of

TIE SAMOAN IMMIGRANT: ACCULTURATION,

ENCULTURATIOIT, ANN TIE CHILD IN SCHOOL

HAtyA i,

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO TIE GRADUATE DIVISION OP TIE UNIVERSITY OP HAWAII IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OP THE REQUIREMENTS FOR TIE DECREE OP

DOCTOR OP PHILOSOPHY

IN ANTHROPOLOGY

MAY 1573

By

Mildred Bloorobaum

Dissertation Committee:

Thomas Vi. Maretzki, Chairman Stephen T. Bog£3 A lice G. Dewey

Ronald G. Gallimore Edmond H. Volkart

We c e r t ify that v/e have read th is dissertation and that in our

opinion i t is sa tis factory in scope and quality as a d issertation fo r

the degree o f Doctor o f Philosophy in Anthropology.

DISSSHTATI ON C 0!SUTTEE

±L islsO* C£iChairman

7

VNIVSRSITY■··- h a w ^u

TABLE OP CONTENTS U3f

LIST OP TABLES ...........................................................................................

CHAPTER I . INTRODUCTION .....................................................................

H istory o f Samoan Immigration ......................Characteristics of the Samoan Population'in Hawaii Theoretical Context ..........................................................

CHAPTER I I . REVIEW OP TIE LITERATURE ON SAMOAN CULTURE............... *

Trad itional Social Organization .....................................Traditional Enculturation ................................................Formal E d u c a t io n ..............................................................C o n c lu s io n ...................... ... ...............................................

CHAPTER I I I . RESEARCH PROCEDURE ..........................................................

Selection o f Study Population ........................................Procedures Followed in Approaching Informants . . . .Type o f Data Gathered .......................................................Key Indices .........................................................................

CHAPTER IV. THE STUDY POPULATION .......................................................

Demographic Characteristics ............................................Family Organization ...........................................................Religious Organization ...................................................Social O rgan isation ..........................................................A ccu ltu ra tion ...................................................... . . . .Traditionalism ..............................................................

CHAPTER V. ENCULTURATION PPACTICES ...................................................

Methods o f Social Control ................................................Responsib ility Training ...................................................S ib ling and Peer In teraction . . . . ..........................Development o f Values .......................................................Achievement-Oriented Behavior ........................................Acculturation-Traditicnalism ........................................

CHAPTER VI. ’ THE CHILD IN SCHOOL..........................................................

Social Performance in the Classroom .............................Academic Performance in the Classroom . . . . . . . .Enculturation Practices and School Behavior ...............Acculturation, Traditionalism, and School Behavior

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)

CHAPTER V II. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.......................................................177

Acculturation ...................................................................... 177T ra d it io n a lis m ...................................................................... 182Enculturation Practices ................................. . . . . . 183Summary and Im p lic a t io n s ...................... * ..................... 187

«

NO TES............................................................................................................... 195

APPENDIXES

Appendix A. Household Q u es tion n a ire ...............................197Appendix B. Child-Rearing Interview ........................... 204Appendix C. Behavioral D efin itions .............................. 212Appendix D. Teacher Evaluation ...................................... 214

BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................218

LIST OP TABLES

Table Page

1. Correlation o f C r ite r ia fo r Acculturation Index 48

2. Relationship Between Acculturation Level, Number ofIn terviews, and Intensive Observation o f Families $0

«

3. Correlation o f C r ite r ia fo r Success-in-School Index 5"·

4. Last Samoan Residence of Hawaii Immigrants, Compared withTotal Samoan Population 57

5. Median Years o f Schooling Completed by Parents in th isStudy and People 25 and Older in American Samoa 55

6. Parents’ Assessment o f Their English-Speaicing A b ility 60

7 . Employment Status and Type o f Occupation o f Respondents 61

8 . Church A f f i l ia t io n o f Study Population and People inSamoa 69

9 . Level o f Acculturation and Degree o f Samoan Ethnicity 76

10. Level o f Acculturation and Years o f Residence in Hawaii 77

11. Level o f Acculturation and Language Use 79

12. Level o f Acculturation and Access to the Rewards o f theDominant Society 80

13. Level o f Acculturation and Number o f Children in Family 82

14. Level o f Acculturation and Extended Kin and Practice ofAdoption in Respondents’ Household 83

15. Level o f Acculturation and D isposition Toward UpwardM obility 86

16. Level o f Acculturation and Adult Church A f f i l ia t io n 90

17· Typology o f Respondent Fam ilies According to Acculturationand Traditionalism 93

18. Reactions to Domination and Aiggression by Siblings 124

19. Mean Scores Given by Teachers Rating Samoan Pupil3 onBehavior 149

20. Reactions by Recipients o f Assertive Behavior 151

V

Table

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

Reactions by Recipients o f Aggressive Behavior

Responso by Samoan Children to Teachers' Requests

Percent and Number of Samoan Children at or Above the Honolulu Mean on Achievement and A b ility Tests

4

Family Level o f Acculturation and the Ch ild 's Success in School

Acculturation/Traditionalism Family Type and the Child 's Success in School

Acculturation/Traditionalism Family Type, Ch ild 's Succes in School, and Ch ild 's Obedience and Deference

Parental Emotional Nurturance, Praise, and the Child 's Success in School

Achievement-Orientation in the Home and the Child 's Success in School

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Although Samoans have been migrating to Hawaii fo r over h a lf a

century, only in the la s t twenty years have they come in numbers large4

enough to stimulate public attention and in terest. Their public v i s i ­

b i l i t y has been enhanced by the concerted e ffo r ts of Samoan leaders to

make the larger community aware that Samoan culture is a viab le l i f e ­

s ty le — one that Samoan immigrants wish to reta in while they simultaneously

acquire customs and habits necessary fo r adaption in Hawaii.

The problems o f Samoan immigrants have served to focus public and

p o lit ic a l attention, particu la rly in the areas of employment and housing.

The immigrant Samoan fam ily is typ ica lly la rge. A 1971 survey of over

6,000 Samoans in Hawaii (Commission on Manpower and Full Employment#

1972 : 40) found that the average-sized household had 10.5 members.

Also, before immigrating, most Samoan heads o f households held r e la t iv e ly

unskilled jobs, increasing the likelihood o f •unemployment in d if f ic u lt

economic times. Indeed, the same survey found that almost one-third

o f the male Samoan adults were unemployed. These s ta t is t ic s suggest

that many Samoan fam ilies l iv e in inadequate housing and have low in ­

comes.

For the children o f immigrant fam ilies , the principal adjustment

problems are focused in the schools. Children are faced with demands

made by language, the manner in which they must re la te to the teacher,

the d iscon tinu ities between home and school, the exposure to non-Samoan

peers, and other factors . These are problems common to situations in

which the children of one culture seek education in schools organized

by members o f another culture.

In th is research the principal question involves the e ffe c t of

Samoan culture on the ch ild 's school performance. The problem is con­

strued as a component o f the larger process of acculturation through

which the ch ild must traverse— either impinged upon by' the direct in ­

fluences o f peers and school; or mediated by the changes in parental

attitudes and behavior resu lting from acculturation. Immigrant Samoan

children f i r s t encounter the dominant culture of Hawaii in the public

schools. I t is th e ir f i r s t contact with non-Samoan teachers, and fo r

many, i t is th e ir principal, in i t ia l contact with non-Samoan peers.

Thus, by focusing on young children i t is possible to control in some

measure the degree o f previous acculturation. The children in th is

study were both too young and too lim ited in experience to have been

exposed to acculturative influences other than those of the school and

the parents. In e ffe c t , the public classroom is a natural laboratory

fo r study of the acculturative process among young children, and fo r

examination o f the covarying e ffe c ts derived from parental influence—

both acculturative and enculturative. Any other influences which are

involved are l ik e ly to be mediated through the parents rather d irec tly .

In addition to the study o f the e ffe c ts on school performance of

Samoan cultural factors, the research explores a second c r it ic a l ques­

tion : the process by which a group, in the early stages o f acculturation,

continues to fo s ter and maintain partic ipation in i t s own culture at

the same time i t adapts toward successful participation in the larger

culture in which i t is embedded. Such attachment to trad itiona l culture

2

can vary in conjunction with, and independently o f, acculturation.

I t w i l l be shown that irrespective of the degree o f acculturation,

fam ilies exhibit d iffe re n t ia l participation in Samoan cultural and

socia l l i f e .

In order to fu l ly comprehend the nature of the adcCptive process

some information on Samoan immigration to Hawaii is necessary. Pub­

lished demographic information on Samoans in Hawaii is scanty. The

United States census does not l i s t them as a separate category. Some

information is availab le in Master’ s theses (Forster 1954» Hirsh 1956,

P ierce 1956, Yost 1965 ) at the University o f Hawaii, and a survey was

conducted of the Samoans who participated in the migration o f 1952

(Eyde 1954)· A number o f recent surveys have attempted to diagnose

the needs of the Samoan community and suggest ways to help them adjust

to Hawaii (A la 'ilim a 1966, 1968; A la 'ilim a and A la ’ ilim a 1965» 1966b;

Commission on Manpower and Fu ll Employment 1972). A ll these studies

are useful, but most give a narrow and fragmented view o f the Samoans

in Hawaii studying as they do a particu lar problem of a community of

Samoans (Nanakuli, Laie, Pearl Harbor) at a particu lar time. The

fo llow in g discussion draws from a l l of them to present a composite

p icture o f Samoan immigration to , and l i f e in Hawaii.

HI STOP Y OF SAMOAN I ORATION

Prior to 1950, when the major migration from American Samoa started,

there was a small population of Samoans in Hawaii. Their exact number

is not known as no s ta t is t ic s were kept. Many o f them probably came

to do church work (Eyde 1954:7)· In 1919 "the Mormon Temple in Laie

was established. By 1925 Laie had 33 Samoan residents (P ierce 1956:34).

3

4

A few migrants were known to have settled in the downtown area of

Honolulu and in Veterans' Housing by 1950.

Various factors combined to in it ia te a major migration from

American Samoa about 1950. During World War I I , a large number of

American troops were stationed in Samoa, and with them -came a high

degree o f economic prosperity fo r the Samoans. Postwar conditions

brought a gradual economic recession, which reached i t s climax about

1951 (P ierce 1956:26). Drought, a shipping strike, and the end o f the

G .I. B i l l fo r most veterans deepened the recession. Also, a 46.7 per­

cent increase in native population in the decade 1940-1950 overtaxed

the agricu ltu ral capacity o f the land.

However, the most crucial factor was the inauguration o f c iv il ia n

administration by the U.S. Department o f the In terio r in American Samoa

in 1950 (Eyde 1954:3). American Samoa had been previously administered

by the Navy and the resu lts o f the Navy withdrawal were sudden and

disastrous. Without the income from the Naval station the economy

reverted to a nearly subsistence le v e l.

^Therefore, the Samoans' main reason fo r moving to Hawaii has been

an economic one, whether the d irect one of supporting th e ir fam ilies

or the more recent ind irect one o f seeking better education fo r th e ir

children (A la 'ilim a 1966:4» Yost 1965:43).

„nother reason that immigrant Samoans have c ited fo r leaving th e ir

homeland is a cultural one—the desire to escape the constrictions of

sidération o f the ro le o f the matai system in immigrant Samoan l i f e .

The s ize o f the recent Samoan population in Hawaii is d i f f ic u lt

the Samoan matai system^ (Ablon 1970:219). Vie w ill return to a con-

to determine. Estimates range around 1,000-2,000 people in 1956 (Hirsh

1956:l) and 7»630 Samoans in 1966 (A la 'ilim a and A la 'ilim a 1966h:l).

An u n o ffic ia l estimate o f the number o f Samoans in Hawaii at the time

o f th is study in 1969 was 9»000 (personal communication A la 'ilim a 1969 ) .«

A 1972 study suggests a population between 5»500 and 11,000 (Schmitt

1972).

The major concentration o f Samoans on Oahu seem to be in the

Kalihi-Pnlama section o f Honolulu and in the area from Halawa to Pearl

C ity . Smaller concentrations are found in the semi-rural Nanakuli area,

and in the Palolo Valley-Kaimuki part o f Honolulu. A number of fam ilies

connected i/ith the Mormon church are l iv in g in Laie (A la 'ilim a and

A la 'ilim a 1966b:2).

CHARACTERISTICS OP THE SAMOAN POPULATION IN HAWAII

Most adult Samoan immigrants have had lim ited education and l i t t l e

technical tra in ing. The 1950 census in American Samoa showed that

males averaged 6.2 years o f schooling (Eyde 1954:15)» but there is

evidence that Samoan male immigrants have s lig h t ly more years of

schooling ( i . e . , Eyde 1954:15» A la 'ilim a 1966:6, Yost 1965: 62) . Limited

education means that earning capacity is lim ited , and Samoans tend to

be found in public-housing projects and in low-rent areas. A higher

proportion o f the Samoan population is on the public welfare r o l ls

than the general population (P ierce 1956:33, Yost 1965:53). Yet i t is v*

claimed that the Samoans are not aware of th e ir "depressed" status and

regard th e ir position in Hawaii as better than i t would have been i f

they had stayed in Samoa (A la 'ilim a 1968).

5

Family Organ! gati on

The -traditional closeness and interdependence of the Samoan fam ily

va ries depending upon where they l iv e . Most Samoans l iv e surrounded

by non-Samoan neighbors in urban low-rent areas. At any one time approx­

imately h a lf the households surveyed recen tly contained kin in addition

to the nuclear fam ily. Relatives from Samoa come and go, but few move

in permanently. They stay with resident re la t iv e s until they can

establish th e ir own homes, obtain employment, or, i f younger, until

they fin ish school.

In addition to room and board other types of mutual help are

common. Money is often sent back to Samoa fo r support of re la t iv e s or

fo r tra ve l fa re . Members o f extended kin groups in Hawaii help each

other in financia l emergencies; such money s not given as a loan but

as a g i f t , with the expectation that i t w il l be reciprocated should

the need a rise .

Another mutual ob ligation is that of making financia l contributions

fo r ceremonies connected with births, weddings, funerals, and v is ito rs .

Most Samoans find i t d i f f ic u lt to drop these obligations ( f a *a lavelave)

without fe e lin g that kinship t ie s are jeopardized (A la 'ilim a 1966).

Some celebrations in Honolulu seem even more lavish than those in

Samoa, probably increasing in roughly the same proportion as fam ily

income. Most Samoan fam ilies acknowledge that such kinship contribu­

tions prevent them from improving th e ir standard o f l iv in g on the

American scale. But they seem more in terested in meeting expectations

o f Samoan kin groups than those of an American middle class with which

they do not id en tify (A la 'ilim a 1966).

6

What has remained, o f the position o f the matai? Far from the

quasi-legal authority matai had over th e ir extended fam ilies in Samoa,

former matai l iv in g in Hawaii reta in prim arily a r itu a l function by vV

conducting certain ceremonies. They have not taken on any new functions<

sp ec ific to the Hawaiian scene. In the 1965 survey o f Samoans by the

A la ’ ilim as, eight former matai were found among 45 fam ilies, and none

seemed jealous o f th e ir former prerogatives. The same group contained

a number o f active and responsible fam ily heads who were not matai,

though they might well have been in Samoa. They were p er fec tly w illin g

to show overt deference to the matai in th e ir midst.

I t seems that while those who had been matai in Samoa o f course

have no lega l authority over any person outside th e ir nuclear fam ily

in Hawaii, lo ca l Samoans accord them a certain amount o f respect because

of th e ir previous status. However, several former matai, particu larly

those from the smaller Samoan v illa g e s , believe that they could s t i l l

exercise authority and speak fo r the whole community.

Even in Laie, where the Samoans are considered to be more trad i­

t ion a l, there is l i t t l e evidence o f the preeminence of the matai except

at ceremonies. In the summer o f 1955 there were eight matai in Laie,

one having immigrated before the war and the others having come in the

1952 migration. During the year 1952-53, the matai in Laie held monthly

meetings a fte r the fashion of the Samoan v illa g e councils. Later,

however, the meetings occurred less regu larly and in 1955 were very

infrequent. As the matai became aware that they received l i t t l e or no

support from Laie Samoans, they f e l t that holding these meetings be­

came superfluous (P ierce 1956:60).

7

The community that fo llow s trad itiona l Samoan values most c losely

is the Samoan Church V illage in Nanakuli. In 1964» sixteen members of

the lo ca l Congregational church bought contiguous land on which stood

ten ho\ises. Ten o f the fam ilies moved in to those homes, and the others«

rented houses nearby. There are two former matai in th is Samoan com­

munity, but the practice has arisen o f addressing a ll sixteen fam ily

heads in the ch ie fly language and o f trea tin g them ceremonially as

matai, making actual organization and practice very sim ilar to that of

a typ ica l v il la g e council in Samoa. Traditional Samoan subsidiary

organizations have also appeared in the Nanakuli community. The young

men who are not fam ily heads are organized in to a group that makes the

communal ovens and serves fam ily heads at feasts and at the weekly

Sunday meal, when a ll fam ily heads and th e ir wives eat together. There

is also a Women's Committee comprising a l l married and unmarried female

adults that, as in Samoa, p er iod ica lly inspects households, concerns

i t s e l f with v il la g e sanitation and baby care, and raises money fo r

the new church. The entire community observes a number of trad itiona l

Samoan practices, including extended fam ily household, ceremonies fo r

v i l la g e guests, heavy contributions toward v il la g e weddings, funerals,

dedications, emergency aid, and wide sharing o f food and too ls

(A la 'ilim a and A la ’ ilim a 1965 ) .

Thus the lite ra tu re indicates that a certain amount of respect

is paid to former matai in Hawaii, that they are ca lled upon to par­

t ic ip a te in ceremonies, and that many o f the kinship obligations of

the trad ition a l system remain. Financial aid is not handled by the

matai, as before, but passes d ire c t ly between the kin involved. Now

8

9

v;e w il l present availab le information on the rearing o f children in

Hawaii.

Child-Rearing Practices

hands of older s ib lings (Forster 1954:58» Pierce 1956:77-79)· Both

parents share in the d isc ip lin e o f the children. Where that respon­

s ib i l i t y is not shared, the mother usually d isc ip lines the ch ild .

