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Title: SOCIAL FACTORS RELATED TO KNOWLEDGE ABOUT AND USE OF FERTILITY CONTROL IN A TRADITIONAL MAYAN VILLAGE IN GUATEMALA.
Creator: NICK, ELIZABETH A., Florida Atlantic University, Early, John D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate certain socio-cultural change variables that would discriminate attitudes and behavior in regard to modern methods of fertility control. Married women from a Mayan peasant community were interviewed. Analysis revealed that the socio-cultural change variables as suggested by the literature, were non-discriminatory. A possible explanation for non-discrimination is that these variables directly affect the man more than the woman. Traditionally,...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate certain socio-cultural change variables that would discriminate attitudes and behavior in regard to modern methods of fertility control. Married women from a Mayan peasant community were interviewed. Analysis revealed that the socio-cultural change variables as suggested by the literature, were non-discriminatory. A possible explanation for non-discrimination is that these variables directly affect the man more than the woman. Traditionally, fertility control has been the responsibility of the woman by the use of abortion. Therefore, factors that directly affect the woman in the decision to use modern methods appear to discriminate attitudes and behavior. This is the first study of fertility control in these communities, and should be considered a preliminary rather than a definitive study.
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Date Issued: 1975
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13737
Subject Headings: Mayas--Social life and customs, Birth control--Guatemala
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Overcoming alienation and separation with shamanic methods: Their relation to contemporary alternative medicine.
Creator: Aras, Claudette., Florida Atlantic University, Early, John D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: In this paper the literature of shamanism as well as psychology, biofeedback, hypnosis and other alternative therapies was researched, synthesized, and combined with direct clinical experience to provide a broad context for discussing why shamanic healing works. This approach was used in order to move shamanism out of the area of magic and sleight-of-hand into explanation systems more acceptable to western minds. Shamanic healing methods are demonstrated to be similar to those underlying many...
Show moreIn this paper the literature of shamanism as well as psychology, biofeedback, hypnosis and other alternative therapies was researched, synthesized, and combined with direct clinical experience to provide a broad context for discussing why shamanic healing works. This approach was used in order to move shamanism out of the area of magic and sleight-of-hand into explanation systems more acceptable to western minds. Shamanic healing methods are demonstrated to be similar to those underlying many alternative therapies, especially in their use of altered states of consciousness and self-healing. Examples are given of their effectiveness in overcoming the broad spectrum of illnesses caused by alienation and separation which are presently beyond the healing powers of allopathic medicine and psychology. Finally, ways to integrate shamanic philosophy and the potential efficacy of its healing approaches into psychology and allopathic medicine are suggested, an integration shown to be prerequisite to a genuine lasting cure for the ills of an alienated society.
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Date Issued: 1991
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14755
Subject Headings: Shamanism, Mental healing, Medicine and psychology, Mind and body
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A NETWORK APPROACH TO THE STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF MYTH.
Creator: NEUBAUER, DAVID NELSON., Florida Atlantic University, Early, John D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: The structural dynamics underlying mythical expression have been clearly demonstrated in the work of Claude Levi-Strauss. Myths and series of myths are shown to be fields where contradictory terms are stated and mediated. In the past, consideration of myth structure has generally been through the examination of particular component relationships. The present study, wit·h the aid of computer application, attempts to define a network of term relationships and thus integrate numerous mediating...
Show moreThe structural dynamics underlying mythical expression have been clearly demonstrated in the work of Claude Levi-Strauss. Myths and series of myths are shown to be fields where contradictory terms are stated and mediated. In the past, consideration of myth structure has generally been through the examination of particular component relationships. The present study, wit·h the aid of computer application, attempts to define a network of term relationships and thus integrate numerous mediating systems associated with the final expression. The proposed methodology is demonstrated through the analysis of contemporary Mesoamerican myths.
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Date Issued: 1975
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13760
Subject Headings: Mythology, Sociolinguistics--Network analysis
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: THE LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY HYPOTHESIS.
Creator: NATHAN, MICHELE., Florida Atlantic University, Early, John D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: Although interest in the linguistic relativity hypothesis seems to have waned in recent years, this thesis attempts to assess the available evidence supporting it in order to show that further investigation of the hypothesis might be most profitable. Special attention is paid to the fact that anthropology has largely failed to substantiate any claims that correlations between culture and the semantics of language do exist. This has been due to the impressionistic nature of the studies in this...
Show moreAlthough interest in the linguistic relativity hypothesis seems to have waned in recent years, this thesis attempts to assess the available evidence supporting it in order to show that further investigation of the hypothesis might be most profitable. Special attention is paid to the fact that anthropology has largely failed to substantiate any claims that correlations between culture and the semantics of language do exist. This has been due to the impressionistic nature of the studies in this area. The use of statistics and hypothesis testing to provide more rigorous methodology is discussed in the hope that employing such paradigms would enable anthropology to contribute some sound evidence regarding the hypothesis.
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Date Issued: 1973
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13615
Subject Headings: Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: LA SANTERIA, A WAY OF LOOKING AT REALITY.
Creator: SOSA, JUAN JORGE., Florida Atlantic University, Early, John D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: Faced with a highly industrial society, traditional Cubans, who began to leave the island for political reasons since 1959, have experienced repeated social strains under rapid social changes: strains at the levels of economics, the family, social relationships and a system of meaning. Cubans have resisted the pressures of assimilation from a larger, dominant, group by integrating into American society while re-enacting their traditional worldview. This integration has established their...
Show moreFaced with a highly industrial society, traditional Cubans, who began to leave the island for political reasons since 1959, have experienced repeated social strains under rapid social changes: strains at the levels of economics, the family, social relationships and a system of meaning. Cubans have resisted the pressures of assimilation from a larger, dominant, group by integrating into American society while re-enacting their traditional worldview. This integration has established their diversity, their capacity to select traits that confrom to, and do not clash with, pre-existent traits, and their need for supportive, 'liminal,' mechanisms of a 'relational' quality which C&~ aid them move through life crises. LA Santeria, the worship of African gods as catholic saints, is one of the adaptive mechanisms used by Cubans in their process of transculturation. This syncretism of La Santeria provides a mythological worldview that integrates meaning in the midst of social stress through ritual activity.
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Date Issued: 1981
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14083
Subject Headings: Santeria, Cubans--Florida--Religion
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM IN THE WESTERN WORLD.
Creator: LAMBERT, PETER., Florida Atlantic University, Early, John D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: This thesis examines the evolution of religious symbol systems. It proposes that religion as a cognitive system has evolved through the processes of differentiation and abstraction. Furthermore, it demonstrates that this evolution has occurred not through a cumulative process but through major paradigmatic shifts that rejected the previous traditions. These propositions are applied to the religious history of Western civilization. The study deals with the religions of the ancient Near East,...
