea that is inhabited by a Melanesian community * The island has many lagoons and is very swampy * He states that from a superficial perspective you might see the Melanesians while trying to catch fish in the lagoon, as having anarchy, disorder, and chaos. But after hours of observation it shows that there is some cooperation and even complexity in their fishing. * When they use canoes, someone is appointed as a temporary leader and rest are crewmates each receiving an equal “pay” of fish. * There are two separated regions on this island: The coastal region and the inland region. The coastal relies on the inland for vegetables and fruits while the inland relies on the coastal for fish * Money has no use in the Melanesian society * It is not a “finder’s keepers” society * The marriage system is very odd; the men choose who they want to their wives to be; however when they have children, the husband’s and/or wife’s brother is the children’s guardian while the husband and wife move away * There are three basic legal aspects in the Melanesian society: * Yakala which is when two parties are in a non physical quarrel (argument) but there is no third party to designate who is right and who is wrong. The two parties will keep arguing until they are able to reach agreement which can take hours. * Kaytapaku which is when someone is proven to be guilty of stealing one’s possessions and a curse is set upon them * Kaytubutabu which is when someone is proven of committing murder and they are stoned to death * Although the Melanesians do not have the same mental capacity as a person from a first world country, the structure of their social and economic system is very similar. There is currency (fish and vegetables), there is a marriage system that has traditions and values, and there is a legal system. Many first world countries social and economic system are based on what the people want; the social and economic system of societies like the Melanesians are based on what the people need