Forster found in 1954 that spanking was administered fo r such misbe­

havior as figh tin g with neighbor children, poor work in school, and

"fin d in g things" belonging to others. I t was a common practice fo r•7.

e ither parent to cu ff any ch ild who did not immediately obey instruc­

tion s.

Control over children did not seem to be a parental concern ac­

cording to studies in the 1950's (Forster 1954:58-59» Pierce 1956:81),

but was la te r c ited as the major concern o f K a lih i’ s Samoan parents

(A la ’ ilim a 1966: 4 ) · Forster did perceive a growing tension within

Samoan fam ilies . He noted that the freedom of Samoan children in

Hawaii was res tr ic ted both soc ia lly and geographically over what they

were accustomed to in Samoa. As a result they came to spend much more

time in the company o f th e ir parents than they had before. Tension

arose when that factor combined with parental \iorries about making a

l iv in g and fee lin gs o f social iso la tion experienced by both parents

and children within the larger community. Hirsh found that Samoan

children did not seek iso la tion but were victim s o f exclusion by non-

Samoans (1956:33).

Most parents express in terest in the education of the ir children

As in Samoa, the care of younger children is generally in the c -

(A la ’ ilim a 1966:7, Forster 1954:60, Yost 1965:65 ), but many children

are retarded in grade le v e l at school. Very few drop out of school,

however. I t seems that th e ir poorer command of English is a common

problem.<

THEORETICAL CONTEXT

The remainder o f th is chapter places th is study in theoretica l

context by discussing the pertinent lite ra tu re on acculturation and

enculturation and sets forth the study's hypotheses.

Almost without exception anthropological studies o f groups under­

going culture contact have focused on adults. As a consequence a study

o f children has l i t t l e lite ra tu re to use as a guide. There are, how­

ever, several clear lin es in previous e ffo r ts .

One can study a prim arily rural group of people who have migrated

to an urban, cu ltu ra lly d iffe ren t society, from the standpoint of

acculturation, modernization, urbanization, or migration. Each context

would necessitate somewhat d iffe ren t emphases and approaches. For

several reasons I have elected to focus on acculturation. In the f i r s t

place, a number of recent studies o f groups with sim ilar problems have

successfu lly been guided by the issues naturally raised by the

acculturative question (Befu 1965, Graves 196?, Vogt 1951)· For

example, Graves d iffe ren tia ted his population o f Spanish-Americans

and American Indians in a small South western town by acculturation

le v e l, and found that acculturation was associated with behavioral and

value changes.

Second, Samoans were subjected to the influence o f modernization,

urbanization, and migration before they arrived—the pervasive influence

10

a fte r immigration is the acculturative experience they encounter. Of

the four processes i t would have had the least e ffe c t at the time of

th e ir a rr iv a l. One can separate these four processes on log ica l grounds,

to do so em pirically is impossible, as they are c lea r ly overlapping.<

We shall define and measure acculturation e x p lic it ly to c la r ify the

meaning o f the concept as used in th is study.

In a study o f acculturation as one aspect o f culture change, one

can also explore social and psychological attributes of individuals as

independent variables a ffe c tin g cultural process or, a lternative ly , as

dependent variables a ris in g from the e ffe c ts o f change (P e lto 1567:178-

17 9 ) · f i r s t approach considers what types of individuals are more

lik e ly to change, whereas the second considers the resu lts o f the changes

in individuals. These questions suggest a longitudinal study, with

certain observations made before and a fte r change is introduced to pro­

vide a base lin e fo r comparison. When that method is impractical,

a lternative approaches are possible. For example, descriptions of t ra ­

d ition a l culture (lla llow e ll 1952), the current culture o f those who

did not migrate, and demographic information on the individuals in the

nonmigrant and migrant groups ( i . e . , age, occupation, location o f re­

sidence in home country) furnish useful comparisons in distinguishing

between pre-migration and post-migration changes. A ll three of the

approaches are used in th is study, although, primary emphasis is on

the Samoan immigrant group as a whole in contact with the dominant

culture.

Much has been written on s ta b ility and change in various cultures

(Keesing 1553, Mead 1947» Siogal 1955)· Questions have been raised as

11

-to why some cultures change more read ily than others, what aspects of

culture are more or less resistant to change, and what conditions of

culture contact inh ib it or accelerate change. Some theories have been

suggested to account fo r variations (Bruner 1956a; 1956b, Caudill and«

Scarr 1962, Doob 1957> Graves 1966, Vogt 1955)· Various theories w ill

be discussed and some hypotheses w il l be suggested as applicable to

th is study.

Acculturation, as previously stated, is one aspect of culture

change, considered here to include "those phenomena which result when

groups o f individuals having d iffe ren t cultures come into continuous

first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original culture

patterns o f e ither or both groups" (lied fie ld , Linton,and Herskovits

1936). Our concern is with observed changes in the immigrant group.

The acculturation process is complex and change can be quite uneven

among various cultural forms and in stitu tion s. There is not much

agreement as to which aspects are most crucial fo r charge to occur or

how the changing forms f i t together in to a to ta l pattern. Below we

draw from developed theory those conditions of cultural change on which

there is some consensus.

Investigators o f cultures in contact agree that material culture

changes more read ily than non-material culture (Vogt 1951:13), and

there are two consistent findings about which aspects o f subjective

culture persist longest. One is that iirp lic it values and personality

are most resistant to change (ila llow ell 1952, Spindler and Spindler

1958:231, Spiro 1955:1249), and the other finding bearing on social

organization, suggests that fam ily and kinship institu tions tend to

12

persist (Ablon 1964> Doob 1960:112, Metge 1964) . Bruner believes that

these aspects res is t change because they are generally learned in

infancy and early childhood ( 1956a: 196). Another view is that vihen

people migrate, they usually try to establish in th e ir new environment«

those parts o f th e ir trad ition a l cultural and social system that fu l­

f i l l needs o f personal and group security (Doob 1960:150, Voget 1963:255)·

Probably both views are va lid as they are not mutually exclusive in

view o f the fact that early learning may or may not be reinforced in

la te r l i f e . Hallowell doubts that basic sets of personality structure

can be changed fundamentally in less than three generations ( 1952 ) .

A l l these views re in force the assumption that although the material

culture and technology o f Samoan adults in Hawaii may have changed,

th e ir attitudes, values, and kinship patterns have changed r e la t iv e ly

very l i t t l e . t 1- J \Other authors elaborate on the conditions under which cultural

change w il l occur. At least three conditions seem required: ( l )

immigrants must have adequate exposure to the b e lie fs and enough con-.

tact with the behavior o f the dominant group so that new tra its can

p o ten tia lly be learned; ( 2 ) the dominant culture must be recognized as

a new reference group to provide the motivation fo r change; and (3 )

access must be had to the valued goals or opportunities of the dominant

society to permit reasonable expectations among the minority group

members so that a change in th e ir b e lie fs and behavior w ill prove re ­

warding (Graves 1967:342). The contact of people with d ifferen t modes

o f l i f e does not necessarily p recip ita te any radical modification in

the culture o f the minority group, even though the groups remain in

continuous socia l in teraction . There may he lim ited incentives to

learn the ways o f the dominant group (Hallowell 1945:179)· Some aspects

o f culture have greater structural t ie s to other aspects within the

particu lar culture and are less l ik e ly to change. For new learning to<

take place there must he adequate exposure, motivation, and rewards.

The previous and fo llow ing description o f the present population suggest

that none o f these ex ist fo r the Samoans liv in g in Hawaii.

Exposure—The quality of exposure to the b e lie fs and behavior of

the dominant group is s ign ifican t as well as i t s quantity. Continuous

contact impeded by language barriers is not conducive to acculturation.

The exposure should be in a hospitable rather than h ostile setting.

The amount o f formal school with a dominant-group teacher and classmates

is important. Location in the larger community is s ign ifican t, i . e .

whether the group is dispersed or forms an ethnic enclave, as is whether

the settin g is rural or urban. Many immigrant groups associate mainly

with th e ir own members (Ablon 1964:303, Graves 1967:338, Thomas and

Znaniecki 1958:1469)· Those who speak th e ir native language at home,

jo in an ethnic or socia l club, and maintain friendships exclusively

with th e ir own group, acculturate as l i t t l e as possible (Weinstock

1964:52). At the same time acculturating people have opportunities to

be members o f new groups, both formal and informal, that encourage them

to learn new forms o f behavior (Doob 1960:130). Samoans in Hawaii are

minimally exposed to the b e lie fs and behavior o f the dominant group

because of th e ir short amount of time in Hawaii, language barriers,

minimal p rior education, tendency to form ethnic enclaves, and lack of

partic ipation in mixed re lig iou s or social groups.

14

We can make several deductions from th is discussion o f the

quantity and quality o f cultural contacts. One is that children whose

parents or grandparents have intermarried with the dominant group are

l ik e ly to be more acculturated when they become adults (Bruner 1956a).

The presence o f a member of the dominant group during th e ir early ,

impressionable years has i t s e ffe c t . The second deduction is that men

are l ik e ly to acculturate more read ily than women (Chance 1965:387,

Spindler and Spindler 1958:230, Spiro 1955:1247, Vogt 1951:93). Because

they stay at home more, women are less l ik e ly to be exposed to the

b e lie fs and behavior o f the dominant group, have l i t t l e need to learn

a new language, and have a more c lea r ly defined ro le to play in th e ir

trad ition a l society. Although in some minority groups in the United

States women have more access to employment than men, mothers are gen­

e ra lly the primary preservers and transmitters o f trad itiona l cultural

pattern. We would expect that Samoan wives would be less acculturated

than th e ir husbands and that Samoan parents who have themselves grown

up in a household where a non-Samoan was present would be more accul­

turated than those who have not.

Id e n tific a t io n —The second minimal condition fo r cultural change,

id en tific a t io n o f the dominant culture as a new reference group, has

been explored somewhat in the lite ra tu re (Ablon 1964, Chance 1965 ,

Parker 1964 ) · Negative fee lin gs toward one's own group and positive

attitudes about the dominant group tend to be associated with a high

degree o f acculturation (Parker 1964:326). One might conclude that

people who see th e ir immigration as temporary and plan to return to

th e ir home culture would have l i t t l e inclination to id en tify with the

15

dominant group. Samoans in Hawaii are thought to exhibit l i t t l e iden­

t i f ic a t io n with the dominant culture because (a ) they value th e ir l i f e

sty le h ighly (Grattan 1948), and (b ) they see th e ir immigration as

temporary as th is study vri.ll show.

Expectation o f rewards—Much has been written in recent years in

the behavioral science lite ra tu re about the th ird minimal condition

fo r cultural change—the requirement fo r minority access to the values

o f the dominant society, such that minority members can expect to benefit

from changing th e ir b e lie fs and behavior. Prejudice or h o s t i l i t y by

the dominant society could retard acculturation s ign ifica n tly . The

Spindlers and Vogt state fo r the Kenomini and Navaho, respective ly,

that although these people are under pressure to acculturate, they are

not permitted to partic ipate fu l ly in the dominant society when they do

(1958:230, 1951:27).

Further empirical evidence ex ists with reference to th is require­

ment. A study was made of Japanese-Americans with sim ilar cultural

backgrounds who settled in two communities that were sim ilar except

that one had fewer opportunities fo r economic improvement. I t was

found that the group that lacked such opportunities remained re la t iv e ly

unacculturated and iso lated from the dominant group, whereas the com­

munity that had such opportunities became more acculturated and in te r­

acted to a greater extent with the dominant group (Befu 1965:216).

Another study o f Navaho who moved to the c ity found that those who had

a higher current wage and expected th e ir financia l wage to improve in

the next f iv e years had a s ign ifican tly lower arrest rate, and more of

them remained in the c ity , than those who were earning a lower wage

16

and did not fe e l that th e ir situation would improve in the c ity

(T . Graves 1970). The previous discussion o f Samoans in Hawaii suggests

that most Samoans have access only to semiskilled and unskilled posi­

tions and see l i t t l e opportunity to improve th e ir economic positions.<

One could assert, on the basis o f th is requirement, that immigrants

with greater occupational prestige in th e ir home country become more

upwardly mobile in th e ir new country (Weinstock 1964:51)· This has

been more evident among European immigrants (Spiro 1955:1243), perhaps

because they have already acquired the necessary goals in th e ir home

country to make them more acceptable in the new society. V/e expect

that those Samoans who held sk illed or semiprofessional positions in

Samoa are upwardly mobile in Hawaii.

Applying the foregoing considerations to the top ic o f th is study,

the cultural factors that promote the Samoan immigrant ch ild 's success

in school, we derive the fo llow ing hypothesis.

Hypothesis 1: Samoan children who are r e la t iv e ly more successful

in school have parents who (a ) are more consistently exposed to the

b e lie fs and the behavior of the larger society, (b ) id en tify to a

greater extent with the dominant culture, and (c ) have rewarding access

to the opportunities o f the larger society. Those parents who are

more exposed to , id en tify with, and receive rewards from, the larger

society are more acculturated and have children who are more successful

in school.

Enculturation Practices—This study is also concerned with the

changing enculturation practices o f an immigrant population and the

possible e ffe c ts o f those practices on a ch ild 's success in school.

17

To avoid confusion between the terms "enculturation" and "soc ia liza tion ” ,

which are often used interchangeably, we adhere to Margret Mead's

d e fin it ion ( 1963: 18 5 ), in which socia liza tion has to do with learning

as a universal process, e .g ., cross-cultural comparison o f weaning or

t o i le t tra in ing and enculturation is the process o f learning in a

sp ec ific culture. Our study is prim arily concerned with enculturation,

although th is chapter compares some socia liza tion practices.

Though in situations o f culture contact fam ily in stitu tions tend

to re s is t change, in the case o f immigrants, fam ily structure usually

undergoes some change, because o f the immigrants' a ltered socia l and

cultural surroundings (Goode 1963 ) . Likewise, immigrants' enculturation

practices are l ik e ly to be modified.f

In the lite ra tu re appear two hypotheses re la tin g to changes in

fam ily structure and enculturation practices. The f i r s t is that socio­

cultural change may modify the authority structure of the fam ily so as

to weaken the e ffectiveness of the parents' transmission of trad itiona l

values and b e lie fs to th e ir children (Mead 1940). Accompanying th is

lessened parental e ff ic a cy is a greater allegiance to the peer group

(Burrows 1947:7l). The second hypothesis is that parents who have

experienced extreme socia l change seek to ra ise th e ir children d i f f e r ­

en tly from the way in which they were brought up, purposely adapting

th e ir ch ild -rearing practices to better suit the changed world as they

see i t (in keles 1955:15)·

Review of the lite ra tu re on Samoan culture (see Chapter I I )

suggests that the f i r s t hypothesis (w ith m odification) has bettei'

application fo r the Samoans in Hawaii. A major modification is that

18

19

con flic t o f a llegiance between parents and peer group is l ik e ly to be

more common among adolescents than among the younger children under

investigation in th is study.

rad itional Samoan culture places the utmost importance on h ie r-

A la 'ilim a 1966a :254)· Yet in Hawaii Samoan parents have to assume I

the unfamiliar ro les o f being sole fam ilia l authority figures fo r th e ir

children. In Samoa they had the ultimate support o f members of the

standards are so fam ilia r to the children that there is less need fo r

explanations o f proper conduct. I t has been shovm that where parents

believe that th e ir own actions, rather than fa te or heredity, a ffec t

the moral development of th e ir children, the value system of the cul­

ture w il l be an important part of what is in ten tiona lly transmitted to

the ch ild (Y/hiting et a l . 1966 :83 ) . Samoans who have a fa ta l is t ic

view o f l i f e ' s problems, would not l ik e ly to consciously guide th e ir

children in moral conduct.

Some ch ild -rearing practices change more read ily than others as a

resu lt o f culture contact. Much depends upon what supports exist in

the new environment fo r the spec ific practice. The Samoan custom of

tra in ing g ir ls in household chores seems to be compatible with the

Hawaiian cultural context. A by-product o f th is tra in ing is that i t

keeps the g ir ls closer, to home and not as susceptible to peer-group

influence. For boys the situation is d iffe ren t. In Samoa, boys are

tra d it io n a lly trained to work on the plantation. Since such tra in ing

does not apply in the c ity the special s k il ls and in teractions with

archial deference to the head o f the extended fam ily (A la 'ilim a and

extended fam ily and the matai. Also, in Samoan v illa g e s behavioral

older men which are involved have been lo s t . With the a ltered socia l '

context in the new environment, many Samoan parents in Hawaii find i t

d i f f ic u lt to teach th e ir children obedience and respect toward elders.

The problem o f weakened parental authority in the new culture< -w—-

brings us to the second hypothesis.

Hypothesis 2: Those parents who have been able to assume fam ilia l

authority and teach obedience and deference behavior e ffe c t iv e ly have

children who are better oriented toward the authority structure in

school and therefore tend to be more successful in school.

I t is assumed that a pos itive orientation toward authority is

involved in successful experiences because much of education in the

early grades is a matter o f attitude. Once a ch ild fe e ls some success,

he may begin to enjoy i t and work harder fo r th is continued sense of

w ell-being. This does not ignore other influences in a ch ild ’ s success

such as h is a b il it y , parental support o f the educational process, and

encouragement from school personnel.

The Study

A fte r the survey in Chapter I I of the lite ra tu re on Samoan culture

and a discussion o f i t s pertinence to the Samoan ch ild ’ s school per­

formance, we present in the fo llow ing chapter the procedures employed

in studying the 84 children who were a part o f the th irty-one fam ilies

who participated in the research. These procedures include observation

in both home ar.d school, interviews with the parents, and a co llection

o f sp ec ific information on the children from the school records and

the teachers. In Chapter IV we present a demographic, socia l, and

cultural description o f the fam ilies and analyse the variables involved

in th is description which are associated with the acculturation le v e l

o f the fam ily . In addition to acculturation, we find that the degree

o f trad itiona lism is a pertinent component that d iffe ren tia tes the

fa m ilie s . Partic ipation in Samoan culture can vary in conjunction«

•with, and independently o f, acculturation.