Show moreThis thesis examines the evolution of religious symbol systems. It proposes that religion as a cognitive system has evolved through the processes of differentiation and abstraction. Furthermore, it demonstrates that this evolution has occurred not through a cumulative process but through major paradigmatic shifts that rejected the previous traditions. These propositions are applied to the religious history of Western civilization. The study deals with the religions of the ancient Near East, the religion of Israel, classical Christianity, and the Christianity of the modern "radical" theologians. The validity of the theories set forth are tested not in the exotic setting of most ethnological literature but in the familiar and well-documented world of Western religions.
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Date Issued: 1981
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14079
Subject Headings: Symbolism, Religion
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: ECONOMY AND FAMILY STRUCTURE, PORT HOWE, CAT ISLAND, BRITISH WEST INDIES.
Creator: LANGBEIN, MARY VIRGINIA H., Florida Atlantic University, Early, John D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: The village of Port Howe on Cat Island (Bahamas, BWI), is a small community which earns most of its living by slash-bum horticulture. The economy is not self-contained, and horticulture does not produce surplus sufficient to pay for the imports. A few government salaries and relief payments make up the difference, together with the help sent by citizens who go to work in Nassau or the mainland. The economic activities of Port Howe are inefficient in many respects, the most important being: 1....
Show moreThe village of Port Howe on Cat Island (Bahamas, BWI), is a small community which earns most of its living by slash-bum horticulture. The economy is not self-contained, and horticulture does not produce surplus sufficient to pay for the imports. A few government salaries and relief payments make up the difference, together with the help sent by citizens who go to work in Nassau or the mainland. The economic activities of Port Howe are inefficient in many respects, the most important being: 1. The people do little fishing. They buy canned fish from Nassau. 2. They raise no poultry for eggs or meat, but do without or buy eggs and chickens. 3. They have horses, but use them little, preferring expensive motor transportation. 4. They raise goats and sheep, but waste the wool, hides and milk, valuing only the meat. 5. They keep no dairy cattle, no beef cattle. 6. They have no kitchen garden the year round, but a few vegetables for two months of the year. 7. They do no canning, preserving, smoking of hams and bacon. 8. They do not sew, although they have a severe problem of getting clothing. Inefficiency in the face of extreme poverty poses the question: why? It is the thesis of this paper that this aspect of the economic activities of Port Howe can be explained as the interplay of three factors: the geological structure of the islands, the history of the Bahamas, and the African heritage of the people. It is shown that the skills acquired under slavery tend to be dropped or retained under emancipation, according to whether they were rooted in the African heritage. It is further shown that skills thus rooted tend more strongly to be retained if they are backed up by favorable traits of the geological structure and/or the historical background. Thus, goat herding, although it is manifestly uneconomic, is universally practiced. It is rooted in African tradition, compatible with the geologically dictated practice of horticulture, and has also the sanction of having been carried on throughout the period of slavery. Salt-water fishing and the use of horses, on the other hand, are not practiced today, although they were a part of the plantation economy. But they have no African roots, are rendered difficult by the structure of the islands, and were not emphasized during the plantation era as part of the life of the slaves. Cattle culture also is rendered difficult by the nature of the island, and is probably not rooted in African economy. Although it was an important part of plantation life, it has been abandoned. Some other practices associated with the plantation culture are of late origin, having only developed after the abandonment of the island plantations by their owners. Canning and home sewing by machine were patently no part of life in Africa, and the isolation of island life obviously tends to retard the assimilation of new inventions. The family structure is also shown to be African in its origins, somewhat influenced by the economics and traditions of our culture, but this influence is softened by the nature of the island and the economics of horticulture which it requires. The formation of the matrifocal family, which often takes place in West Africa, was given added impetus by the slavery institution, which stripped the male of his status-giving religious functions, while also down-grading his economic importance. The island structure intensified this trend, by requiring horticulture which can be carried on by women and children, and by making it necessary for him to leave the family home to make much of a cash contribution. Thus the institution of the matrifocal family flourishes, even though it originally rooted in African polygyny, which is illegal in the Bahamas.
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Date Issued: 1970
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13427
Subject Headings: Port Howe (Bahamas)--Economic conditions, Port Howe (Bahamas)--Social conditions
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: DESARROLLO ECONOMICO Y ESTRUCTURAS SOCIALES: ESTUDIO DE LA INFLUENCIA DELA EVOLUCION ECONOMICA SOBRE LAS ESTRUCTURAS SOCIO-CULTURALES, EN EL CASODE LAS COMUNIDADES CAMPESINAS COLOMBIANAS. (SPANISH TEXT).
Creator: SANCHEZ, JAIME HUMBERTO CONCHA., Florida Atlantic University, Early, John D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: This study intends to organize a typology of the Colombian peasant communities. The typology is used as the base for a further study of the impact of economic development upon the family unit and kindred as elements of the communities' socio-cultural structures. In each of the types of communities--Traditional, Specialized, and Diversified--the impact of economic development is studied through the change of the already mentioned elements in relation to the economy. It is assumed that there...
Show moreThis study intends to organize a typology of the Colombian peasant communities. The typology is used as the base for a further study of the impact of economic development upon the family unit and kindred as elements of the communities' socio-cultural structures. In each of the types of communities--Traditional, Specialized, and Diversified--the impact of economic development is studied through the change of the already mentioned elements in relation to the economy. It is assumed that there have been some changes in the economic function of the family unit, and that the kindred has lost almost all its meaning. Nevertheless, the family unit as a whole is still the main economic source within the socio-cultural system of the Colombian peasant communities.
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Date Issued: 1974
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13664
Subject Headings: Colombia--Economic conditions--1918-, Colombia--Social conditions, Colombia--Rural conditions
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: CAPITAL-DOMAINS AND LABOR-DOMAINS: AN EXTENSIVE APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF PEASANT SOCIETY.
Creator: PINDER, RAYMOND E. JR., Florida Atlantic University, Early, John D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: The paper attempts to develop a useful typology of peasant societies by focusing on the statal structure in which the peasants are involved. The economic dynamics of agrarian states are considered and on this basis it is determined that there are at least two types-- capital-domains and labor-domains--and therefore at least two types of peasantry. The economic variables that specify the types are employed to account for differences in the political-legal systems of the types. Analysis of...
Show moreThe paper attempts to develop a useful typology of peasant societies by focusing on the statal structure in which the peasants are involved. The economic dynamics of agrarian states are considered and on this basis it is determined that there are at least two types-- capital-domains and labor-domains--and therefore at least two types of peasantry. The economic variables that specify the types are employed to account for differences in the political-legal systems of the types. Analysis of selected ethnographic data is presented. A new, and hopefully more useful, definition of peasantry is presented. The analysis attempts to systematize the melange of theory concerning peasant society. The major works, especially Wolf, are considered. The analysis incorporates a theoretical framework for the study of plantation societies, previously a theoretical no-man's land.
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Date Issued: 1974
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13634
Subject Headings: Peasantry
Format: Document (PDF)

