Library of Congress.

REPORT OF

MARGARET MEAD

FELLOW IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

TO THE

BOARD OF FELLOWSHIPS OF THE

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

"A Study in Heredity and Environment

Based on an Investigation of the Phenomena of

Adolescence among Primitive and Civilized Peoples."

Place of Work.

AMERICAN SAMOA.

Institution.

Columbia University, New York City

Under the direction of

Franz Boas.

January 6, 1926.

    THE MILIEU. The Country of Ta'u, on the island of Ta'u, in the Manu’a Archipelago, was chosen as the most favorable spot for conducting the investigation as the problem demands concentration on one small area. Ta'u contains three sub-villages, each with a separate identity and almost contiguous. Foreign influences which would distort the native culture are at a minimum. The eight hundred and fifty inhabitants furnish a sufficiently large sample of adolescent girls so that conclusions should not be endangered by too small a number. The difficulty of communication between Ta'u and other islands insured a fairly stable population, an important item in a country where continuous visiting is an institutionalized phenomenon.

    FACTORS IN THE PROBLEM. If a primitive culture be envisaged as a strictly homogenous one, offering practically no opportunities for conscious choice to the young people who grow up within its narrow range, Samoa today can hardly be pronounced completely primitive. The presence of the American Government offers opportunities of employment to both girls and boys as nurses, police, teachers in the Samoan schools, etc. But the choice thus provided is almost entirely a matter of occupation, and the individual in almost all cases remains subject to the social system in which the matai, or father of the grossefamilie still exercises tremendous authority. Second, the London Missionary Society, which is very heavily entrenched all over Samoa, has introduced standards for Church membership which are of western making, thus presenting a set of standards in some degree conflicting with those of the native culture.

    More important than the choices which have been introduced by Church and State, are those presented to the young by the original pattern of the native Samoan culture. These are of two sorts; those resulting from the importance of rank with different standards of conduct for different classes, and those resulting from the bi-lateral system of relationship, coupled as this is with great emphasis upon the claims of relatives. The effect of the institution of rank upon Samoan girls is particularly noticeable in the Taupou concept, the daughter of the high chief who is the ceremonial village virgin. In the case of her marriage and also at the marriage of girls of lesser rank the representative of the bridegroom is permitted to test the virginity of the bride. Along with this institution there is an extensive tolerance of pre-marital sex relations, and the adolescent girl is thus presented with a distinct choice. The influence of the bi-lateral social organization is evidenced in the possibility which it offers of a change or residence, for if a girl feels she is over-worked or over-chaperoned, she can run away to the other side of the family, it my be to relatives of lower rank and laxer standards. Friction between uncongenial personalities is often solved in this way, but of course the girl changes from one patriarchal family to another only slightly different.

    The environment of the Samoan girl differs significantly from the environment of a young girl in Western civilization in several ways: namely, the paramount importance of blood relationship, the almost universal super-familial structure of the grosse family [original text] which obscures the importance of the immediate biological family, the small degree in which the education of boys and girls is differentiated, and the degree to which the girl lacks any sort of private existence, private property or control of her own time and activities. There are also no attempts to arouse the adolescent girl and boy religiously, by strong emotional appeals. The whole emphasis of the Protestant Church in Samoa is on physical chastity rather than conversion of any sort, and the pastors therefore attempt to get the children well under their influence before puberty.

    The bi-lateral social organization, optional patrilocal or matrilocal residence, and the system of grossefamilien, result in extremely complex households, composed of half brothers and sisters, foster brothers and sisters, numbers of unrelated individuals who claim residence from different sides of the family, step-children, illegitimate children - - all the variations upon the simple biological family which are sometimes considered so pregnant with important psychological implications for the young child.

    Blood relationship and its ambiguous accompaniment, residence in the same household, are the dominant factors, socially, economically and in the affectional relationships. Second in importance is the question of age. Within the extensive relationship group, age always carries authority (with the possible exception of a young head of the household’s holding authority over older members), so that the growing girl may owe allegiance and obedience to a dozen people and have presumptive authority over as many more. Within the age groups which arise among the entire population of the village the principle of relationship again operates. The inter-action of these two important factors is full of interesting psychological developments.

    The entire life of the Samoan girl is lived beneath the eyes of whole community. She lives in an unwalled house, keeps her problematical personal possessions, mostly wearing apparel (liable to appropriation at anytime by the older females in the household) in the common chest; bathes, dresses, eats and sleeps in a crowd. Her tiniest move, most insignificant act is the subject of extensive village comment and may result in reproof from a score of relatives. Her time is never her own, but she is constantly at the beck and call of some chance[-]met relative or any older person even after she has escaped for a time from her particular household. As if to compensate for this communal existence[,] the artistic work and the siva (the Samoan dance indulged in by both sexes and all ages) are intensely individualistic, and jealous depreciation of others’ achievement takes the place of either applause or cooperation - - except in the case of larger competitive groups as villages.