Chapter V contains a discussion o f the enculturation practices of

the fa m ilie s and the relationship o f these practices to the le v e l of

accu lturation and trad itionalism . In the fo llow ing chapter we describe

the soc ia l and academic behavior in school of the 84 Samoan children,

and then explore the aspects of school performances that are related

to enculturation practices, acculturation, and traditionalism of the

fa m ilie s . In the fin a l chapter, we return to the hypotheses previously

presented and focus on the demographic, socia l, and cultural factors

that are associated with the Samoan ch ild 's school success.

21

CHAPTER I I

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON SAMOAN CULTURE

Whereas the previous chapter focused on the nature o f the problem

to be investigated and i t s theoretica l context, th is chapter places the4

study in i t s cultural context. In order to better comprehend the

complexities of l i f e fo r Samoan children in Hawaii, i t is necessary to

look at the trad ition a l culture in Samoa, especia lly socia l organi­

zation, enculturation practices, and formal education. This chapter

reviews the lite ra tu re on those top ics as they pertain to th is inves­

tiga tion .

TRADITIONAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

The most s ign ifican t aspects of Samoan social organization are

the matai system, mutual help, kinship t ie s , and the ro le o f the

church in the culture. Much has been written about the matai system,

especia lly i t s p o lit ic a l functions. The least explored aspect has

been the relationship o f the church to family l i f e . That seems sur­

prising, since the church apparently has great social significance to

Samoans today. I t has been stated that the greatest concern of Samoans

are h ierarch ica l deference, fam ily loya lty , social harmony, and r e l i ­

gious b e lie fs (A la 'ilim a and A la 'ilim a 1966a:254)·

Turning to the f i r s t aspect, the matai system trad ition a lly had

socia l, economic, and p o lit ic a l functions. The social unit was the

b ila te ra l extended fam ily which was further divided in to branch fam­

i l i e s or households. At the head of each household was a matai who

in theory had authority over v ir tu a lly a l l the economic and social

aspects of the fam ily 's l i f e . The matai held t i t l e to the family land

22

and represented the fam ily in the v illa g e council (Holmes 1957b:316).

He was responsible fo r the welfare o f the family through the adminis­

tra tion o f fam ily lands and resources. The matai organized the fam ily

and his decisions were carried out. Every member from the smallest

ch ild up followed his orders.

The matai u t iliz e d the labor and money of individual fam ily mem­

bers to increase the wealth and status o f the fam ily as a group.

With the coming o f wage-paying jobs to Samoans, the authority of the

matai extended th eo re tica lly and actually in some cases, to the control

o f a l l money income in the fam ily. An individual who worked in town

turned over h is wages to the matai in his home v illa g e .

An adult who was not a matai did have some freedom as he could

choose to step out o f the system or a lign himself with another related

matai. Even the children had some choice as they could move to the

household of another matai i f they thought th e ir own matai treated

them unjustly (Mead 1928b).

Another factor lim itin g the matai*s authority was that i f he

fa ile d to provide fo r the fam ily or to treat the fam ily fa ir ly , he

could be removed from his position . His t i t l e also may be removed i f

he absented himself from the v il la g e fo r a prolonged time (Holmes

1957b:317-318).

The c r ite r ia fo r choosing the person to hold the matai t i t l e are

the person's a b il ity , his relationship to the present t i t l e holder,

the prestige that the person brings with him from other branches of

the fam ily, and his place o f residence. The t i t l e holder is chosen

by the extended fam ily to whom the t i t l e belongs.

23

In an e a r lie r period, new t i t l e s could be established at аду-

time to reward a deserving male member o f a fam ily. As the population

expanded, the number o f t i t l e s increased in proportion. Today in

American Samoa a l l t i t l e s have to be registered , a form ality that has

in e ffe c t s tab ilized the number and ranking o f t i t l e s (Eyde 1954)·

However since the population is s t i l l expanding, a greater proportion

o f the men are u n titled .

The relationship o f the ch ild to his parents is overshadowed by

h is re lationship to the matai and his w ife . The w ife o f the matai is

important as an instructor in etiquette and respect behavior. She

tends to obscure the relationship to the rea l mother. I t is she who

gives many o f the orders to the children and she who punishes i f they

are not carried out, though the mother does th is equally often

(Gardner 1965 ) · A c h ild 's own father and mother often teach other

s k il ls , espec ia lly the simpler tasks, but as often the matai and his

w ife , as persons o f more prestige and s k il l , are chosen as teachers

(Mead 1928a).

Important issues are decided by the fam ily matai. The matai sets

the long range goals that he expects h is fam ily to carry out. He

advises parents in deciding on education fo r th e ir children (Gardner

1965:8l). Within the Samoan extended fam ilies , authority is la rge ly

in the hand3 o f the matai. The relationship between children and the

fam ily ch iefs is one o f respect and obedience, and corporal punishment

by the matai is accepted by the children (A la 'ilim a and A la ’ ilim a

1966b).

In contemporary Samoa, some l iv e outside the matai system, either

24

through reb e llion or through an in terest in the new way o f l i f e found

espec ia lly around the urban areas o f Pago Pago and Apia. Such people

are most often partners in mixed marriages or part-Samoans. In the ir

case, the producing and consuming unit is not the extended fam ily but«

the nuclear fam ily, which is supported prim arily by v/ages rather than

se m i-agricultural work. However, even those who work in government or

industry may maintain economic and socia l t ie s with th e ir extended

fam ilies .r■/Reciprocity w ithin the extended fam ily and kinship t ie s are highly

integrated in the matai structure. Obligations to a wide group of

re la t iv e s are very important and contribute to financia l security

(A la 'ilim a and A la 'ilim a 1566b :2 ). In times o f need, those who had

more gave to those who were in d i f f ic u lty . And from the standpoint of

the wealthy kin, the more you accumulated the more you dispersed and

thus the more status you received . By widely d istribu ting i t s wealth

the extended fam ily could increase the prestige o f the fam ilia l t i t l e .*

v-To maintain kinship t ie s , a person and h is immediate fam ily had

to uphold th e ir re sp o n s ib ilit ie s to other parts o f the fam ily by such

things as providing goods and foods, adopting and g iv ing th e ir children

in adoption, and sheltering kin when the need arose. Even distant

kin were expected to help each other with expensive weddings, funerals,

and v is it in g tr ip s (A la 'ilim a 1566 :6 ).

H is to r ica lly the composition o f the household has been f le x ib le .

R elatives from other v il la g e s may come to l iv e in the household or

may send th e ir children to reside with the fam ily o f the t it le -h o ld e r

fo r a while. Conversely, the members o f the household o f a

25

t it le -h o ld e r may take up residence in other parts o f the v il la g e or in

other parts o f Samoa. In many cases, too harsh d isc ip line leads a

child to leave the household fo r the home o f another re la t iv e and re­

household composition, in the I960 census of American Samoa, 34 percent

o f household members were re la t iv e s o f the head o f the household apart

from his own w ife and children (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1963:56-18).

?he relationship between the d iffe ren t generations is one of

su p er io r ity - in fe r io r ity , of authoritarian paternalism to those below

and deference to those above. In Samoan society, prestige increases

with advancing years. The aged are respected fo r th e ir wisdom and

knowledge of trad ition , and they are often ca lled upon to give advice

to the fam ily. I t is the duty o f the children to care fo r th e ir parents

when they are old. Generally, the sons provide food and money fo r the

care o f th e ir parents, but parents may be taken in and cared fo r by

th e ir daughters. The relationship o f brother and s is ter is one of

respect and proh ib ition . The brother has a strong fe e lin g o f protection

fo r h is s is te r , especia lly fo r her reputation. Respect fo r his eldest

s is te r is one o f a man’ s strongest; relationships throughout h is l i f e .

P ra c tic a lly a l l members o f Samoan society belong to some re lig iou s

denomination. C hristian ity was introduced around 1830 in Samoa. I t

is said that Western re lig ion penetrated ea s ily because of the unorga­

nized nature o f previous re lig iou s l i f e (Stanner 1953). Yet some

elements of the old re lig ion that fu l f i l l e d various functions were

perpetuated. One o f those is the b e lie f in the return o f dead re la t iv e s '

sp ir its to do harm, which may cause death or sickness. Medicines are

main there tenroorarily (llolmes 1957b:316). ;As an illu s tra tion of the

sometimes used to counteract the e ffe c ts o f these sp ir its .

Id e a lly , no Samoan starts the day without a fam ily gathering fo r

morning worship. At the evening meal the fam ily again gathers fo r

hymn singing and lengthy prayer. No food is ever eaten without thanks

being o ffered to God (Holmes 1957h:335)· Generally children attend

church school da ily a fte r public school. Great pride is taken by

parents in the achievements o f th e ir children in church school.

Almost everyone attends two sets o f church services on Sunday.

Keesing notes that in Samoan social l i f e the church forms the

essentia l s ta b iliz in g , regulating, and in tegrating fo rce . I t does

that by sanctioning the old kinship and matai systems and trad itiona l

customs; by providing new outlets in place of old ones, such as

opportunities fo r assembling, exchanging opinions, and engaging in

cooperative a c t iv it ie s ; by providing means of s e lf expression and

competition as in singing, dancing; by helping others; and by making

adjustments and fusions between the old way and the new (1934:412).

Yet i t seems that the church and the clergy f u l f i l l socia l rather

than individual guidance functions. The pastor o f the predominant

church in the v i l la g e that Gardner studied stated that the people do

not consult him on fam ily or sp iritua l matters. Family matters are

not h is concern, and th e ir sp iritua l needs are taken care o f in the

Sunday serv ice . Yet i f he fe e ls that individuals are not l iv in g

properly, he or h is w ife w il l speak to them (Gardner 1965:22-23).

There are four mission churches in Samoa, with which most of

the population is a f f i l ia t e d : London Missionary Society (L .M .S .),

Roman Catholic, Methodist, and the Mormon Church. At times there

27

has been s t r i fe between these denominations in th e ir competition to

establish new churches.

The L.M.S. church is the most trad ition a l. Church contributions

are high, and a c t iv it ie s are o f a Samoan type, including choirs,

wakes, and wedding feasts . The pastor has great prestige, and ind i­

viduals can increase th e ir prestige by being functionaries in the

church.

a In general, one can hypothesize, based on the l i t t l e evidence

presented above, that the church has not d irec tly provided moral

leadership to the Samoan community but has fu l f i l l e d important social

and cultural functions. There has been some indirect influence from

the teachings o f the church by means o f sermons and Sunday School.

The matai, however, seems to have had the primary function of guiding

behavioral standards within the extended fam ily. Probably the parents

participated in the teaching o f proper behavior but, in matters of

concern to the general community, the matai considered i t h is prerog­

ative to correct the children and advise the parents as to appropriate

behavior. The fo llow ing section w il l deal with how the fam ily socia l­

ized children to the expectations of the community.

TRADITIONAL EMCULTURATION

In addition to studies o f Samoan enculturation practices, studies

of re lated Polynesian groups such as the Maoris and Hawaiians (Earle

1958» Gallimore and Howard 1968, R itchie 1964) are pertinent to a

study o f Samoan children insofar as they re fle c t a trad itiona l and

possibly persistent Polynesian culture.

A general finding o f those studying Polynesian fam ilies is that

28

29

in fants are indulged by adults until they can walk, when dependency

advances are cut o f f ; some would go so fa r as to say that infants are

re jected as soon as they are mobile. As the child continues to make

advances toward adults, he gets rebuffed. He then hesitates to make

advances fo r fear o f re jec tion . This leads him to avoid involvement

with adults and turn toward peers fo r security and s ta b ility .

Mead states that during the f i r s t f iv e years a ch ild 's education

is exceedingly simple (l928a:23). A series o f avoidances are taught,

such as never addressing a seated adult in a standing position, and

are enforced by occasional slap3 and shouting (Hirsh 1958). Older

children care fo r the younger ones, and when they are within earshot

of adults they do everything possible to avoid annoying the adults.

Ihiring the.years before children are fu l ly socia lized , adults regard

children as somewhat of a nuisance. I t is necessary to watch childrenI

continually, and older children are given the responsib ility of seeing

that th e ir younger charges do not come to the attention o f adults J

(Grattan 1948‘- l6 5 )· The noisy young ch ild is dragged away from the

adu lt's presence. I f the young child misbehaves, the ch ild in charge

is blamed (Hirsh 1955)· I t would seem that the younger child is not

considered responsible fo r h is actions.

In contrast to Mead and Hirsh, Holmes mentions that5 severe

punishments are administered to a young child by his parents ( lS 57fc>: 40l ) ·

Slapping the buttocks, legs, or face, or whipping the ch ild 's legs

and buttocks with a broom or a belt often accompanies parental a t­

tempts at early tra in ing. Children are generally punished by th e ir

mothers, but belt whippings are usually administered by the father.

A fter one year of age, parents fe e l children should understand what

is expected of them. Children are sometimes sworn at when they f a i l

to obey and are often frightened by being to ld that the sp ir its o f

the dead w ill "ge t" them. A common punishment is refusal to allow a<

ch ild to go out at night when the other children are out playing.

I t is hard to believe that young children are not corrected by

the use o f physical punishment, fo r Mead goes on to say that Samoan

education is based on the theory that small children are unimportant,

aggressive, and in need o f d isc ip lin e and progressive inhibition ing,

and they become more important as they grow older and display th e ir

a b il it y to f i t without fr ic t io n in to the social pattern (Kead 19 3 7 ) ·

Kafaufau, meaning "[good ] judgment," is conceived as developing very

slowly and nothing can be done by the community to rush i t . Violence,

aggressiveness, destructiveness, and contentiousness are a l l qu a lities

that show lack of judgment. Early education is a matter of suppressing

the manifestation o f these qu a lities and waiting fo r the more des ir­

able socia l v irtues to develop (Mead 1937:268).

Most authors emphasize that d isc ip lin e is generally evoked when

a v io la tion o f the social pattern occurs, rather than to teach right

and wrong (Earle 1958:18, Hirsh 1955i Mead 1937:269). Behavior is

corrected when i t is not appropriate to the social situation. This

view o f normative behavior leads to an alertness to the social

situation on the part o f both the caretaker and the ch ild . Probably

certain types o f v io la tion s such as a lack of respectfu l behavior

are immediately corrected, irregard less of the social situation, as

such behavior is so essential to Samoan culture.

30

Shame is a primary means o f d isc ip lin e in the in terest o f con­

form ity (Gallimore and Howard 1$68). I t is associated with in appro­

priate behavior in socia l situations. I t comes from ca llin g attention

to oneself unsuitably, speaking out o f turn, presumption, and from4

awkwardness, fumbling fo r words, and lack o f s k i l l , i f these in ep ti­

tudes are s p e c ific a lly commented on by others (Mead 1937)· The great­

est shame is aroused by being accused o f "ta lk ing above your age," V

i . e . , exh ib iting behavior that is appropriate to those older than✓

you or o f greater rank. This is a shame in which the parents share.

But Holmes claims that th is accusation is used only when an individual

represents himself as doing something beyond his a b il ity ( l 957a :227) .

Holmes is probably correct, but i t is d i f f ic u lt to evaluate correctly

what is beyond another person’ s a b il ity . Pear o f rid icu le may inh ib it

certain behavior that is to ta l ly within a person's a b il ity . But yet,

the expectation is that i f the person exhib its behavior that is within

his competence, i t w il l be accepted by others. That is , children

who are assertive are not shamed i f they behave acceptably.

T ies between parents and children are attenuated by the existence

of large households, by the use o f ch ild nurses, and by the system

of household government whereby the head o f the household, whether

he be father, uncle, grandfather, or cousin, has authority over the

children (Mead 1940:97)· Holmes confirms a re la t iv e lack o f strong

personal attachment between children and th e ir b io log ica l parents

( 1957b: 320-321). Vihen a ch ild has an emotional relationship with a

number o f individuals, personal attachments to any one or two persons

do not seem to become strong. Yet the culture does support a certain

31

degree of closeness by requiring grown children to look a fter the ir

parents and to pay them appropriate respect. There must be some

personal attachment involved, as neither Mead nor Holmes describe any

v io la tio n of th is prescription .

Coupled with a d iffus ion o f authority in an extended kin group

goes a fea r o f overstraining the relationship bond; th is is expressed

in an added respect fo r the individual (Earle 1955» Mead 1928a:42-43).

The p o s s ib ility that the ch ild can always go to l iv e with other re ­

la t iv e s moderates parental d isc ip lin e and a llev ia tes the ch ild 's sense

of dependency.

Early tra in ing in infancy tends to produce children who are

aggressive whenever the situation permits but who have learned never

to act spontaneously, even in anger, u n til they have reviewed the

social scene and the p o ss ib ility o f disturbing th e ir elders. At about

six years of age, l i t t l e g ir ls are trained by being charged with the

care o f the younger children; and are d iscip lined by having to care

fo r those younger than themselves; l i t t l e boys are d iscip lined by

tagging along with a group o f older boys. G irls have less contact

with others of th e ir own age, whereas boys have greater group contacts

and learn to cooperate, fo r the older boys w ill not to lera te any

quarreling.

Mead states that by the time a g ir l reaches adolescence she has

very lim ited knowledge o f any of the more complicated techniques o f

the work o f the household (l928a:29). Perhaps the crucial word is

"complicated," as Holmes states that by the time both boys and g ir ls

are seven or eight years old there is l i t t l e household labor to which

32

• * 33

they have not been exposed (l957h:403)· Holmes is ta lk ing1 o f the

simpler tasks. Neither mentions the method of instruction, but one

can in fe r from th e ir comments that there is much im itation o f elders

rather than d irect instruction . Adolescence seems to be the time o f

more d irec t, systematic education. Children h es ita te 'to exhibit s k ills

that may even be appropriate to th e ir age, fo r these sk ills may bring

a further delegation o f responsib ility from adults (Mead 1923a).

There seems to be some lack o f agreement in the lite ra tu re as to

the social to le ra tion o f the slow developer (Mead 1928b). Mead states

that in play groups the pace is always set by the slowest (1937:269)»

whereas Holmes mentions that a l l ch ildren 's games are competitive

games o f physical s k i l l (l957h:404» also Copp 1951 :ll)» and others

describe the value placed on making high scores on examinations in

school (Holmes 1957a, Johnson 15o3, Torrance 19 6 7 ). Competitiveness

in school extends to not g iv in g others information, fo r i t is pres- ^

t ig iou s to know something that others do not (Keesing 1934: 435)* In

addition, there is praise fo r the most s k il l fu l in various types o f

work and competition in rank and prestige (Holmes 1957a:226-227).

