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Mead .vs. Freeman
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, Margaret Mead was an ethnologist who was revered for her work in Samoa. She
began attending Bernard University in 1920, after transferring from DePauw University,
where she had studied the year prior. When Mead graduated, she attended the graduate
school at Columbia University, where she studied under Franz Boas, who was a highly
respected anthropologist at the time.
Margaret became very close with Boas and considered him to be a life-long friend
of hers. It was Boas who influenced Margaret’s decision to go to the South Seas and
study people in Samoa. So, in 1925, Mead took her first field trip to the South Seas.
During her time there, Mead studied 68 girls between the ages of nine and twenty, and
she compared the transition from adolescence to adulthood in Samoa and more western
cultures, such as America. She became very close with many people from Samoa and was
even given a Samoan name, Makelita. Mead took part in every aspect of Samoan culture
that she could, including the traditions and rituals initiated by the people in Samoa.
During her nine months living there, Mead found that the people in Samoa appeared to
have an easier time transitioning than their American counterparts. Mead was intrigued
by this and decided that it would be what she focused on for her work. She first looked at
the biology of Samoan people too see if they were any different than those in America.
When she found there to be no significant differences between the two, she decided to
analyze the structure of the society to see how Samoan culture made it easier for
adolescence to transition into adulthood, and how that made for lower stress levels within
the country. Mead stated that she had found that Samoan people were more accepting of
things that western cultures shamed their youth and adolescence for, such as engaging in
sexual behaviours before marriage.
Mead .vs. Freeman
Submitted to:
Submitted by:
Due Date:
Date Submitted:
, Margaret Mead was an ethnologist who was revered for her work in Samoa. She
began attending Bernard University in 1920, after transferring from DePauw University,
where she had studied the year prior. When Mead graduated, she attended the graduate
school at Columbia University, where she studied under Franz Boas, who was a highly
respected anthropologist at the time.
Margaret became very close with Boas and considered him to be a life-long friend
of hers. It was Boas who influenced Margaret’s decision to go to the South Seas and
study people in Samoa. So, in 1925, Mead took her first field trip to the South Seas.
During her time there, Mead studied 68 girls between the ages of nine and twenty, and
she compared the transition from adolescence to adulthood in Samoa and more western
cultures, such as America. She became very close with many people from Samoa and was
even given a Samoan name, Makelita. Mead took part in every aspect of Samoan culture
that she could, including the traditions and rituals initiated by the people in Samoa.
During her nine months living there, Mead found that the people in Samoa appeared to
have an easier time transitioning than their American counterparts. Mead was intrigued
by this and decided that it would be what she focused on for her work. She first looked at
the biology of Samoan people too see if they were any different than those in America.
When she found there to be no significant differences between the two, she decided to
analyze the structure of the society to see how Samoan culture made it easier for
adolescence to transition into adulthood, and how that made for lower stress levels within
the country. Mead stated that she had found that Samoan people were more accepting of
things that western cultures shamed their youth and adolescence for, such as engaging in
sexual behaviours before marriage.
