Adolescence in Pacific Island Societies (ASAO MONOGRAPH) - Hardcover

Leavitt, Stephen C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 082294068X ISBN 13: 9780822940685

Publisher: Univ of Pittsburgh Pr, 1998

Synopsis

How do adolescents in greatly divergent societies see and experience the world? As the first comparative study of adolescence, this book takes an anthropological approach to understanding adolescence in the rapidly changing area of the Pacific Islands. The contributors explore coming-of-age in the tradition of Margaret Mead: the biological basis of teenage rebellion, the role of the adolescent in Pacific Island cultures, and teenagers' influence as agents of change. The essays examine how biology, culture, and adolescence intersect, and how social change affects the adolescent experience. They address the rise of intersex interaction in traditionally segregated communities, the problems of cross-generational differences in education for maintaining traditional authority structures, and the structural effects of personal choice in contracting marriages.

Contributors: Aletta Biersack, University of Oregon; Victoria K. Burbank, University of Western Australia; James S. Chisholm, University of Western Australia; Eileen M. Cantrell; Alan Howard, University of Hawai'i; Maria Lepowsky, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Carol Worthman, Emory University; and the editors.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"This exemplary collection - finely honed, rich in ethnographic cases and theoretical import - explores adolescence both as a biosocial landmark in the life of the individual and as a prefiguration of changes in the adult society. A landmark in itself, th is volume is essential reading for anyone interested in adolescence, youth culture,' and social change in the Pacific - and elsewhncyclopedia articles, and chapters in books. He is the author of Guardians of the Flutes (1981); Intimate Communications: Ero tics and the Study of Culture (with Robert J. Stoller, 1990); and Same-Sex, Different Cultures (1997). He is the editor of Rituals of Manhood: Male Initiation in Papua, New Guinea (1982); Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia (1984, 1993); Gay Culture in America (1992); and Sexual Cultures, Migration, and AIDS (1997).

About the Author:

Stephen C. Leavitt is assistant professor of anthropology at Union College. He received a fulbright research grant to conduct field research among the Bumbita Arapesh people of Papua New Guinea from 1984 to 1986. There he studied family relations and religious change, focusing on the experience of individuals as presented in personal stories. He has written articles on Arapesh sexuality, religious experience, and responses to loss. With Karen Brison he edited a special issue of Ethos, entitled Coping with Bereavement (1995).

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of Pittsburgh Pr
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 082294068X
• ISBN 13: 9780822940685
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 239
• Editor: Herdt Gilbert