Perhaps the slow developer is to lera ted at an early age but la te r , in

s k il ls where competition is emphasized, winning is rewarded, and the

person who doe3 not make i t is ignored.

Generally, ch ildren 's games tes t the strength and dexterity of

the participants (Holmes 1957h:404)· Tug-of-war, stick throwing, and

cricket were the most popular a c t iv it ie s of boys in Holmes' v il la g e .

There were no games, such as chess or checkers, that demand concentra­

tion and mental a lertness. Hidden-object games came the closest to

34

games involving thought.

Children do not make very intense friendships (Mead 1928a:6l).

No two children were observed playing constantly together (Holmes

1957b:405)· Age-grouping and the neighborhood structure of the group«

overshadows the persona lities within i t . In addition, the most intense

a ffec tion is always reserved fo r near re la t iv e s . Holmes did observe

a few children who invariab ly played alone at the edge o f a group

without re a lly jo in ing in to the group a c t iv it ie s .

A ll authors seem to agree that the Samoan dance is the one a c t iv ity

that o ffe rs a large degree o f freedom of expression fo r the individual

(Hirsh 1955» Holmes 1957b, Johnson 1963, Mead 1928 a and b ). Children

are encouraged to be precocious and develop profic iency in dance and

the inept ones are rebuked. The dance has important functions in the

development o f in d iv idu a lity and in compensating fo r repression of

personality in other spheres of l i f e (Mead 1928a:121).

Another aspect of Samoan character as described by Mead is the

way in which they evaluate the motivation o f others. This evaluation

is a combination of caution and fatalism (l928a:122-130). A frequently

used term that connotes unwillingness and in tra c ta b ility is the word

musu. When people display th is attitude others regard i t with respect.

Motivation fo r th is unwillingness is not questioned. Such lack of

cu riosity about motivation is reinforced by the conventional acceptance

of " I don't know" as an answer to any personal question. This indicates

a lack o f in terest or unwillingness to explain. Mead interprets th is

as a protective device fo r preserving personal privacy, since the rest

of a Samoan's experience is t o ta l ly lacking in privacy. I f they tr ied

35

to explain, people could question th e ir behavior, and then the whole

matter would have to be dealt with on a public le v e l. The Keesings

agree with th is analysis and add that the person who is musu is le f t

to work i t through or sulk i t out alone (1956:118)·<

The most d is lik ed t r a it in a socia l equal is "desiring to be

h ighest" (Callimore and Howard 1968). That judgment is always on the

basis o f the more obvious factor o f behavior, rather than personal

a ttribu tes or motives (Mead 1928a:29). The Keesings found, however,

that the Samoan personality is becoming more ind ividually oriented.

They noted greater room fo r individual in it ia t iv e , fo r choices among

a ltern a tive behavior, and fo r relaxed and spontaneous a c t iv ity by

children and young people, apart from the more ceremonious occasions

when public conformity to valued customs o f formal group participation

is s t i l l required (1956:10).

FORMAL EDUCATION

Since an anthropological view o f formal learning is r e la t iv e ly

new to the f i e ld o f anthropology, there are fa r more descriptions of

informal learning and i t s e ffe c t on the personality o f the ch ild than

o f formal (school) learning. But we need to discuss formal Samoan

education, fo r i t sheds ligh t on parental attitudes and values, and

the parents' experience in school may influence th e ir expectation o f

th e ir ch ild ren 's school experiences.

American and Western Samoa have d iffe ren t school systems, but

there are many s im ila r it ie s . Both have emphasized, perhaps the

American system more so, the teaching o f English. B ilingual com­

petence has become both a mark o f and a means to higher status

(Keesing and Keesing 1956:162). A b ility in English leads to government

positions. American Samoa has always had compulsory education, at

present through the eighth grade (although not always enforced),

whereas Western Samoa has not. Children generally went to a church

school run by the clergyman in each v il la g e before and a fte r school

(Keesing 1934)·

Respect behavior and Samoan culture are emphasized in the cur­

riculum of the schools (A la 'ilim a 1961, Department of Education 1955»

Keesing and Keesing 1956:73). This emphasis is a reaction to the

widespread fea r that children are becoming ignorant o f Samoan customs.1

The school teacher, usually government-trained but formerly mostly

a mission co llege product, is stead ily r is in g from a generally low

status, (though s t i l l having minor prestige in the v illa g e s except

where a strong individual makes an inpact) (Keesing and Keesing 1956:

63 ) . Female teachers are now quite numerous in both Western and

American Samoa, where at f i r s t they were exclusively male.

Children have not responded quickly to the educational process.

In school the enphasized values o f "s e lf- r e lia n c e ," "resourcefulness,"

and "g e ttin g on in l i f e " are in con flic t with trad itiona l ideals

(Brown 1936:3, Keesing 1934)* H is to r ica lly , most children were l i t t l e

a ffec ted by th is con flic t because few children got beyond grade four

in school.

There is a lack of in terest in the education of g ir ls compared

with boys (Keesing 1934:435)· I t is not infrequent fo r a school

principal to have to force a fam ily to keep a g i r l in school until

she has attained the age at which she can le g a lly drop out (Holmes

36

1957t>:405). While a number of professions are open to men in Samoa,

only two are open to women—nursing and teaching.

The authority system of the home is transferred to the school,

School d isc ip line is merely an extension of home d isc ip line (Johnson

1963:3l). Samoan justice is quick, consistent, and painful; a beating

with a stick , b e lt , or bat. Johnson’ s study o f school children in

Western Samoa found that attempts to u t i l iz e American methods o f

"psychological d isc ip lin e " were re la t iv e ly in e ffe c t iv e . Students o f

a l l ages and grades s it ca re fu lly in place and speak only when spoken

to . The Samoan child is usually studious and obedient; d isc ip line in

the school presents no special problems (Su’ a 1927:44).

Johnson confirms in the school what Mead found in her study of

v il la g e l i f e : the suppression o f c rea tiv ity and independence of

thought among children. Innovation is a sin. I f the children are

given instructions, they are supposed to fo llow them to the le t te r .

When children were asked a "w hat-if" question, i . e . , "What would happen

i f everyone could f l y lik e birds?" the children invariably refused to

consider the question since i t could not possibly happen.

The Samoan ch ildren 's drawings are reproductive rather than

o r ig in a l. The characteristics most valued by Samoan teachers in th e ir

pupils is "remembering w e ll" (Torrance 1962). The characteristics

ranked highest by Samoan teachers are "remembers w e ll," "healthy,"

and "always asking question" (Johnson 1963:90> Torrance 1967 ) .

"Al\iays asking questions" seems to re fe r to questions asked by the

ch ild to discern the expected response. Among the lower-ranked

characteristics are cu rios ity , independence of judgment,

37

se lf-su ffic ien cy , and v e r s a t i l it y .

A l l teachers thought that th e ir pupils were extremely concerned

and anxious over the p o s s ib ility o f fa ilu re in examinations and non-

promotion (Torrance 1967:159)· Shame was mentioned most frequently

as the reaction to fa ilu re .

CONCLUSION

I t seems that informal and formal learning were highly integrated

in the Samoan culture. There was l i t t l e inconsistency between home*—,1

and school as long as the ch ild had lim ited formal education.J Deference

was successfully transferred to the schoolteacher. The type o f

learn ing was sim ilar in both settings: conformance to the d eta ils o f

behavioral expectations. The main teaching method was memorization.

( I n trad ition a l Samoan culture the matai, the parents, and the

extended fam ily (with the support o f the church, the v il la g e inhabitants,

and the school personnel) guided the behavior of the young. The matai

and the parents were the primary soc ia liza tion agents, but since l i f e

in the v il la g e s was cohesive and well integrated, there was l i t t l e

co n flic t regarding behavioral standards. I f a ch ild misbehaved, he

would genera lly be within sight o f a person he knew, and who would

correct him. I f he did not know how to behave in a spec ific situation,

he could look at h is peers or older sib lings fo r guidance. >'-J

In Hawaii the situation is d iffe ren t. Families are separated

from the extended kin group and the matai. The parents are iso lated

except perhaps fo r some re la t iv e s l iv in g with them or v is it in g them.

There is l i t t l e community support fo r home train ing, and the church

has probably s t i l l not assumed the function c f individual guidance.

38

Children are separated, from th e ir parents and th e ir older s ib lings

fo r much of the day. The schoolteacher is in a d ifferen t cultural

system, and there is l i t t l e s im ila r ity between the behavior o f the

Samoan adult and the teacher. (

[The question is whether the Samoan parent in Hawaii can assume

the functions o f the matai and play a stronger ro le to compensate for

the lack o f community support. The respect formerly directed toward

the matai, must now be transferred to the parent¡and the schoolteacher. 1

Most l ik e ly i t would be more d i f f ic u lt fo r the parents to exert control

o f the ch ild in the new environment. Contributing to th is d i f f ic u lty

is the probab ility , based on the previous discussion, that the child

would avoid involvement with adults and would be influenced more byl·'

h is peers. This behavior would produce additional problems in the

school situation, where children are expected to attend to the teacher,

not th e ir peers.

Apart from the adult ro le in the guidance o f appropriate behavior,

the techniques o f communicating behavioral standards w ill also be a

problem. ^Traditionally Samoan culture severely re s tr ic ts behavior

that disturbs the social harmony o f the immediate group. Parents dow

not guide children into sp ec ific correct behavior but await the

development o f mature personality t r a it s . Children do not tend to

learn context independent behavioral controls associated with Western

idea ls o f morality. In Samoa parental annoyance signals incorrect

behavior in a particu lar context. Thus, the Samoan ch ild develops

an extreme alertness to the social situation, involving a s en s it iv ity

to subliminal and verbal cues. That sen s it iv ity may enhance a ch ild ’ s

39

adjustment to the school in Hawaii as he becomes quickly aware that

the school setting is quite d iffe ren t from the home s e t t in g .]

\_ Another contrast is that there is a heavy emphasis on physical

punishment in the home, whereas in the school d isc ip line is la rge ly“7 . (/

of a psychological nature._ The withdrawal o f approval by the teacher

may have l i t t l e e ffe c t on the Samoan ch ild because of h is previous

learning experiences.

' We would expect then, in school in Hawaii the Samoan children

would be l ik e ly to conform to peer group expectations and not attempt

to stand out above th e ir peers. They would not be prone to independent

a c t iv ity . But they would l ik e ly conpete in matters of trad itiona l

conpetition such as song, dance, sports, and school examinations. [

40

CHAPTER I I I

RESEARCH PROCEDURE

This chapter discusses how the population to be studied was

chosen, the procedures used in approaching informants, the type o f

data gathered in the home and the school, indices o f acculturation

and success in school, and the techniques o f data analysis used.

Simply stated, the research plan v/as to study a certain group of

elementary school children, by observing them in the classroom, by

asking th e ir teachers to f i l l out questionnaires about each o f them,

and by interview ing th e ir parents and observing th e ir fam ily l i f e in

the home.

SELECTION 0? STUDY POPULATION

The f ie ld work fo r th is study was done between September, 19^9

and June, 1970. A low-income housing area in which a concentration

of Samoan fam ilies resided, was selected as the lo ca le . Two public

elementary schools received a l l the children l iv in g in th is housing

area. A fter securing approval fo r the study from the Honolulu D istric t

Superintendent o f Schools, the principals o f the two schools were

contacted. The principal o f the f i r s t school agreed to cooperate

fu l ly with the study, and a l l the Samoan children attending i t were

id en tified in the school f i l e s . The principal o f the second school

en listed the cooperation o f three teachers, and only the Samoan

children and th e ir s ib lings in these three classes were studied.

Two other fam ilies with children in the second school, when contacted

fo r other reasons, o ffered to cooperate with the study. In a l l ,

twenty-five fam ilies having children in the f i r s t school (excluding

41

y

mÊBÊÊÊIÊÊÊÊM

42

one re fu sa l), and six fam ilies that had children in the second school

cooperated. Help was also received from three other fam ilies that

had children in the second school. They consented to our obtaining

information about th e ir children in school but did not participate in

the interviews and home observations (two pleading lack of time and

one withdrawal a fte r the in i t ia l observation in the home). In a l l

the study population consisted o f 84 children.

PROCEDURES FOLLOWED IN APPROACHING INFORMANTS

With two Samoan professional men who worked within the target

community, we discussed how best to obtain the help of the Samoan

residents o f the community. They id en tified leaders in the community,

helped contact the fam ilies , and nominated possible assistants fo r

interview ing and translation o f material.

As the in vestiga to r ’ s command of Samoan was lim ited, native-

speaker assistants were needed. A search was made f i r s t within the

housing project fo r those having a command of both Samoan and English.

A few l ik e ly candidates, young people, were found, but i t turned out

that they were unable to work on the study. They were too much a part

of the community; they rea lized that deference to th e ir elders would

inh ib it them from asking certain questions; and that speaking English

to th e ir elders indicated a lack o f respect. I t was also pointed out

that parents who had problems with th e ir children were not l ik e ly to

want to expose these problems to the investigator and others in the

same community.

U ltim ately, assistants had to be found outside o f the community.

Two co llege g ir ls who had recen tly arrived from Western Samoa were

trained to be assistants. Though they believed in the value of the

study, they never f e l t completely comfortable with the parents, who

were th e ir elders, so the investigator had to accorrpany them on a l l

interviews and observations. A th ird university student translated<

the in terview material from English to Samoan. One o f the assistants

then translated the questions back in to English to check fo r errors.

The fam ilies were contacted mainly by the investigator alone or

with one o f the assistants. The parents who f e l t comfortable speaking

English were interviewed by the investigator and those who only f e l t

comfortable speaking Samoan were interviewed by both investigator and

assistant. Twelve fam ilies were interviewed mainly in English and

nineteen fam ilies were interviewed mainly in Samoan. On the in i t ia l

v is i t the purpose o f the study was explained and the fam ily 's coop­

eration was s o lic ited . For some fam ilies the explanation had to be

repeated because they could not understand the connection between the

procedures o f the study and i t s purpose. A written explanation was

given to the parents who asked fo r more information.

A ll the parents were expected to partic ipate in the two basis

interviews (see Appendixes A and B). A ll th irty-one fam ilies par­

tic ip a ted in the household questionnaire, and twenty-four mothers

and sixteen fathers were interviewed about the ir ch ild-rearing prac­

t ic e s . Seven Samoan-speaking and f iv e English-speaking fam ilies

agreed to more intensive observations in the home. During the time

o f the interviews, additional observations were made of fam ily l i f e ,

as some children were usually at home.

Eight classes were chosen fo r weekly observation in the f i r s t

43

school and three in the second school fo r the f i r s t semester o f the

school year. Though there was some turnover, in a l l forty-two

Samoan children were at one time in these eleven classes ranging from

kindergarten through sixth grade. Besides being observed in the«

classroom, the children were inform ally observed at play in both

the schoolyard and th e ir home neighborhood.

TYPE OF DATA GATHERED

I t is assumed that parental attitudes (Schaefer and Bell 1958)»

behavior, soc ia liza tion practices (Whiting et a l. 1966), and degree

o f acculturation (Bruner 1956a; 1956b, Vogt 1951) a ffec ts the behavior

o f th e ir children. The co llected data re flec ted these assumptions.

Two structured interviews were carried out in the home, one on2

household data and the other on ch ild-rearing practices. The house­

hold questionnaire was given in English and verba lly translated only

i f necessary, whereas the ch ild-rearing interview schedule was trans­

la ted in to the Samoan language. I f parents wished to add comments

not s t r ic t ly re la ted to the questionnaires, they could, but generally

the in terview questions were standardized, with some modifications

fo r those who did not fu l ly comprehend what was being asked. The

interviews usually took about an hour but at times i t was necessary

to conduct the in terview in tvio sessions, when the parents did not

understand the questions or i f they wanted to expand upon them.

Appointments were usually made in advance.

The household questionnaire v/as used to co llec t demographic and

id en tify in g information, data on number o f permanent residents and

transients in the household, degree o f acculturation, and degree o f

44

45

aspiration fo r upward m obility. The mother usually supplied the

information. One question, (no. 12, about how comfortable they would

fe e l asking the help of various people i f the fam ily were having

problems) seemed confusing to the respondents and waô eventually

dropped fo r the interview . Attempts to help respondents with i t

seemed to guide th e ir answers too much.

The ch ild-rearing interview contained attitudinal and behavioral

questions. The questions focused on the elementary-school child, but

other s ib lings were noted as performers o f tasks in the home and in

response to the more general questions about the fam ily. Attempts

were made to use only behavioral questions that could be v e r if ie d by

observation. The areas covered were achievement (see Appendix B,

section A ), focus o f authority in the household (B ), fam ily respon­

s ib i l i t y (C ), techniques o f d isc ip lin e (D), dominance (sections E

and G 7, 8, 9)» threat aggression (G 1, 2, 10, 11, 12), treatment of

succorance (G 3), so c ia b ility (G 4» 5f 6 ), and opportunity aggression

(G 13, 14) (Whiting et a l. 1966:78- 8 1 ) . The questions in sections P

and H focused on other aspects o f ch ild rearing that seemed pertinent

to Samoan culture. The a ttitud ina l questions presented in section I

attempted to delineate behavioral norms. Questions 10 to 38 appeared

f i r s t in Schaefer and B e l l ’ s attitude inventory (1958:354-357)·

Questions 1 through 9 were included by the investigator because they

seemed sign ifican t for th is study. Parents had d if f ic u lty with the

a ttitu d ina l questions; perhaps they were not su ffic ien tly concrete.

Most o f the parents agreed or disagreed strongly with the statements

rather than g iv ing a milder gradation of opinion.