    The sex taboos which form so prominent a part of many Polynesian cultures are practically absent in Samoa. Women are accorded considerable ceremonial prerogatives and discriminated against to a very slight degree. The division of labor is fairly clear, but applies strictly only to the more complex handicrafts of both sexes and is supported by no taboos or repugnances. Both men and women perform all the simpler industrial operations such as agriculture, reef fishing, cooking, weaving ordinary baskets, etc. Children are inducted into the performance of simpler activities as early as possible and the education of boys and girls is thus extremely similar. There are no different standards which enjoin gentleness on girls and manliness on boys; the missionary ideals (rules) of chastity are enforced with equal vigor when the offender is a boy, thus partially eliminating the notion of a double standard. Tattooing of both sexes was formerly the only initiation ceremony and now that tattooing is falling into disuse there is no ceremonial notice taken of the passing of a girl from childhood to puberty. There are no menstrual taboos of any sort. In fact the only significant crisis in a girl’s social existence, from the standpoint of the group, is her marriage. An unmarried mother is classed socially with all other unmarried women. With thus a very small differentiation of training as between the sexes and the sexes and the absence of any institutionalization of the phenomena of physical maturity, an excellent field is provided for studying sex differences in the early years and for phenomena which may be logically be attributed to the nature of growth itself rather than to the emphasis of a particular culture.

    METHOD OF APPROACH. It is proposed to concentrate the investigation upon three aspects of the life of the adolescent girl: problems of her relation to her household, her age group and her community in terms of conformity and divergence of behavior, of rebellion or submission or indifference; problems of sex, under which will be included all affectional relationships such as friendship, devotion to an older individual of the same sex, etc; and an inquiry into the development of religious interest or intellectual interests of any sort.

    A detailed description of the thought patterns and material aspects of the culture is being accumulated. The kind and degree of the participation of the adolescent girl in the general culture will be judged on the basis of this complete information. (Most of this material is of course of separate ethnographic value, and some of the aspects of Samoan culture are being studied in cooperation with the B.F. Bishop Museum in the light of general Polynesian problems.)

    Second, a detailed personnel study of the entire population of the three villages has been completed. This includes information as to sex, approximate age; range; marital state, past and present; number of living children; order of birth in relation to living siblings (in the case of the younger people only); occupation; foreign contacts; amount of education (of younger people); functions in village political organization defects and abnormalities; and relationship to every other member of the household. This personnel study has provided a thorough background for understanding the place of each girl studied in the structure of her community and also answers a great number of detailed questions about each girl’s background.

            A special study of all the girls between the ages of nine and twenty (this is only an approximation as very few ages are accurate within a year or more) is being made. In this way more than fifty girls will be individually studied. If time permits, the study will be extended to the young married women. Such an extension would be of interest because the social status and social responsibilities of the married women differ considerably from those of the unmarried girls.

            A ready-made control group is provided by the group of girls resident in the native pastor’s household . These girls are subjected to a type of training which received its inspiration from the English missionaries; a series of consciously enunciated rules and vigilant chaperonage hedges them about – altogether an environment in strong contrast to that of other Samoan girls and much more similar to that surrounded American or English girls in a boarding school. Their different environment is strikingly reflected in their attitudes, marriage is not the only desirable fate, even the joys of motherhood are questioned, and here alone does friendship seem to transcend the lines of blood relationship entirely. There are twelve of these girls, or about 1/3 of the female population between fourteen and twenty, constituted a very convenient control group.

SUMMARY: The investigation is thus well started. A working knowledge of the culture, the language and the personnel of the chosen milieu has been acquired. It is felt that any attempt to offer conclusions at this stage of the inquiry would be both pre-mature and valueless, as there are five months of intensive study still to be added to the five weeks of detailed work herein reported.

Respectfully submitted,

Margaret Mead,

Fellow in the Biological Sciences of the

National Research Council.

Ta'u, Manu’a, Samoa.

January 6, 1926

                                            EXPLANATORY NOTE

    The attention of the Board of Fellowships is respectfully called to the following circumstances, peculiar to this particular investigation:

4.    The investigation is at present being carried on in the island of Tau, in the Manu’a Archipelago. Communication between Manu’a and Pago Pago is extremely unreliable and irregular. In order, therefore, to insure this report reaching Washington by the 1^st of March, it has to be sent from Ta'u the first week in January.