Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation (Perennial Classics)

by Margaret Mead

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About This Book

In Coming of Age in Samoa, Margaret Mead reports on her anthropological fieldwork with adolescent girls in Samoa, showing that cultural environment, not biology, shapes the experience of adolescence. She contrasts Samoan girls’ generally relaxed transition to adulthood with Western “storm and stress,” arguing that social norms and community structures influence emotional development. Her work challenged Western assumptions about youth and sparked debates on nature versus nurture.

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