To make the home and school data corrparable, observations around

sim ilar variab les in both settings was necessary. The general

variab les were the ch ild 's and adu lt's attitudes, methods o f instruc­

tion and con tro llin g behavior, and nature of peer-gro,up behavior. To

maximize precision, a l i s t o f defin ing pertinent behaviors was drawn

up (see Appendix C), d is t i l le d from the work of others in socia lization

(Barker and Wright 1955» Henry I960, Whiting et a l. 1966). These

variab les were sim ilar to those used on the ch ild-rearing schedule

find the evaluation forms submitted by teachers so that there could be

some cross-validation (Webb et a l. 1966).

The observations in the home and school presented some d i f f i ­

cu lt ie s . The biggest problem in the home was that Samoans tend to

trea t outsiders as guests, and the parents in our study would in s is t

on s it t in g and ta lk ing to the observers. Only a few parents would go

about th e ir ordinary tasks. Even though parents performed the ro le

o f host, however, in teraction did occur between the parents and

children and among the children themselves, and i t could be duly

recorded. Also, because most o f the time two people were observing

in the home, one could ta lk while the other observed and took notes.

Neither the parents at home nor the children in school seemed disturbed

by the note-taking.

Another area o f possible d i f f ic u lty is the lim ited amount of

in teraction observable at any one time in the home and at school.

Notes were taken on the previously determined sign ificant variables,

yet certain in teractions were missed because the observers were

out of sight or hearing range. I t would have been disruptive in both

46

the home and classroom to roam about as fr e e ly as would have been

id ea l. Yet, the quantity o f material gathered suggests that a

representative sample o f behavior was obtained and that the findings

are not l ik e ly to be forced in any particu lar d irection because o f

behavior sampling error.

In addition to observations in the school, teachers’ evaluations,

and sociometric forms, informal discussions were held with teachers

and administrators, and certain information was co llected from the

school records. The la t te r included resu lts of achievement and

in te llig en ce tes ts , a h istory of attendance and section placement,

grades received, and sign ifican t learning behavior, and health problems

Unfortunately, not a l l children had a previous h istory at the school,

some having just entered. Of the 84 children studied, the records

o f 6l contained enough information fo r us to make a complete evaluation

Since not a l l the information on the ch ildren 's school records is

d ire c t ly comparable, we had to make judgments of re la t iv e academic

achievement in some cases.

As regards the formal data obtained in the classroom, a ll teachers

were asked to evaluate the behavior of the Samoan children in the ir

classes on a standard form.^ A ll of the children in eight o f the

observed classrooms (the kindergarten and firs t-g rad e children were

excluded because they could not write each other’ s names) f i l l e d out

sociometric forms. The children in grades four to six ( f iv e classes)

were asked to give reasons fo r th e ir choices.

KEY INDICES

The two most crucial indices fo r the purposes o f th is study are

47

the le v e l o f acculturation o f the family as a whole and the success of

the individual ch ild in school. To reduce the complexity o f measuring

acculturation leve l to manageable proportions, we chose six key c r ite r ia .

They were chosen because they correspond with the theoretica l consid­

erations in the f i r s t chapter and meet certain methodological standards.

Our acculturation c r ite r ia are the fo llow ing: ( l ) amount o f schooling

completed by the father, (2 ) cimount o f schooling completed by older

s ib lin gs in the home, ( 3 ) whether the parents are United States c itizens,

( 4 ) the type o f food cooked in the home, ( 5 ) membership and amount of

partic ipation in non-Samoan organizations, and (6 ) the parents1 estimate

o f th e ir own English-speaking a b il it y . These items cover such diverse

content as exposure to the dominant culture through the education of

fam ily members, social partic ipation in mk ■»d ethnic groups, and speaking

a b il i t y in the dominant language; material culture as exemplified by

the type o f food cooked in the home; and id en tifica tion with the dominant

culture as indicated by citizensh ip .

These items were then in ter-correlated^ to ascertain s ta t is t ic a lly

whether they were measuring d iffe ren t facei s o f acculturation.

TABLE 1

CORRELATION OP CRITERIA FOR ACCULTURATION INDEX (By cr ite r ion number)

1 2 3 ""A 5 ~ o

1

2 .02

3 .0 5 .21

4 .26 - .1 2 .05

5 .41 .47 .1 1 -03

6 .46 .07 - . 1 1 .26 .53

48

As can be seen, most o f the correlations are not high and, therefore,

could not be tapping the same aspects o f acculturation. The highest

correlations, i . e . , those among the amount o f schooling o f fam ily

members, partic ipation in non-Samoan organizations, and English speak­

ing a b il ity , indicate some overlap. That is understandable, fo r these

items would fo llow from the same (quantity and quality o f exposure to

the dominant culture. And yet, correlations .41 to .53 axe not partic ­

u la r ly high, so a l l c r ite r ia can ju s t if ia b ly be included in the index.

To tes t the v a lid ity o f the index we experimented with other items

as w ell as using only the most central variable (se lf-estim ate of

English-speaking a b il i t y wa3 most highly correlated with a l l other v a r i­

ab les ). Regardless which o f these various indices wa3 used, the fam ilies

were grouped in approximately the same way. That would suggest that

another index could have equal v a lid ity . But again, the composition o f

the index that was u ltim ately used represented the complexity o f the

acculturation process better than one item alone or another combination

o f items.

Each item of the index was assigned a maximum of 6 points and they

were a l l equally weighted. The scores fo r each item were then added,

with a theoretica l composite score ranging from 6 to 36. The actual

range o f scores wa3 13 to 32. The fam ilies were then divided into

three groups according to th e ir scores; high, medium, and low degree

o f acculturation. Because th is index was developed fo r internal com­

parison, an equal number o f fam ilies was placed in each group; eleven

in the high, ten in the middle, and ten in the low group. In fa c t, a

higher proportion o f the fam ilies were toward the lower end o f the

49

to ta l score (.the lower the score, the lower the degree of acculturation).

In the fo llow in g chapter, the three le v e ls of acculturation are compared

with other demographic, soc ia l, and cultural factors.

A3 acculturation is an important independent variable (and figures

prominently in the f i r s t hypothesis o f thi3 study [see-Chapter I ] ) ,

i t is useful to examine how the le v e l o f acculturation of our fam ilies

correlated with the number o f interviews and intensive home observations.

Table 2 depicts that re la tionsh ip . As i t shows, those considered high

and low in acculturation are about equally represented in number of

interviews and occurrence o f home observation, but the middle group is

underrepresented. That suggests that our data are less informative

about those o f moderate acculturation than o f those highly or poorly

accultiirated.

TABLE 2

50

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACCULTURATION LEVEL, NUMBER OP INTERVIEWS, AND INTENSIVE OBSERVATION OP FAMILIES

AcculturationLevel

Number o f Interviews 3 1-2

Intensive Observation Yes No

Total Number o f Families

High 8 3 5 6 11

Medium 4 6 2 8 10

Low 9 1 5 5 10

The c r ite r ia fo r the index of success in school were chosen :

th e ir "a v a i la b i l i t y " as well as th e ir theoretica l and methodological

aptness. By a v a ila b il ity we mean that the information existed for

p ra c tica lly a l l the children. Such possible c r ite r ia as social des ir­

a b il it y , as indicated in the sociometric information and evaluation of

classroom behavior by the investigator could not be considered because

such information would be available fo r only one-third to one-half of

the children. Theoretical considerations involved the pertinence of

the c r ite r ion to a ch ild ’ s success in school.

The variab les that we arrived at fo r the success index are the

student’ s ( l ) tes t resu lts (a b i l i t y and achievement), (2 ) teacher eval­

uations, (3 ) attendance record, and ( 4 ) formal grades. There are test

resu lts on 6l children, behavioral evaluations by teachers on a l l the

children, attendance records fo r 73 children, and previous grades fo r

56 children. A ll four variables are quantifiable, and the children fo r

which there was information were divided into three equal groups. Test

resu lts were given double weight, since they usually assess both a b il ity

and achievement, which indicates potentia l fo r academic work. The other

three c r ite r ia were given equal weight.5

The c r ite r ia were in ter-correla ted to ascertain s ta t is t ic a lly

xihether they were indeed measuring d ifferen t aspects of success in

school. The resu lts are shown in Table 3*

TABLE 3

CORRELATION 0? CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS-IN-SCHOOL INDEX

(By cr ite r ion number)

51

1 2 3 412 .1 53 .25 .134 .41 .39 . 06

Again, these correlations are not high and so would l ik e ly indicate

d iffe ren t aspects o f school success. The highest correlations are

those between tes t resu lts and the ch ild 's formal grades, and teacher

evaluation and formal grades. A correlation o f .41 between tests and

grades is not surprising, as previous research has shown that the

correla tion between global measures o f in te lligen ce and school achieve­

ment is .50, with a range from .30 to .70 (Lavin 1965:47~^).

The higher correlation between teacher evaluation and school grades

is less understandable, because most o f the items in the evaluation were

revea ling o f socia l rather than academic performance. Yet, th is does

give support to the theory that social approval o f the teacher is re ­

la ted to the achievement o f the ch ild . The re la t iv e ly high correlation

could be explained by two circumstances, one, that teachers tend to

give higher grades to pupils who exhibit approved behavior, and two,

that children tend to perform well i f they know that the ir teachers

approve o f them. But one should not make too much o f the correlation

in th is study, fo r .39 is not particu larly high.

The tes ts evaluated were those o f the minimum testin g program fo r

Hawaii public schools. They included two a b ility tes ts : the Californ ia

Short-Porm Test o f Mental Maturity (CTMM) given in Grade 2, and the

Scholastic and College A b ility Tests (SCAT) given in Grades 4 and 6.

The achievement tes ts included the C aliforn ia Reading Test (CAT)

given in Grade 2, the Sequential Steps of Educational Progress (STEP)

in Reading, Mathematics, and Writing given in Grades 4 and 6, and in

Science, Socia l Studies and Listening given in Grade 5· In addition

to the above, some of the younger children had taken the Metropolitan

Readiness Test in kindergarten. Although there are con flic tin g opinions

as to what in te llig en ce tes ts actually do measure, i t would seem that

they re a lly do not measure basic in te lligen ce but do measure some

52

aspects o f the a b i l i t y to do school work as i t is now presented in the

school system. And achievement tes ts do measure a certain amount of

accumulated knowledge.

Teacher evaluations were used because i t was f e l t that approval of<

the teacher would be an indication o f a ch ild 's success and might re fle c t

s o c ia lly approved behavior in the classroom. Since i t was impossible

to observe a l l the children, i t was f e l t imperative to ask the teachers

which students they thought were aggressive, responsible, compliant,

achievement-oriented, etc . The rating was done on a form (see Appendix

D) on a 7-point scale with 1 equalling "never" and 7 equalling "always."

A higher score indicated a more pos itive evaluation, except fo r the

t r a it s o f seclusiveness, assertiveness, aggressiveness, and avoidance,

fo r which the point rating had to be reversed. The ratings were summed

up fo r each ch ild ; out of a to ta l possible 1 1 9 , the scores ranged from

44 to 109 points. On the basis o f th e ir to ta l scores, the children

were then divided in to three equal groups.

Attendance is considered s ign ifican t fo r a ch ild 's success in

school because i t indicates both the ch ild 's and the parents' attitude

toward school, and is a count o f the actual time the child is in the

classroom with the potential of absorbing classroom material. The entire

attendance record was taken in to account to obtain the average number

o f days the ch ild was absent per school year. The range was wide, with

.8 day's absence fo r one ch ild to 72 days' absence fo r another.

Grades received is the last c r ite r ion in the success index. Even

though i t is d i f f ic u lt to know p rec ise ly what grades measures, i t is

safe to say that they do indicate some combination of achievement and

53

approval by the teacher. Grades were therefore included in the index.

The two elementary schools in th is study assigned grades as fo llow s:

"E" fo r Excellent, "S" fo r Satisfactory, and "U" fo r Unsatisfactory.

Vie considered each ch ild ’ s entire previous grade pattern, and grades<

ranged from a high of 62 percent E 's fo r one ch ild to a low o f 93 per­

cent U 's fo r another. The children were then divided into three equal

groups, based on th e ir to ta l grades.

Twenty-three o f the younger and new children to the school had

only p a rtia l information on th e ir records. The available information

was treated in the same manner, given equal weight, and the children

divided in to three groups. Only eight children had information so le ly

on one variab le .

Each cr ite r ion therefore had a maximum score o f three points.

The scores were added, with double weight given to testing, and on the

basis o f the resu lts the children were divided in to three equal groups,

with 28 children in each group. Those in the group with the highest

scores were considered to have high success in school. Those with the

middle and lower scores were regarded as having medium and low success,

respective ly .

This index has the lim ita tion of being mainly a measure o f how

school personnel view the social and academic performance of the children

at a particu lar time. No atterrpt is made to measure the ch ild ’ s real

potentia l fo r academic achievement. But since past performance has

proven to be a good indication o f future performance in school, th is

lim ita tion is not c r i t ic a l .

One clue to the u t i l i t y o f the index is the clustering of children

54

of the same fam ilies at the same le v e l o f school success. Most o f the

sib lin gs were in the same group or adjacent groups. Of those 25 fam ilie

that had more than one child in school, 36 percent of them had a l l th e ir

children in either the high, middle, or low success group, and 48 per-<

cent had children in adjacent groups.

CHAPTER IV

THE STUDY POPULATION

This chapter discusses the general characteristics o f the fam ilies

we studied and, where information is availab le, compares them with

residents in Samoa. The comparison is made to ascertain whether the

group studied is representative of those who did not emigrate and, i f

they are representative, the degree to which th e ir l iv e s have been

changed in the new cultural context. In addition, the group studied

is compared with the rest of the Samoan population in Hawaii, where

such information is ava ilab le.

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

The 31 fam ilies that participated in th is study contained 6l

parents. One mother was divorced and there was l i t t l e information on

the father, so he was excluded from the study. In three fam ilies the

children were being raised by the ir grandparents and the la tte r were

considered part o f the parent population. Five o f the fam ilies contained

mixed marriages: two women were married to U.S. c itizen s from the

mainland United States; two were married to F ilip in o men; and one part- u'

Samoan male was married to a Hawaiian-Chinese woman. Therefore, the

parental generation contained 56 Samoan adults. F ifty-one parents were

born in American Samoa, four in Western Samoa, and one in Hawaii. In ­

cluded in the 56 Samoan adults are 7 part-Samoans, one being 50-percent

Samoan and six being 75-porcent Samoan. This number o f part-Samoans

may be an understatement, as some parents did not physically appear to

be fu l l Samoans but they id en tified themselves as such.

An attempt was made to determine the degree of previous exposure

56

to urbanization. As there are no c it ie s in Samoa f i t t in g the Western

concept o f a c ity , an urban area was defined as a v illa g e that contained

over 1,000 individuals. There are only four ouch v illa g e s in American

Samoa. I t v.c.3 found that the proportion o f migrants in our study group

who came from an urban area thus defined (23 percent) is sim ilar to the

proportion o f inhabitants who resided in an urban area in American Samoa

in I960 (25 percent).^ Therefore, at least on the basis of th is com­

parison, the study population was just as exposed to urbanizing influence

before migration as the general population in Samoa.

A possible indicator of degree o f acculturation is whether the

Samoan adults in Hawaii previously resided in Kauputasi County, the

area including and surrounding Pago Pago where the most American in ­

fluence is f e l t . A 1954 study o f Samoan immigrants also co llected th is

information (Hyde 1954 ) go we may compare our group with the ea rlie r

Samoan group resident in Hawaii (Table 4 ) ·

TABLE A

LAST SAMOAN RESIDENCE OP HAWAII IMMIGRANTS,COMPARED WITH TOTAL SAMOAN POPULATION

( * )

Residence . .

Immigrants Present Study

(1969) 1954*

Total Samoan Population

1960

Mauputasi County 13 50 27

Other 87 42 73

TOTAL 100 100 100

*Eyde 1954:14.

Although the rural -urban dimension is sim ilar fo r immigrants and

those remaining in Samoa, Table 4 shows that the county of former

residence d if fe r s markedly. F irs t, no longer are as many immigrants

coming from Pago Pago and i t s environs, as the group studied is quite

d ifferen t in th is dimension than the residents in 1954· Second, i f the

study population is representative o f other Samoan migrants in Hawaii<

(and there is no reason to believe i t is not in th is respect), there

is a p o s s ib ility that recent immigrants have been less exposed to accul-

tu rative influences than either the current residents of Samoa or thoseI

who previously immigrated to Hawaii. This group may thus have greater

problems o f adjustment than the ea r lie r immigrants. ^

Another possible indicator o f degree o f acculturation is the number

o f years the immigrant has resided in the receiv ing country. The average

number o f years the parents in our study had spent in Hawaii was 8.4

years, with a range from 1 to 16 years. I t was found that the fathers

who had been here longer were more l ik e ly to come from Mauputasi County;

th is evidence p a r t ia lly confirms the hypothesis that recent immigrants

may have been less exposed to acculturative influences than ea rlie r

immigrants.

Age and amount of education are often believed to influence the

degree to which a person can change or acculturate in a d ifferen t cultural

system. The ages o f the Samoan parents in th is study (and grandparents

acting as parents) ranged from 25 to 60 years, with the average age

being 40 years. The la t te r figure compares with the average age in

Samoa o f 37*9 years fo r the same age range. Thus our adult population

is s lig h t ly older than a comparable group in Samoa.

Table 5 chows the median years of schooling completed by the

parents, conpared with adults in Samoa. These figures may be inaccurate

58

59

due to the respondents' confusion between church and public schooling

and fee lin gs o f shame in mentioning few years of schooling. The reported

range is 0 to 14 years.

TABLE 5

MEDIAN YEARS OF SCHOOLING COMPLETED BY PARENTS IN THIS STUDY AND PEOPLE 25 AND OLDER IN AMERICAN SAMOA

StudyPopulation Samoa, I960

Males 8.8 7.5

Females 8.1 6.2

Even i f the Hawaiian figures are somewhat inaccurate, i t seemsa*a

that the educational leve l o f the immigrant group is s ligh tly higher

than that o f people in Samoa. The mean, which gives a better descriptionfl

o f the d ive rs ity o f years o f schooling, is 7*8 years of education fo r

the immigrant male and 6.6 years fo r the female. In re la tin g years of!»4•’1

education to other aspects already mentioned, the more educated parents-

tend to come from urban settings and are younger in age. This is under-

standable, as advanced education is r e la t iv e ly recent in American Samoa

and upper-level schools tend to be bu ilt in larger v illa g e s .