Birth control--Guatemala (1)	+ -
Colombia--Economic conditions--1918- (1)	+ -
Colombia--Rural conditions (1)	+ -
Colombia--Social conditions (1)	+ -
Cubans--Florida--Religion (1)	+ -

Mayas--Social life and customs (1)	+ -
Medicine and psychology (1)	+ -
Mental healing (1)	+ -
Mind and body (1)	+ -
Mythology (1)	+ -
Peasantry (1)	+ -
Port Howe (Bahamas)--Economic conditions (1)	+ -
Port Howe (Bahamas)--Social conditions (1)	+ -
Religion (1)	+ -
Santeria (1)	+ -
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (1)	+ -
Shamanism (1)	+ -
Sociolinguistics--Network analysis (1)	+ -
Symbolism (1)	+ -

Department of Anthropology (9)	+ -
Florida Atlantic University (9)	+ -
Aras, Claudette. (1)	+ -
LAMBERT, PETER. (1)	+ -
LANGBEIN, MARY VIRGINIA H. (1)	+ -

NATHAN, MICHELE. (1)	+ -
NEUBAUER, DAVID NELSON. (1)	+ -
NICK, ELIZABETH A. (1)	+ -
PINDER, RAYMOND E. JR. (1)	+ -
SANCHEZ, JAIME HUMBERTO CONCHA. (1)	+ -
SOSA, JUAN JORGE. (1)	+ -

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