Blogg goes to jail

There are many self-help groups available for prison inmates and their families and victims as outlined http://www.cfcn-rcafd.org/text/cfcn.html Some of the services offered are that of the Canadian Families and Corrections network (or CFCN) Their goal is "Building stronger and safer communities by assisting families affected by criminal behavior, incarceration and community reintegration." This organization offers counseling, virtual tours of the institution, an E-newsletter, and a resource toolkit developed specifically for federally sentenced women and their families as they prepare for reintegration into the family and the community. There are many opportunities for study by a cultural anthropologist in the corrections system. Prisoners are a social group because they are a cluster of people beyond a domestic group related on grounds other than kinship. They represent a primary group, like inmates in the same cell block. Or a secondary group like families and victims of inmates who share a common bond but never meet each other personally.Someone said you can tell a lot about a culture by how they treat their criminals. Rehabilitation not incarceration need be the central focus of our judicial system. Anthropologists may wish to study the correlation between criminal behavior and social stratification. Cultural anthropologists may also wish to study prison culture, rehabilitation, status and roles both inside and outside prison walls.

Culture- Bound Syndomes in China

Timothy McCajor reports on the phenomena of culture-bound syndromes in modern China. The author goes on to describe such syndromes as Koro, the famous genital retraction syndrome where the afflicted believes their genitals are retracting into their bodies. The author notes that, "local tradition adds the warning that such an occurrence is usually fatal." Other examples of CMS's include Shenkui, semen loss and excessive Yin (negative/female energy)The symptoms vary in each affliction and modern medical anthropologists are attracted to this phenomena. Western culture seems to love to classify things and provide a comprehensive etic explanation for all culturally emic occurrences. The article supports my supposition by claiming that they "have been of interest to medical anthropologists and ethnopsychiatrists in that they do not have a one-to-one correspondence with a disorder recognized by Western [medicine]" It is this quest for a "one-to-one" explantation of these CBS's that I find to be most troubling. Clearly not all cultures are analogous on a one-to-one basis. Doctors are too quick to label such CBS's like the Windigo as hysteria or psychosis or even hallucinations. Thankfully the author concludes that "The concept is problematic, however, in that it is not a homogeneous category, and the designation of 'culture-bound' can imply that the illness is somehow 'not real', or that a patient's experience can be dismissed as merely exotic."
Often new diseases have only surfaced in specific geographic regions (like malaria, or Ebola) so it is naive to assume that western culture is so prevalent and knowledgeable as to be able to explain and categorize all afflictions everywhere.

http://homepage.mac.com/mccajor/cbs_intro.html

post #6

Will Roscoe's 1991 book "The Zuni Man-Woman" highlights the prestigious role of women in Zuni culture. More so, Roscoe discusses the berdache tradition with the Zuni. The reading describes a berdache as "men who do woman's work and wear woman's dress." Although the Zuni have clearly defined gender roles the propensity of the berdache tradition further shows that gender roles are acquired culturally, not inherited biologically.
The Zuni people follow a matrilinial descent and hold a matrilocal residence.Men were often absent from the house altogether. The high status of women shape how the Zuni view their world. Where in our western culture blurred gender roles are often met with disdain and scorn. The article shows that the Zuni berdache is a respected member of the community often "working twice as hard as any man or women."
The ongoing struggle of gays and lesbians in today's western culture, especially with same sex couples adoption, has brought to light the argument that children being exposed to a household without a strong male role model can lead to gender confusion. Roscoe reports that "Zuni boys were asked who they would like to be if they could change themselves into anything else, 10 percent wanted to be their sisters or mothers." Is this trend is further evidence of confusion and gender distortion or "simply as a reflection of the prestige of female roles."
Where sex is biological gender is clearly a social and cultural construct.

