Learning Non-Aggression: The Experience of Non-Literate Societies

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Why are some people aggressive and others gentle? Why are some groups of people aggressive toward other groups but never towards members of their own group? Why are aggression and violence totally nonexistent in some cultures?

The answer lies primarily in child-rearing, particularly in the treatment of infants, according to these essays by E. Richard Sorenson, Patricia Draper, Jean L. Briggs, Robert Knox Dentan, Catherine H. Berndt, Robert I. Levy, and Colin M. Turnbull. Whether describing the !Kung of the Kalahari Desert, the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic, the Fore of New Guinea, the Semai of Malaysia, or the aborigines of Australia, the articles reinforce a central theme: that non-aggression rests on a foundation of loving maternal care. In each non-aggressive society, infant's basic needs are continuously satisfied without obstacle, and young children learn without punishment to cope without angers, fears and hostilities.

The view that man is innately a violent and aggressive animal has gained wide attention in recent years through the controversial writings of Konrad Lorenz, Robert Ardrey, Desmond Morris, and others. In Learning Non-Aggression, Montagu and his contributors give us strong evidence "that the peaceful component in human nature is as strong as the aggressive impulses and that it only awaits the proper set of cultural conditions to flower into a way of life for people everywhere" - Marvin Harris, Columbia University