A ll parents were asked why they l e f t Samoa, and a l l but one o f the

fam ilies that came with children stated that they came to Hawaii to im­

prove the education o f the ir children. The one exception came to better

the education o f the father.

The respondent (usually the mother) was asked to rate h erse lf and

her spouse on th e ir speaking a b il it y in English. The descriptive terms

"poor," "average," and "good" were not defined.

60

PARENTS' ASSESSMENT OP THEIR ENGLISH-SPEAKING ABILITY ($S)

TABLE 6

Father Mother

"Poor" 4 30

"Average" 48 43

"Good" _J38 Л

100 100

As сал Ъе seen, the mothers rated themselves much lov;er on the ir

English-speaking a b il it y than th e ir husbands. That could owe partly to

self-deprecation , but fo r the most part the mother's poorer English

a b il i t y was v e r if ie d in the interviews and during the observations in

the home. And, consistent with other evidence c ited above, those parents

who rated themselves higher on th e ir English-speaking a b il ity tended to

have come from Kauputasi County and urban settings, and also had more

education.

The occupational p ro file o f Samoan adults in Hawaii is d if f ic u lt

to compare with that o f people in Samoa, because about h a lf o f the adult

population in American Samoa are employed in agricu lture. Our Honolulu

study population have no access to th is particu lar occupation. According

to the i 960 Samoan census, 55 percent o f the adults were employed in

agriculture or non-agricultural industry in 1959» compared with 62 per­

cent employed, in our sample.

Table 7 shows the rough occupational breakdown o f the parents in 7

our sample.

61

EKPLOYKSNT STATUS AND TYPE 0? OCCUPATION OP RESPONDENTS

TABLE 7

SexPercentEmpl oyed

Unskilled— Number ($ )

Semiskilled— Number {%)

Sk illed and Higher—Number (%) Tota l*

Kale 83 15 (60) 7 (28) 3 (12) 25

Female 40 11 (85) 2 (15) 0 (0 ) 30

TOTAL 62 26 o... V. 3 ....SSL...

*F ive fathers and one mother were excluded from the to ta l as they were not Samoan immigrants.

The tab le reveals, among other things, the r e la t iv e ly unskilled

nature of Samoan adults1 occupations, especia lly the women, and the

proportion o f employment in Hawaii o f both men and women.

For th is population, a more highly sk illed occupation on the part

o f the father is p o s it iv e ly associated with the previously considered

factors o f immigration from Kauputasi County, an urban setting, higher

education, and competency in English. S k illed occupation shows no

relationship with the fa th er ’ s age or h is number o f years present in

Hawaii. His previous l i f e in Samoa seems more crucial to h is type o f

employment in Hawaii rather than longer years o f residence in Hawaii.

This is somewhat surprising, since one would expect more upward m obility

from those with more years o f work experience. With longer work ex­

perience, one accumulates more s k il ls . This apparent lack o f upward

employment m obility could be explained by lack o f opportunity or lack

o f motivation on the part of the father. Some o f the fathers mentioned

that they were too old to risk a change o f employment. The unemployment(

rate is noteworthy: 12 percent is r e la t iv e ly low fo r an unskilled

immigrant group o f males.

On the other hand, the mother's employment is only re lated to

immigration from Mauputasi County and an urban setting. Education and

competency in English is not s ign ifican t. This is tinderstandable in«

that most o f the mothers work in laundry establishments, where education

and English a b il i t y are not pertinent. But mother's employment is

s lig h t ly re la ted to age, with more o f the younger mothers tending to

work. Nine mothers who had preschool children at home were employed.

This is not too surprising when one considers the a v a ila b ility o f re ­

la t iv e s to care fo r the youngsters while the mother is away from home.

Thirteen percent o f the fam ilies received th e ir to ta l income from

the Public Welfare Department, lacking any adult employment in the

fam ily, and 39 percent o f the fam ilies received some welfare aid owing

to th e ir low income and large fam ilies .

Since the fam ily size varies, a more accurate picture o f the fam ily '

financia l resources would be given by the per capita gross monthly income

For our respondents, that income varied from $50 to $120 with a mean of

$77· Therefore, the actual cash income o f these Samoan fam ilies in

Hawaii is greater than that in Samoa, where the median fam ily monthly

income is $60. The to ta l fam ily income depends more on how many fam ily

members are employed than the sk illed occupational le v e l o f the father.

That is , fam ilies in which the father has a sk illed occupation do not

necessarily have a larger fam ily income; the greater the number o f

employed fam ily members, the larger the fam ily income.

I t can be gathered from the above comparisons that the adult

population tinder study is s lig h t ly better-educated than, has been just

as exposed to urbanising influences as, people in Samoa, and at the

point o f emigration had a low degree o f acculturation. The la tte r may­

be counterbalanced by th e ir years o f residence in Hawaii. The compar­

a t iv e ly older age o f the parents may also be ind icative of the ir a b il ity4

to change. The fac t that they have lim ited a b il ity in English and

la rg e ly unskilled jobs may reduce th e ir exposure to acculturative in ­

fluences.

A pertinent c lu ster ο:Γ demographic characteristics appears fo r

th is study; that o f s k ille d or sem i-skilled occupation, immigration

from Kauputasi County and an urban setting, more years o f education,

and greater competency in English. We believe that parents who have

th is set o f characteris tics w il l exhibit d iffe ren t social behavior and

child-care practices than those who do not have these characteristics.

Vie id. 11 see in th is and the next chapter whether that assumption is

co rrect.

FAMILY ORGANIZATION

There are four rratai in the adult male population studied, two

in the parent generation and two in the grandparent generation. Their

ages range from 43 to 60 years. The matai do not seem to have any

leadership functions in the immediate community beyond the ir households.

The one male adult who had assumed some community leadership in the

past is not a matai, and the husband o f a respondent who was active in

the community is not a matai. A ll the matai did have in the ir house­

holds members o f th e ir extended fam ily, in contrast to extended family

in onlj'· about h a lf o f the other households. Two of the matai f e l t quite

strongly that only they represented th e ir fam ily and resisted the

63

in ves tiga to r 's wish to interview th e ir wives.

When the mothers were asked from whom they would seek advice i f

they were having trouble with th e ir husband or children, only two

mothers mentioned a matai. Yet i f a matai were eating a meal in th e ir<

home, 44 percent o f the respondents said they would show th e ir respect

by having the matai, in the trad itiona l manner, eat alone before the

fam ily members or with the husband i f he were a matai. Proper ceremonial

behavior toward the matai is generally accepted, but the trad itiona l

ro le o f g iv in g counsel on fam ily matters ra re ly seems to be served by

the matai in Hawaii. Aside from the responses to the two d irect ques­

tions, at no other time was the matai mentioned as a person that would

be concerned with fam ily problems.

Another trad ition a l way o f showing respect to the matai is by

contributing to a co llec tion fo r fa 'a la ve la ve . The la tte r are fam ily

celebrations around certain events such as births, graduations, weddings,

and funerals. Matai are present on such occasions and receive a share

o f the money contributed by the guests. The amount usually contributed

by fam ilies in th is study ranged from nothing to $50 monthly, with an

average o f $15 per month per fam ily. In addition, another $6 per month

was given to individual re la t iv e s whether in Hawaii or Samoa (but i t did

not pass through the hands o f the matai). Seventeen percent o f the

fam ilies did not contribute money o f either sort; the reason they gave

was that they were too poor to have money to spare, not that they did

not want to g ive . Parents mainly viewed these contributions as a form

o f mutual aid in times o f need rather than as a ceremonial obligation .

Only two o f the matai belonged to a Samoan organization fo r matai

64

in Hawaii. This organization performs various c iv ic functions fo r the

Samoan community. One o f th e ir most v is ib le a c t iv it ie s is helping to

organize the annual Flag Day celebration, at which the larger Hawaiian

community can view some aspects o f Samoan culture.

The above evidence supports, fo r the most part, previous studies

claiming that the matai system has not been transferred to Hawaii, a l­

though most Samoans are w illin g to show respect to the matai (A la 'ilim a

and A la 'ilim a 1965» Pierce 1956). Most o f the Samoan fam ilies in Hawaii,

lik e our sairple, continue to contribute money fo r fam ily celebrations

and to individual re la t iv e s in Hawaii or Samoa, irrespective o f the ir

acknowledgment o f the matai system in Hawaii. Contrary to the system

in Samoa, the matai that do exert leadership in Hawaii perform th is

ro le in the general Samoan community rather than in the immediate area

in which they l iv e .

In terms o f fam ily organization, 48 percent o f the households

contain kin in addition to the parents and natural or adopted children

and in Eyde's 1954 study, 46 percent o f the households contained

extended-farnily members. There is no comparable s ta t is t ic fo r American

Samoa. But in the la tte r country, 34 percent o f those liv in g in fam ily

households are not the w ife or natural children (under 18 years o f age)

o f the head o f the household. The comparable figure fo r the population

under study is 24 percent. This would lead one to believe that extended

fam ily l iv in g has been reduced in Hawaii, at least fo r th is population.

Yet despite the above, the size o f our study's households is large,

ranging from four to f i fte e n , with an average o f 8.6 persons v/hich is

larger than the average household size in American Samoa (7-83). This

65

I

number is less than the Samoan Task Force figure of 10.5 members per

household (Commission on Manpower and Full Employment 1972:36). I t

could be that the ru les regu lating the number o f people that can l iv e

in a unit o f the housing project in our study inh ib its the size o f the<

household.

Another figu re that accounts fo r the size o f the household in the

present study is the number o f children in the household. The average

number o f children born to a married woman is 6.4 fo r the present popu­

la tion and 5*4 fo r American Samoa in I960. Yet the children in th is

study \jere born mainly in Samoa, as those mothers who came to Hawaii

when married had only 29 percent o f th e ir children in Hawaii. The parents

who were married in Hawaii had an average o f f iv e children, but h a lf

o f them stated that they would lik e more children. This con flic ts with

P ie rc e 's fin d in g that there seem to be fewer children among Samoan

fam ilies in Hawaii than in Samoa (l9 5 6 :8 l).

The age o f the mother may have some bearing on the larger number

o f children in th is study. The mother's average age is 37·7 years fo r

th is study, whereas the average age o f women in the same age range is

36.5 years in American Samoa. Although th is d ifference is not large,

i t may account partly fo r the larger number o f children in the study

as the Hawaii mothers have had more child-bearing years. One can con­

clude that the households are larger in the population studied than

those in Samoa because of a larger number o f children born to the parents

rather than the presence o f kin l iv in g with the fam ily.

A previously mentioned variab le that is associated with a low

degree o f acculturation is whether the native language is spoken at

66

home. There was some English spoken in a l l o f the homes. The children

always spoke some English to each other. But in 40 percent o f the

fam ilies the parents spoke only Samoan and the children communicated

only in English or in English and Samoan. This finding is illuminated«

by the fact that most (lO ) o f these parents who spoke only Samoan wanted

th e ir children to re ta in the Samoan language; they spoke i t at home to

encourage such retention . Only 7 percent o f the fam ilies only spoke

English at home. But there was a tendency fo r the parents who were

more competent in English to use more English at home.

Ten percent o f the fam ilies had children attending a post-high

school course; 33 percent had children in high school; 20 percent had

children in junior high school; and 37 percent o f the fam ilies did not

have any older children above elementary school age. I t is in teresting

to note that the fam ilies who had been in Hawaii the longest were not

necessarily the ones that had older children attending school.

Another indication o f the persistence o f trad ition a l fam ily l i f e

is whether the parents have allowed th e ir children to be adopted out

or whether they themselves have adopted other children. Forty -five

percent o f the fam ilies in th is study have done one or the other. The

adoptions took place within the extended fam ily group, usually when the

ch ild was quite young.

In addition to the above, the parents in th is study revealed th e ir

trad ition a l orientation by the amount o f time they had lived with the ir

ovm parents as a married couple. Only six o f the couples had not liv ed

with th e ir parents during th e ir married l i f e . Those who had liv ed with

th e ir parents spent an average o f 7*3 years with them. In contrast to

67

th is , at the time o f the study only two o f the fam ilies housed three

generations.

The extent o f kinship t ie s is also revealed by the fact that the

Samoans in th is study v is ite d an average o f 2.3 close re la t iv e s at

least tw ice per month. Five fam ilies did not v is i t with any re la t iv e«

with such frequency. H alf o f the fam ilies had frequent v is ito rs from

Samoa (a t least once per yea r ). Almost h a lf had v is ite d Samoa since

th e ir move to Hawaii, with an average o f 1.2 times per fam ily. About

one-third had v is ite d the mainland United States, prim arily to see other

k in . Since v is it in g among kin is very common in Samoa, i t seems that

many o f the fam ilies tire continuing th is pattern, despite the high cost

o f tra ve lin g outside Hawaii. One should note that most o f these v is i t s

are fo r the purpose o f seeing one's parents, or fo r fam ily a ffa ir s such

as weddings and funerals.

In addition to church a c t iv it ie s , 77 percent o f the fam ilies par­

tic ip a ted as a fam ily in le isu re a c t iv it ie s . Their frequency averaged

1.7 times per month. The most popular a c t iv ity was v is it in g^ , with

other a c t iv it ie s in the fo llow ing order: p icn ics, going to the beach

and spectator sports events, movies, and fam ily celebrations. Only

27 percent o f the respondents stated that either parent had independent

a c t iv it ie s outside o f the home.

One can in fe r that the kinship patterns o f the sanple studied are

not very d iffe ren t from those in Samoa. Households are large, including

natural and adopted children and various kin; there is much v is it in g

among the extended fam ily; there is mutual aid among kin, although

probably to a lesser extent than in Samoa; and what l i t t l e le isure

68

a c t iv it ie s there are take place within the fam ily.

RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION

A ll o f the parents claimed some re lig iou s a f f i l ia t io n , although

two o f the fam ilies stated that they did not attend church services.«

Members o f the London Missionary Society (now ca lled the Christian

Congregational Church) and the Methodist church are organized in to

Samoan-speaking congregations and partic ipate in trad ition a l a c t iv it ie s

such as choirs, wakes, and wedding feasts . The Mormons and Roman

Catholics attend English services, and most o f th e ir church a c t iv it ie s

are integrated with the other church members. Table 8 compares the

church a f f i l ia t io n o f the study population with people in Samoa.

TABLE 8

CHURCH AFFILIATION OF STUDY POPULATION AND PEOPLE IN SAMOA {$ )

Study American Western Samoa,Church Population________Samoa*___________ 1961**

69

L.M.S. 58 62 55

Mormon 18 8 6

Methodist 13 — 17

Catholic 4 19 20

Other— I 11 2

TOTAL 100 100 100

L.M.S. and Methodist

Mormon and71 68 (approx.) 72

Catholic 22_______________27_______________ 26

*Kaser, 1968.**Western Samoa Census Commissioner's O ffice , 1962.

I t appears from th is table that the Samoans in the present study,

compared with those in American Samoa, are about equally represented

in the L.M.S. church, are overrepresented in the Mormon and Methodist

churches, and are underrepresented in the Catholic church. I f one

combines the percentage o f Methodists and the L.M.S. members (the more«

trad ition a l churches) and then combines the percentage o f Catholic and

Mormon members, one sees a sim ilar proportion o f trad itiona l church

membership in Hawaii compared to American Samoa. There seems to be

some support fo r making th is d iv is ion o f the four denominations based

on the degree o f trad ition among the churches as a more trad itiona l

membership (L.M.S. and Methodist) is associated with adoption o f c h il­

dren, re la t iv e s l iv in g in the home, less older children attending

school, and the fact that the mother usually does not work. This

association would indicate that trad itiona l fam ily behavior is re lated

to membership in the L.M.S. and Methodist churches.

As regards actual church partic ipation , four of the fathers were

church functionaries (preacher, pastor, or reverend), but none o f them

devoted fu l l time to re lig iou s a c t iv it ie s . For respondents who attended

church the average attendance was once per week.

Apart from church services, 36 percent o f the parents did not

partic ipate in any other church a c t iv it ie s . This large percentage

seems surprising, as i t was previously noted that the church has im­

portant socia l functions fo r Samoans. H alf o f the Mormon parents and

one-third o f the L.M.S. parents did not partic ipate in any a c t iv it ie s

other than church services. For those who did partic ipate in church

a c t iv it ie s , the most popular a c t iv it ie s were the choir and monthly

meetings, and the average attendance at a l l other a c t iv it ie s was 4«6

7°

71

times per month. The people v/ho were active in church a c t iv it ie s were

not the same people who were active in Samoan groups outside the church.

For the former, church a c t iv ity probably sa tis fied th e ir socia l needs,

so they did not fe e l a need to participate in other,organized Samoan

a c t iv it ie s .

The children attended a c t iv it ie s other than church services a

l i t t l e more frequently with 25 percent o f them not partic ipating in

other church a c t iv it ie s . For those who did partic ipate, the average

attendance was 4*7 times per month, with the most common a c t iv ity being

Sunday school.

As was mentioned in Chapter I I , tra d it io n a lly h. Samoan fam ily

gathered fo r worship tvn.ce a day. Three fam ilies in the present study

did not have fam ily prayers at a l l , and the remainder gathered fo r

fam ily prayers an average of 1.2 times por day.

To help assess the degree o f re lig iou s partic ipation and traditional

adherence, parents were asked i f the minister o f th e ir church v is ited

th e ir home, and i f so, how they received them. S ligh tly over one-fifth

stated that th e ir ministers did not v is i t them; they were the least

active church members. Of those who did have th e ir minister in the ir

home, over one-half treated them in the trad ition a l manner g iv ing them

money, food, or g i f t s .

To the question o f whose help the mother would seek i f she were

having trouble with her spouse or children, only six designated the ir

minister, and two o f them had mentioned the minister in connection with

saying a prayer. I t would thu3 seem that ministers among these Samoans

had few counseling functions as compared with ministers o f other Western

72

churches. That view is consistent with the findings in the lite ra tu re

(Chapter I I ) .