http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/onlyDifferent.txt

UN Report on World Population

The latest UN report on world population ()highlights the ongoing issue of over population in urban areas with a focus on resource sustainability and equality for the poor. The report does little but identify the problems and give a picture of what is happening around the world now. The author notes that "If cities create environmental problems, they also contain the solutions. The potential benefits of urbanization far outweigh the disadvantages: The challenge is in learning how to exploit its possibilities."
Ok.......so how do we exploit the possibilities? I find the article very vague. There is no organization with enough power to enact any policies in large enough scale to be beneficial. Awareness may be gained but- who doesn't know that these problems exists? The author notes that "cities concentrate poverty, but they also represent the best hope of escaping it." Really? What the UN needs is some sort of cheap renewable energy source (cold fusion anyone?) to spark a world socialist movement. Decisions must be made and enforced on a worldwide basis. Some small steps in the right direction may include the empowerment of women in developing countries to help keep population down and increase equality...But again I'm just doing simple identifying of well known issues. Let us stop writing innocuous "reports" of common knowledge.

Jim Brendon's work on highlights the traditional relationship and power structure involved with food production and consumption of the Samoan people. The author notes that globalization has lead to an "epidemic of obesity." This tend is very similar that that of the Miskito people of the Caribbean. The Samoan are still doing the same amount of work on their farms and fishing but are now selling the products to western markets. Traditional foods are still being consumed but are being supplemented with imported rice, flour and canned meats and often fast-foods which is having a negative health impact. Brendon notes that food production went up "more than 50-fold respectively between 1948 and 1980, while the population doubled." So like the Miskito who could feed the village with 10-12 turtles a week went up to a staggering 50-70 turtles with meat still being scarce. The power structure with emphasis on subsistence farming and traditional family and gender roles is being compromised while "individual property rights are overtaking communal rights and nuclear families are adopting a very western orientation in their production and consumption patterns."

Post #3 the Future of Monglian Nomadism

The future of the pastoral nomad in the steppes of Mongolia are clearly in danger. With farming and animal husbandry being privatized the traditional family or clan herds and land cannot compete with the yields and stock output of commercialized farms. It is a viscous cycle where the government supports and provides incentives for higher yields, but traditional extensive herding techniques cannot compete. The trend to use land in a more intensive and profitable way is very alluring and although less sustainable tends to offer more immediate benefits. With globalization becoming more prevalent Mongolia cannot hope to stay off the global market for long. With privatization and increased industrialization the Mongolian government relies on tax and trade money for roads, hospitals and public work projects but how can you tax a nomadic peoples? The author notes "developments have had noticeable impact on the living conditions of pastoral households. In general, the economic restructuring process taking place in these countries has led to a fall in the living standards of the population." Also the nomadic lifestyle of these people lack a fixed address, and it is nearly impossible to regulate trade between clans. The nomad is truly in danger.
http://www.fao.org/sd/rodirect/ROan0009.htm

cultural landscapes

Upon reading of Parks Canada's attempt to preserve some of the cultural landscapes of Aboriginal peoples I was somewhat dubious. Can this government institute "encompass the traditional values of Aboriginal peoples, including spiritual views of the natural world and associative values in the land, while still being understandable to Board members whose world views are typically based in Western historical scholarship."?
I have driven from coast to coast four times and have seen many of these so called historical sites. From Crawford Lake in Ontario, Indian Head Sask., the Badlands in Alberta, and the Pacific Trail or Stanly park BC Historical landmarks, these sites are usually a plaque with a paragraph explanation. At no point does the cultural and historical significance of these places come through. Historian Susan Buggy defines an Aboriginal cultural landscape as a "place valued by an Aboriginal group (or groups) because of their long and complex relationship with that land. It expresses their unity with the natural and spiritual environment."( http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/r/pca-acl/sec4.aspx)The anthropological activity used here is an attempt at applied or practising anthropology in where the HSMBC in trying to "solve a problem and achieve policy goals" (textbook)The website acknowledges and need for change and if we cannot preserve the actual historical sites I hope we can preserve the spirit and symbolism of these treasures.