Microblog: Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 1

Summary

In this chapter the author talks about the focus of her research as well as the reasons for it. She describes the difference between the way anthropologists and other sciences conduct research. This differences are based on the fact that in order to study society and certain aspects of human behavior, anthropologists guide themselves on the environment as is instead of using controlled situations. Since this book focuses on adolescence and the attitudes present in American teenagers, the author initiates a journey to the Samoa Islands in order to conduct a compare/contrast study. 

Discussion

The author intends to study a culture that is simple and has not been affected by several of the problems present in American society. By doing this, she intends to find out what shapes the minds of teenagers in American society (or society in general).

Are teenager attitudes a product of the physical changes experimented at a certain age or are they a product of the environment they live in?