I t can be gathered from the above discuosion that although tra d i­

tion a l church a f f i l ia t io n s had re mined with the immigrant in Hawaii,

a small minority had iso la ted themselves from the church mainly through

the lack o f partic ipation in church a c t iv it ie s . Perhaps the greater

non-participation o f the Mormon adults owes to th e ir having to jo in an

English speaking congregation; as one father stated, many Samoans do ■f

not comprehend vdiat is being discussed at church. But th is lin e o f

reasoning does not explain why there was such a lack o f partic ipation

among L.K.S. members. There is some evidence that L.M.S. members who

are less active have a lower income and, by th e ir in a c tiv ity , avoid

making the expected contributions.

SOCIAL OUGAKIZATION

Here v?e are concerned with group membership and friendship patterns.

Among the fam ilies in the study population there is l i t t l e partic ipa tion

in organized socia l groups, whether o f Samoan or nixed membership.

The most frequent membership group mentioned was a labor union to which

almost h a lf the fathers belonged and whose meetings two-thirds o f them

attended. The only other group mentioned with any frequency was the

Parents and Teachers Association with 8 fam ilies claiming membership

(though only h a lf o f the parents said they attend meetings). Probably

other parents belong to the PTA without being aware o f i t , as most

schools t r y fo r 100-pcrccnt membership. Two o f the parents wore activo

participants in the PTA, being or having been o ffic e rs .

Only four o f the parents belonged to a Samoan group, and two o f

them were o ffic e rs . One o f the Samoan groups was the previously men­

tioned association fox· Samoan matai, and the other, a general community

group o f Samoans. Some o f the parents had previously belonged to other

Samoan groups that had since disbanded.«

There were not any Samoan groups exclusively within the housing

area. One o f the active mothers had been asked by housing o f f ic ia ls to

organize such a group, but she f e l t that she could not do so, as i t

would mean exerting authority over women older than h erse lf, indicating

a lack o f respect. Only one parent, a mother, was active in mixed

groups in the housing p ro ject, and she was a past president o f one of 9

these groups.

Most o f the parents looked fo r friendships outside o f the immediate

community, among kin or fe llow church members. There was no adherence

to a structure within the immediate community. There was no sense of

community as there was in Samoa. Individual Samoans s t i l l re ferred to

th e ir former homes in Samoa as "n\y v i l la g e ." Very l i t t l e interaction

was seen in the area; fo r example, in only three homos were members of

the community v is it in g each other on the occasion o f the in vestiga tor ’ s

v i s i t . They were never seen ta lk ing to each other outside the ir homes.

Yet when the parents were asked whether they prefer Samoan or

mixed socia l groups or neighbors, most o f them stated a preference for

mixed socia l groups. Their reasons ranged from not lik in g the behavior

o f Samoans to wishing to learn English. Samoans c r i t ic iz e each other

fo r figh tin g and drinking. Yet th e ir behavior does not fo llow the ir

attitudes because, at least fo r the women, they only know other Samoans

and only a few partic ipate in mixed groups. Those that did participate

73

had a better command o f English and tended to belong to the lea s t-

trad ition a l churches.

The organizational a c t iv ity o f the children was even more lim ited .

Only eight o f the fam ilies had children who participated in mixed social<

a c t iv it ie s (there is very l i t t l e Samoan a c t iv ity fo r children outside

the church). Curiously, a l l the children who were active in some group

had parents who were also active in community groups. I t i s also o f

in terest that only four children in these eight fam ilies with active

children participated in a th le tic a c t iv it ie s . That is a departure,

fo r Samoans in Hawaii are known in the general community fo r the ir

a th le t ic a b il ity .

Thus, the Samoans in th is study are more so c ia lly iso lated than

th e ir counterparts in Samoa who s t i l l partic ipate in trad itiona l v il la g e

l i f e . Their patterns o f group membership and friendship involve th e ir

own ethnic group fo r the most part; they s t i l l maintain th e ir kinship

t ie s ; and they tend to speak th e ir native language. Based on the pre­

vious discussion o f acculturation theory, the adults in th is study do

not appear to be acculturated in th e ir social partic ipation . I t is

now appropriate to turn to a comparison o f the degree o f acculturation

o f the fam ilies in the study population with demographic, socia l, and

cultural factors .

ACCULTURATION

As stated in Chapter I I I , the fam ilies in the study population

were divided in to three equal groups by le v e l o f acculturation—high,

medium, and low—based on ah index developed there. The c r ite r ia in

the index are b r ie f ly , the amount o f schooling completed by the father

74

and. the older children in the family, the citizenship of the parents,

the type o f food prepared in the home, participation in non-Samoan or­

ganizations, and the self-estim ate o f parental English speaking a b il ity .

Since the acculturation process is complex, i t is in no way assumed

that the le v e l o f acculturation based on th is index is sim ilar fo r a l l

other cultural practices. There is not a uniform and simultaneous change

in a l l in stitu tion s. The fam ily that is highly acculturated on th is

index does not necessarily fo llow the dominant group’ s cultural practices

in mutual aid or soc ia liza tion . The le v e l of acculturation applies

only to the terms o f th is index. A main purpose o f th is section is to

ascertain to what extent we can sa fe ly generalize from th is index of

acculturation.

Do Samoans react d iffe ren tly to the culture-contact situation

according to th e ir le v e l o f acculturation? Does the acculturation le v e l

d iffe ren tia te among demographic factors and social and cultural practices?

A by-product o f th is analysis is a c la ss ific a tion of fam ilies by th e ir

position in the Samoan and dominant culture. I t w il l be shown that at

one end o f the continuum a fam ily can participate quite active ly in the

Samoan culture and yet be r e la t iv e ly h ighly acculturated and, at the

other end, a fam ily can be r e la t iv e ly iso lated from both cultures and

barely partic ipatin g in e ith er. How acculturation is associated with

enculturation practices and the ch ild 's success in school is discussed

in Chapters V and V II, respective ly .

Demographic Factors

Attention w ill be focused f i r s t on demographic factors. One o f the

predictions made in Chapter I was that Samoan parents who themselves

75

had grown up in a household where a non-Samoan was present would he

l ik e ly to be more acculturated. This was tested by comparing the

parents who were fu l l Samoans with those who were not. Table 9 shows

the re la tion o f leve l o f acculturation with ethn icity .

TABLE 9

LEVEL OP ACCULTURATION AND DEGREE 0? SAMOAN ETHNICITY

7 6

— —>

cis € V,Level o f

Acculturat i on

rn 'jfj'pc *' 100A

Sa.moan

* t «ftLess than

100/1) Samoan Total

H ligh 13 5 18

’ I Medium 18 1 19

Low 18 1 19

Total ..... 49 .......... 1 ............. 56*

*Tho to ta l number of parents is 56 rather than 61 because four non-Sarnoan fathers and one mother are excluded.

I t can be seen that although there is some association between

eth n ic ity and acculturation consistent with the prediction, the number

o f cases' of part-Samoans is snail. But the part-Samoan respondents

who were highly acculturated had been in Hawaii ten years or more,

whereas the two part-Samoan respondents who were on the middle and low

acculturated le v e l had been in Hawaii less than f iv e years. Therefore,

mixed ethn ic ity may predispose one toward acculturation, but one s t i l l

needs a length of time in the new environment to complete the process,

perhaps the two respondents who were not as acculturated as the others

w il l have become so a fte r they have been in Hawaii a longer period of

time.

In addition, Although the adults o f mixed ethn icity in th is

population were not necessarily more l ik e ly to marry a non-Samoan, of

the f iv e Samoan parents vjho had intermarried four were placed in the

h igh ly acculturated group. This would indicate again that in a house­

hold where a non-Samoan is present the fam ily tends to he more accul­

turated. ,

Table 10 shows that the number o f years in an urban setting in

Hawaii is a strong indicator o f acculturation. I t is strik ing,

TABLE 10

LEVEL OP ACCULTURATION AND YEARS OP RESIDENCE IN HAWAII

77

Level o f Acculturation

Years o f 9 and more

Residence 8 or less Total

High 13 5 18

Medium 12 7 19

Low 5 14 19

Total 30 26 ____ 56 ..

however, that twelve respondents had been in Hawaii fo r many years

and were s t i l l at the medium le v e l o f acculturation and f iv e long­

time residents were at a low le v e l. This gives greater weight to the

in i t ia l statement that adequate quality as w ell as quantity o f con­

tacts is necessary fo r acculturation to occur. I f we take a closer

look at the f iv e individuals who had lengthy residence in Hawaii and>

yet were minimally acculturated, we find that they gave a low evaluation

o f th e ir English a b il i t y and two o f them were in the grandparent gen­

eration . Three were h ighly attached to Samoan trad itiona l culture,

but the other two did not seem attached to either culture. Although

the la t te r had re la t iv e s l iv in g in th e ir home, they ra re ly v is ited other

kin or attended church, they did not contribute toward fa 1 a lp.velave,

and they had unskilled jobs. In other words, they seemed re la t iv e ly

iso la ted .4

On the other hand, the f iv e individuals who had been in Hawaii

only a feu years and yet were h ighly acculturated seemed equally com­

fo rtab le in both cultures. Of the two fathers in th is groxip one had a

sk illed occupation and the other had a semi-professional position .

They did a great deal o f v is it in g , attended trad ition a l churches, pre­

pared Samoan food at home, and treated guests in the trad itiona l manner.

They also contributed toward fa 'a la ve la ve . And as w il l be shown la te r ,

the children in these fam ilies were doing fa ir ly well in school, and

two o f them were already in co llege .

I t was predicted in the f i r s t chapter that women would tend to

acculturate less than men. Judging from our acculturation index, th is

sample confirms that prediction. The women have less education, are

less l ik e ly to be United States c itizen s , partic ipate less in non-Samoan

a c t iv it ie s , and generally evaluate th e ir English as being poorer than

th e ir husbands1.

Although English a b i l i t y is part o f the acculturation index, another

aspect o f language has a possible relationship with acculturation.

That is which language is spoken in the home by the parents and th e ir

children. Table 11 shows the relationship in our data between accul­

turation le ve l and language use.

78

LEVEL OP ACCULTURATION AND LANGUAGE USE

TABLE 11

79

Parent s ChildrenLevel o f English only or

Ac cult tit at ion English and SamoanSamoanOnly

EnglishOnly

English and Samoan

High 9 24

5 6

Medium 6 4 6 4

Low 4 6 ‘ 4 6

Total 19 12 15 16

The use o f the native language in. the home is in the expected di

rection fo r the parents but not fo r the children. The high incidence

of acculturated children speaking Samoan could be explained by the fact

that 80 percent o f the parents said they wanted the ir childron to re ta in

the language, prim arily to be able to communicate with re la tive s , espe­

c ia l ly grandparents. Some parents also believed that the use o f the

Samoan language enhanced respect fo r elders. Appropriate language usage .

is emphasised in many aspects o f Samoan culture; i f children were to

re ta in certa in cultural practices, they would have to reta in the language

that accompanies these practices. Another factor could be that so many

o f the mothers evaluated th e ir English a b i l i t y as '’poor1' or "average"

that speaking in th e ir native language would enhance the communication

system .between parents and children. One father f e l t strongly that

parents should not speak English to the children because i t would usually

be a substandard English; i t would thus be better fo r the children to

learn English only in school where i t would more l ik e ly be standard

English.

Access "to the rewards of the dominant society was mentioned in

the f i r s t chapter a3 being associated with acculturation. For our

purposes, we consider access to r is e with the s k i l l le ve l of the fa th er 's

occupation and with per capita monthly income.«

TABLE 12

LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION Alii) ACCESS TO TIE REWAItDS 0? TIE DOMINANT SOCIETY

80

Level of Acculturat i on

Father's Occupation Sk illed + Semiskilled Unskilled

Per Capita Monthly Income ($ )

75 + Less than 75

High 3 3 2 4 7

Medium 0 2 7 5 5

Low 0 2 7 5 5

Total 3 ..... 7 ........... . 16 14 17

As th is tab le shows, the fa th e r 's occupation has the closest

association yet with acculturation. But per capita monthly income, i f

i t has any relationship at a l l , is re la ted negatively with acculturation.

That could have something to do with the source o f income. Most o f the

lower-income fam ilies are on welfare, and i t perhaps takes a greater

amount o f know-how in the dominant society to get on welfare than send

another fam ily member in to the employment market. Or, perhaps there

is just no re lationship between per capita income and acculturation.

Probably the la t te r is the case, since the negative relationship is so

small.

As regards the fam ilies of the three fathers who had sk illed or

higher occupations: th e ir fathers had occupations in Samoa other than

farming; two o f th e ir wives worked; the wives were not happy with the ir

present financia l situation ; the parents wanted th e ir children to go

on to co llege ; and they were certain that the ir children would have

better jobs and would be in better financia l circumstances when they

became adults. And as w il l be seen la te r , the children in these fam ilies4

were fa i r ly successful in school. In other words, i t seems that these

fathers came from upwardly mobile fam ilies , were upwardly mobile them­

selves, and were ra is ing th e ir children to be upwardly mobile. And yet,

they seemed to be fa ir ly steeped in Samoan culture by being active in

trad ition a l churches (two o f them were m inisters), by receiving frequent

v is i t s from re la t iv e s , by contributing to fa 'a la vc la ve , and by receiving

guests in the trad ition a l manner. And they did not necessarily have a

higher income or fewer children. In other words, these fam ilies were

acculturated and upwardly mobile yet had many t ie s to the Samoan culture.

To sum up the resu lts o f the application o f our acculturation ^

index to the study population so fa r, the Samoan parents were apt to be

more acculturated i f they were part-Samoans, i f they came from ’’urban"

Samoa or the county in which Pago Pago is located, i f they had resided

many years in Hawaii, i f they did not plan to return to Samoa, i f they

generally spoke English and Samoan in th e ir homes, i f the mother was

employed, and, most strongly o f a l l , i f the father was employed in a

sk illed or higher occupation. The evidence also suggests that the

parents who are upwardly mobile are more acculturated.

Family and Cultural Factors

Nov; we broaden the confines o f the acculturation index to consider

fam ily and cultural' patterns that may have a loss demonstrable connection

with accultmnation. As we cautioned above, studies have found that

81

■frBxWYyr

82

fam ily and cultural patterns are more resistant to change in culture

contact situations.

F irs t v;e focus on fam ily organization. Table 13 presents the

number o f natural and adopted children in the fam ily as re lated to4

parents’ le v e l o f acculturation. I t can be seen that acculturation

TABLE 13

LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION AND NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN FAMILY

Level o f Acculturation

Number of Children6 or less 7 or more 5 or less 10 or more

High 5 6 2 3

Medium 6 4 4 1

Low 7 3 5 1

Total 18 13 11 5.......

has a s ligh t p os itive relationship with number o f children in the

fam ily but not in the expected d irection ; the more acculturated

have more children. This holds true whether vie look at the to ta l

study population or at the extremes, that is , at the small and

large fam ilies . Children are highly valued in Samoan culture and

apparently continue to be valued among Samoans in Hawaii. When asked,

only f iv e parents thought they had more children than they id ea lly

wanted to have. And, as mentioned previously, those fam ilies that more

nearly approach Western standards o f success, did not necessarily have

fewer children. The parents do not seem to recognize the d es irab ility

o f adopting the current Western standard o f a small fam ily. In our

data, s ize o f fam ily has no relationship to education or the fa th er 's

%■

occupation, but i t does have a strong relationship to to ta l fam ily

income and is s lig h t ly re la ted to the number o f employed adults in the

fam ily. Probably the sequence goes th is way—the parents conceive

another ch ild ; i f the fam ily income is su ffic ien t fo r another child,<

there i s no employment adjustment; i f the to ta l fam ily income is insuf­

f ic ie n t , another fam ily member becomes employed. I f no additional

fam ily member is ava ilab le, the fam ily t r ie s to obtain welfare aid; i f

in e lig ib le they accomodate to a reduced per-capita income. In one

fam ily, when the mother conceived her sixth ch ild , there was no other

adult ava ilab le fo r employment, and the fam ily was already rece iv ing

p a rtia l a id from the welfare department. The solution was fo r the

father to obtain a part-time job in addition to h is fu ll-tim e employment.

Two other trad ition a l fam ily factors are sharing one’ s home with

members o f the extended fam ily and the g iv ing and receiv ing o f children

in adoption. Table 14 depicts th e ir relationship with le v e l o f accul­

turation .

TABLE 14

LEVEL OP ACCULTURATION AND EXTENDED KIN AND PRACTICE OP ADOPTION IN

RESPONDENTS’ HOUSEHOLD

83

Relative L iving Children Adopted Level o f in Household? In or Out?

Acculturation Yes No Yes No

High 3 8 2 9

Medium 5 5 5 5

Low 7 3 7 3

Total 15 16 1 A. 17

The table is noteworthy in showing both the presence o f extended

fam ily and the practice o f adoption to be strongly negatively associated

with acculturation. I t seems that the group o f fam ilies that did not

house re la t iv e s or partic ipate in adoption did not participate in other«

trad ition a l Samoan a c t iv it ie s . The parents tended to belong to ''modern"

churches, trea t guests in a non-traditional manner, and eat non-Samoan

food. They also had more education, the mothers had been in Hawaii

longer, they participated in non-Samoan a c t iv it ie s outside the church,

and were not particu la rly happy with the ir present l i f e . In other

words, these fam ilies seem to be an accultured group that have fewer

t ie s to the Samoan culttire. lie are thus discovering two types o f ac-

culturated fam ilies , one that has t ie s to both cultures and another

that has most o f i t s attachments to the dominant culture. Likewise,

as indicated by these same sorts o f associations, we are finding that

there arc two types o f unacculturated fam ilies, those that have t ie s

to Samoan culture only, and those that are iso la ted from both the

dominant and Samoan culture.

As re ferred to previously, the closeness o f kinship t ie s is in ­

dicated by the number o f close re la t iv e s v is it in g in the home and the

frequency o f v is i t s to and from Samoa. The number o f loca l close

re la t iv e s v is it in g in the homes o f the population studied seems to have

no relationship to the le v e l o f acculturation o f the parents. Curiously,

the making o f v is i t s to Samoa and the receiv ing o f v is ito rs from Samoa

has a pos itive association with leve l o f acculturation. Parents that

arc more h ighly acculturated tended to v is i t Samoa and receive v is ito rs

from Samoa more often than those who had a low le v e l o f acculturation.

