Crime and Custom in Savage Society [Paperback]

Bronislaw Malinowski (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0822602105 | ISBN-13: 978-0822602101 | Publication Date: June 28, 1985

Bronislaw Malinowski achieved international recognition as the founder of "functionalism" in social anthropology, based on his studies of Melanesian society on the Trobriand Islands off New Guinea. His Crime and Custom in Savage Society is now one of the classic works of modern anthropology. In his book, Malinowski describes and analyzes the ways in which Trobriand Islanders structure and maintain the social and economic order of their tribe. This is essential reading for anyone interested in anthropology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Now and then a book is written which cuts mercilessly through an accumulation of traditional conceptions and by the light of overlooked or misinterpreted facts and common sense shows us how absurd the orthodox ideas have really been. Such a book is this volume of Dr. Malinowski's, which brilliantly, concisely, and in non-technical language demonstrates how very wrong and indeed impossible are the currently accepted views of some of the fundamentals of savage life. (Saturday Review )

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (June 28, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822602105
• ISBN-13: 978-0822602101
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #325,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How does "law" work among the natives in Papua New Guinea?, January 1, 2006

By 

Klaus Stiefel (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crime and Custom in Savage Society (Paperback)

This is a clever book. I am not a professional anthropologist, but I have still profited from reading it. A good piece of science with good observations and intelligent conclusions ages well. Written in the 1920s and based on observations Malinowski has made during WW I in Papua New Guinea, "Crime and Custom in Savage Society" deals with "law" in traditional society.
Malinowski is fighting the view that prevailed among anthropologists at that time, which was that people in traditional societies follow the clan rules in a quasi instinctive manner, unable to diverge from the rules. He disagrees and makes his point on the basis of a number of observations
that he made while on the Trobidand islands. The islanders did not at all slavishly adhere to the rules of tribal culture. Instead, sometimes they strove to circumvent the laws just as western businessmen sometimes try to evade tax law. The rules are what differs between their societies and ours, and the amount of codification of these rules, but not basic human psychology towards "the law". A multitude of human behaviors in the face of rules and regulations of different types exists in Europe and in Papua New Guinea. I find the conclusions both highly interesting from a cultural point of view and also anti-racist: The natives on the coral islands on the other side of the world show complex human social strategies if confronted with rules and regulations just as we do.

Malinowski is considered one of the the first proponents of modern, scientific anthropology. I can definitely see why - he is a sharp observer and puts things intelligently in context. These skills will never go out of fashion in science.

5.0 out of 5 stars A must that debukes the myth of the savage society, November 17, 2009

By 

Serge Berthier (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Crime and Custom in Savage Society (Paperback)

This is a totally politically incorrect book. I advise anyone studying laws, and any budding politician (later on they are too spoilt to open a book) to read Malinovski's analysis of the notion of law and order in a tribal society. If a judicial system aims to provide some kind of protection and some fairness within a society, then the customs that Malinovski observed were as efficient as anything else.
For years the book has been ignored and it is likely to remain so among our elite. If you start to admit that the "legal" system of a savage society has something to teach us, then you are taking the risk of being called an anarchist or a terrorist.