Bringing the World Together One Question at a Time

In this exercise students will observe and write regarding a social tribe on campus, in the community, or other geographical location. Use the following categories to guide observation and writing. It is highly recommended that the group view the video The Human Zoo by Desmond Morris.

The purpose of this exercise is to increase perceptual acuity and to provide students with categories for cultural observation. At the end of the document, you will find suggestions for writing about culture.

Social Tribes

In class you will view The Human Zoo by Desmond Morris. (See all five links below). While some anthropologists will not agree with his interpretation of culture, his presentation and analysis of cultural observation provides a convenient rubric for understanding social structure. According to Desmond Morris there are four basic categories that give a clue to tribal identity. Each of these categories provides a category for organizing behavior of culture:

• Tribal Badges
• Shared Rituals
• Status Displays
• Boundary Markers

Tribal Badges

Tribal badges are the basic external and observable characteristics people use to identify with others of the same social group. The following are a few of the possible cultural behaviors that you can immediately identify:

• Uniforms/dress
• Coded language
• Movement
• Hair styles
• Body art

Shared Rituals

Rituals or ritualizations are the organized movements of a social group that may initiate acceptance into the social group, or reinforce belonging. These can include greeting and leave-taking rituals, group movements, group songs and dances. You may think of, or observe, others.

Status Displays

Social status is the term used to describe a persons place within a social group. Most social groups have a hierarchy or level of power within the group. This power can be one of influence or control of resources. Higher status is often displayed through increased size, larger (or sacred) space, height. Lower status may be demonstrated through subordination displays.

Boundary Markers and Social Rules

Boundary markers are symbols that delineate the control of space. Social groups may delineate this space through social rules, flags, space markers, and other observable characteristics. In many cases, however, like in social rules, these may not be immediately observable. Boundary people will often provide a cue to these by correcting outsiders through education or in extreme cases threat displays.

Participant Observation and Thick Descriptions

One qualitative research method, and one used frequently by anthropologists, is participant observation. In this method the researcher may become part of a culture and observe the culture as part of the group. To maintain an open ethical position, the researcher will tell the group why he or she is present. The researcher will also inform the group what he or she will do with the information collected, for example, write a report, produce a film, write a book. Another method, and one you will probably employ for your class project, is outside observation. This is simply observing a group from a distance and drawing conclusions from your observation. This works well for identifying the categories listed above. However, it has limitations in that the intricate meanings and social rules are not adequately identified or explained.

In writing about your cultural observation you should use what Clifford Geertz called a “thick description”. For example, many students, when describing a cultural encounter, will say or write something like, “I could tell he was the leader of the group because he was telling others what to do.” This is a THIN description. To thicken a description, you should describe in as much detail as possible the observable traits and characteristics of a social group. This includes the why and how you came to this conclusion using the terms listed above. For example, “Mr. Santana appeared to be the leader because his uniform was more elaborate than the rest of the group. He wore a large plum of a bright red color, walked about with sweeping motions, and spoke in formal language….”

Someone has said, “You don’t know who you are unless you know where you are.” Learning to observe context, and the way in which people organize themselves within that context is a first step in cultural understanding.

Bibliography

“Theories of Experience and Interpretation,” Chapter 10, in Theories of Human Communication by Stephen W. Littlejohn (1996), 203-235, Wadsworth.

The Human Zoo 1
The Human Zoo 2
The Human Zoo 3
The Human Zoo 4
The Human Zoo 5