84

As expected, those that were more acculturated tended to v is i t the U.S.

mainland more often. Yet v is i t s to and from Samoa, and to the U.S.

mainland, have l i t t l e to do with fam ily income, fo r i t has been shown

already that there is no association between le v e l o f acculturation4

and per-capita income. I f these v is i t s are considered important, somehow

the money is raised to pay fo r the t r ip . The parents who participated

in such v is i t s were active in church and non-church a c t iv it ie s and made

larger contributions toward the church and fam ily celebrations.

There appears not to be a d irect association between the le v e l o f

acculturation, fam ily income and the amount o f money contributed toward

fam ily celebrations ( fa 'a la ve la ve ) and financia l aid to other members

o f the fam ily. Since such mutual financia l aid is an in tegra l part o f

Samoan culture, one ivould expect i t not to change very much despite

the comparatively low incomes o f Samoans in Hawaii.

Since only four o f the study population's fathers or grandfathers

acting as fathers were matai, i t is d i f f ic u lt to interpret the s ig n if­

icance o f the fact that two o f the matai were considered low, one

medium, and one high in le v e l o f acculturation. The two that were

least acculturated were the grandfathers. More informative is the

reve la tion that the least acculturated had more fathers who were matai

than did the more acculturated. I t could be that the more highly ac­

culturated were on the point o f emigration, more l ik e ly outside the

status system in Samoa. The v a lid ity o f th is in terpretation rests on

the assumption that the more highly acculturated. have a greater o r i­

entation toward upward m obility. That assumption is borne out by

Table 1 5 .

85

86

LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION AND DISPOSITION TOWARD UPWARD MOBILITY

TABLE 15

Level of Acculturation

Desired Length of Children’ s Education College High School

Happy with Current Situation?

Yes * No

High 15 2 5 6

Medium 13 3 5 4

Low 7 8 11 0

TOTAL 35*f

13* 21 10

Level ofAcculturat i on

W ill Your Child Have a Better Job?

Yes Probably No

W illBetter

Yes

Your Child Be o f f Financially'

Don't Know

High 9 2 0 10 1

Medium 2

oCO 5 5

Low 1

oON 5 5

......TOTAL 12 19 0 20 11

*Both parents were asked th is question.

A greater proportion o f h ighly and moderately acculturated parents

want th e ir children to attend co llege, think th e ir children w il l have

"better jobs and a higher financia l status than they now do, and are

less sa tis fied with th e ir present situation. Of the ten fam ilies who

were not sa tis fied with th e ir present situation, the most frequent

desire mentioned was fo r more money to buy th e ir own home and other

household a r t ic le s and fo r improved education fo r themselves and the ir

children. This, added to the previous data on occupations, i s further

evidence that a pos itive attitude towards upward mobility is important

fo r success in the dominant culture, and these parents show that one

can have th is orientation without necessarily relinquishing attachment

to Samoan culture. Those in our study who are upwardly mobile can

speak Samoan in the home and want the ir children to speak Samoan;

v is i t often with kin; a c tiv e ly participate in church and Samoan a ctiv—«

i t i e s ; and treat guests in a trad itiona l manner. As w il l be shown

la te r , the parents’ orientation toward upward mobility is an important

factor in the ch ild ’ s success in school.

Curiously, two-thirds o f the fam ilies stated that they were happy

with th e ir present situation although i t was clear that some of them

were having financia l and housing d if f ic u lt ie s , health problems, and

problems with th e ir children. This positive response owes partly to

Samoan cultural tra in ing: one does not view oneself as being better

than others. I f they were unhappy with their present condition, they

might perhaps aspire to being better o ff than others. The response

that dramatizes th is attitude came when parents were asked to compare

themselves with other Samoan fam ilies . Not one of them stated that

they were doing better fin an c ia lly ; only two stated that they were

doing less w e ll; and the rest ( 29) o f the parents did not know or f e l t

that they were doing as well fin an c ia lly as other Samoan fam ilies in

Honolulu.

Now le t us look at some cultural patterns within the home. One

important trad ition a l pattern is the manner of trea tin g guests, matai,

or ministers in one's home,—particu larly the manner o f serving food

and whether the guests eat alone in advance o f the family, eat with

one or both parents, or eat with the whole fam ily. I t is usually

trad ition a l fo r parents to eat with ordinary guests but fo r the husband

only to eat with a matai or minister. Most conservatively trad itional

would be fo r the matai, minister, and a l l other guests to eat alone

before the rest of the fam ily. Acculturation is associated with the

treatment o f guests; the more acculturated the parents, the less l ik e ly

1*0they were to receive guests in the trad itiona l manner.

To sum up th is discussion on fam ily and cultural institu tions,

there is less d iffe ren tia tion among d ifferen t leve ls of acculturation

and these aspects than the ones previously mentioned under demographic

fa cto rs . Acculturated parents have fewer re la tives l iv in g in the

household, have not adopted other children or le t the ir own children

be adopted, are more desirous that the ir children attend co llege, are

less happy with th e ir present situation, and are more l ik e ly to treat

guests in a modern manner. The number of re la tives v is it in g in the

home and financia l contributions to kin and fo r fam ily celebrations

have l i t t l e to do with the le ve l o f acculturation o f the parents studied.

A low le v e l o f acculturation is associated with a proportionately

smaller fam ily, fewer v is i t s to and from Samoa, and a greater number

o f rnatai among the fa th e r 's fathers. Perhaps the most basic aspects

o f Samoan culture are those having to do with relationships among kin,

and o f these only two, extended households and adoption, are associated

negatively with le v e ls of acculturation. That is , fewer extended

households and adoptions occur among the more acculturated fam ilies.

When one looks more c lose ly at the fam ilies in the d ifferen t

le v e ls o f acculturation, one finds that the modification o f Samoan

patterns of behavior can occur independently of acculturation. Kespon-

dents who v-’ere more highly acculturated also exhibited Samoan cultural

88

patterns o f behavior, and those who were less acculturated did not

necessarily exhibit th is same behavior. In addition to the c r ite r ia

in the acculturation index and length of residence in Hawaii, an o r i­

entation toward upward m obility is seen to be an important component

o f acculturation and success in school.

Social Organization

Let us now examine whether le isure a c t iv it ie s vary with accul­

turation . The way a fam ily spends i t s le isure time varies from culture

to culture, and i t was hypothesized in the f i r s t chapter that the

members o f more acculturated fam ilies would have more contacts vath

the members o f the larger society.

Although membership in a Samoan organization did not seem to vary

with acculturation, membership in a non-Samoan organization and ac­

t i v i t i e s that only one parent participated in varied markedly with

acculturation. The more acculturated the family, the greater the

tendency fo r a parent to belong to a non-Samoan group and to partic ipate

in a c t iv it ie s apart from spouse and children. P rac tica lly a l l o f the

parents who belonged to mixed organizations were in the highly accul­

turated group, as were most o f the parents who had independent a c t iv it ie s

Partic ipation in ethn ica lly mixed organizations holds true as a char­

a c te r is t ic o f acculturated children, too.

Church membership varies according to the le v e l o f acculturation,

but two denominations, although the numbers are small, do not show the

expected d irection as is shown in Table 16. The L.M.S. church shows

a proportionately greater number o f unacculturated individuals in i t s

membership. The Methodists, because o f th e ir Samoan-speaking

89

congregations, were expected to fo llow the same pattern but did not.

The spread o f acculturation in the Mormon membership is d if f ic u lt to

in terpret, but i t is probably safest to say that the Mormons are closer

to the Methodists in acculturation than to the L.M.S., since no Mormons

are in the least acculturated group. The remaining nontraditional

churches (Catholic, Hasarene, Seventh Bay Adventist, Honcado Foundation)

have a greater proportion of h ighly acculturated Samoans in the ir mem­

bership. In spite o f the mixed findings on the Mormons and Methodists,

those that belong to a more modern church as previously defined show

less trad ition a l behavior such as trea tin g guests in a modern manner,

pa rtic ipatin g in non-Samoan a c t iv it ie s , and being disposed toward upward

m obility.

TABLE 16

LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION AND ADULT CHURCH AFFILIATION

90

Level o f Acculti ir at .i on L.U.S. Mormon Moth odi st Other Total

High 4 4 5 5 18

Medium 3.2 6 0 1 19

Low 16 0 2 1 19

TOTAL 32 10 7 7 56

The frequency of attendance at church services does not vary with

acculturation, but the frequency o f partic ipation in other church

a c t iv it ie s does. That is , the more acculturated adults participate

in church a c t iv it ie s other than services more often than do the less

acculturated. This seems surprising because the a c t iv it ie s (outside

Sunday serv ice ) in which Samoans participate most, the choir and a

monthly meeting, are quite trad ition a l. Yet these two a c t iv it ie s would

be considered trad ition a l fo r Western-style churches also.

In summary, there is some evidence that the least acculturated

are s lig h t ly more soc ia lly iso lated , not only from the larger community«

but also from the Samoan community. The adults and children are less

l ik e ly to partic ipate in mixed ethnic groups, the parents participate

less in independent a c t iv it ie s , and the least acculturated parents

partic ipate less in the socia l a c t iv it ie s o f the church. One would

think that as compensation fo r th is greater degree of social iso la tion ,

kinship t ie s would be stronger. But the only element o f kinship that

vías shown to be associated with less acculturation Vías extended house­

holds. Whether the la tte r is su ffic ien t to compensate fo r th is degree

o f socia l iso la tion is open to question.

Conclusion

This section presents a discussion of how the findings meet the

issues raised in chapter I and I I , and how the acculturation le ve l

d iffe ren tia tes the population studied. The data shovr that the population1

studied is r e la t iv e ly unacculturated. Although there has been much

change in material culture and technology, kinship and cultural patterns

have changed very l i t t l e . Examples o f elements^that have been subject

to change are the manner o f earning an income, l iv in g in a Western-style

home, food preparation, and Western-style dress. But even in the aspects

o f food preparation, sty le o f clothing, and manner o f decorating one's

home, the population under study seems not to have changed much.

Kinship patterns have changed very l i t t l e , with extended households,

much v is it in g among re la t iv e s , mutual aid, and le isure a c t iv it ie s , i f

91

any, kept within the fam ily. Large fam ilies are s t i l l prevalent.

Although some fam ilies have been in Hawaii a r e la t iv e ly long time,

there has been minimal exposure to the dominant group due to language

barriers , minimal education, and lack o f partic ipation in mixed

re lig iou s or social groups. Many o f the parents plan to return

permanently to Samoa.

Of a l l the possible in stitu tion a l changes, probably the matai

system has changed the most. I t retains prim arily ceremonial functions

and some leadership functions within the broad Samoan community.

Perhaps th is system has changed so rad ica lly because o f the attitude

the immigrants had when they emigrated.

Although trad ition a l church a f f i l ia t io n s have remained with the

immigrant in Hawaii, probably a larger number o f people are less active

in church a c t iv it ie s . The ministers seem to have l i t t l e counseling

functions as compared with other Western-style churches.

The three le v e ls o f acculturation analyzed were seen to d iffe ren tia te

the population along demographic, socia l, and cultural lin os . Accul­

turation is associated with demographic characteristics such as not

being a fu l l Samoan, migration from an urban area and Mauputasi County,

longer residence in Hawaii, a lack o f intention to return to Samoa,

bilingualism in the home, the employment o f mothers, and the father

having a sk illed occupation. Unlike demographic ones, fewer social

and cultural aspects vary with acculturation. Acculturated parents v-

have fewer re la t iv e s l iv in g in the household, practice less adoption,

iire oriented toward upward mobility, and are more l ik e ly to treat

guests in a modern manner. They also tend to belong to a non-traditional

92

church and partic ipate raorc in church a c t iv it ie s .

TRADITIONALISM

Looking at the fam ilies that occupy the various acculturation

le v e ls based on the index, one sees another general dimension that is

as pertinent as acculturation and shows some variation, from i t . That

is the manifestation o f trad itiona l Samoan practices. Although tra ­

d itiona l practices do vary with le v e l o f acculturation, there are some

acculturated fam ilies who do maintain trad itiona l practices, and con­

verse ly there are unacculturated fam ilies who do not maintain them.

A c la ss ific a t io n system "based on acculturation le v e l and i t s relationship

to Samoan culture is presented. This system adds complexity and further

meaning to the question of how th is immigrant group reacts to the new

environment. To make the model more meaningful, a case presentation

w il l be given fo r each c la ss ific a tion . The fo llow ing table shows four

types o f immigrants we encountered based on the linkages seen between

the two components, acculturation and traditionalism ."^

TABLE 17

TYPOLOGY 01·’ RESPONDENT FAMILIES ACCORDING TO ACCULTURATION AND TRADITIONALISM

93

Acculturation Traditionalism

Type 1: High on acculturation, high on traditionalism

Short or long residence in Hawaii.

Father has sk illed or sem iskilled occupation.

Samoan spoken in home. Extended-family household; g ives or receives in adoption.V is its Samoa.Belongs to trad itiona l church. Participates in church a c t iv it ie s . Gives considerable mutual aid. Participates somewhat in Samoan organi zati ons.

■ ■ H t

94

TABLE 17 (Continued)

TYPOLOGY OP RESPONDENT FAMILIES ACCORDING TO ACCULTURATION AND TRADITIONALISM

Acculturation Traditionalism

Treats guests in trad ition a l way.

Type 2: High on acculturation, low on traditionalism

Long residence in Hawaii. Samoan not spoken in home.No extended-family households or adoption.

Unskilled occupation. Does not v is i t Samoa.Belongs to modern churches.Does not partic ipate in church a c t iv it ie s .Gives l i t t l e mutual aid.Does not partic ipate in Samoan organi zat i ons.Does not treat guests in tra d i­tion a l way.

Type 3: Low on acculturation, high on traditionalism

Short or long residence in Hawaii.

Poor English a b il i t y . V is its Samoa.Belongs to trad itiona l churches. Participates in church a c t iv i­t ie s .Gives considerable mutual aid. Participates somewhat in Samoan organizations.Treats guests in trad itiona l way.

Type 4! Low on acculturation, low on traditionalism

Long residence in Hawaii.

Average English a b il i t y . Does not v is i t Samoa.Does not attend any church.Does not partic ipate in church a c t iv it ie s .Gives l i t t l e mutual aid.Does not partic ipate in Samoan organi zat i on s.Does not trea t guests in tra d i-

_________ _________________________________ tiona l way._________________________

As can be seen by th is model, occupational le v e l, use o f Samoan

in the home, and extended households and adoption only d iffe ren tia te

the higher acculturation le ve l whereas English a b il ity only d iffe ren tia te

the lower le v e l. The occupational le v e l o f the fathers in type 3 and 4

is usually o f an unskilled nature; whereas the English a b il ity o f the

acculturated parents tends to be good. The fam ilies in type 3 and 4

usually speak Samoan in the home, have extended households, and give

or receive children in adoption. A ll other items mentioned in the

model are pertinent fo r both le v e ls o f acculturation. A ll o f the fam ilie

in each c la ss ific a tio n may not be characterized by a l l the items but a

s ign ifican t proportion are characterized by them. A typ ica l family

in each category is described below.

Type 1. The A fam ily has been in Hawaii fo r three years. The

father has a sk illed occupation, fo r which he acquired the s k ills in

Samoa. The parents speak only Samoan in the home, but the children

speak Samoan and English. Although the parents have not adopted any

children or have given th e ir children in adoption, a re la t iv e liv e s in

the home. During th e ir b r ie f residence in Hawaii they have not v is ited

Samoa, but they receive many v is ito rs from there. The fam ily belongs

to a trad ition a l church, partic ipating a c tiv e ly because the father is

a minister. They contribute an average amount o f money toward family

celebrations and re la t iv e s in need. The father participates in an

organization fo r ministers. Guests are treated mainly in a trad itiona l

manner, with the mother serving the guests and the husband who eat

f i r s t .

Tyne 2. The B fam ily has been in Hawaii fo r f i f t e e n years. The

95

father docs maintenance work. He has been a cabinet maker fo r nine

years but le f t th is work because o f i t s low wages. The parents speak

Samoan to each other v.'hcn they are alone but only speak English when

the children are present. The children only speak English. Their

household is not extended, and the parents have not adopted any ch il­

dren, nor have they allowed th e ir children to be adopted. The parents

have never v is ited Samoa during th e ir f ifte e n years in Hawaii. The

father would lik e to make a v is i t but he objects to the necessity of

d istribu ting money among h is re la t iv e s in Samoa i f he were to go. The

fam ily belongs to a non-traditional church, attending in frequently.

They contribute very l i t t l e money toward fa 1al avelave, and they do i t

out o f ob ligation rather than desire. The parents give a small amount

to both o f th e ir fathers. The parents do not belong to any Samoan

organization, but surprisingly treat guests prim arily in a trad itiona l

manner.

Tyne 3. The C fam ily has been in Hawaii seven years. The mother

rated her English a b il ity as poor and the fa th er 's as average. The

parents speak Samoan to each other and to the children, and the children

speak both English and Samoan. The parents have never v is ited Samoa,

which is unusual fo r th is category o f fam ily. The fam ily belongs to a

trad ition a l church, the mothers sings in the choir, and the children

attend Sunday school. The parents contribute over $40 per month toward

fam ily celebrations and to re la t iv e s . The father belongs to a Samoan

organisation fo r men, and guests are treated in a trad itiona l manner.

Type 4» The D family has been in Hawaii fo r eleven years, and the

parental English a b i l i t y is average. The children do not speak any

56

Samoan. The parents have never v is ited Samoa. Although they are

Mormons, they never attend church. They give an average amount of

money toward mutual aid . None o f the fam ily members belong to a Samoan

organization, and they treat guests in a predominantly modern manner.<

A fter a discussion o f the findings in the next two chapters, th is

model w il l be further explored fo r i t s possible bearing on enculturation

practices and the ch ild ’ s performance in school.

S7

98

CHAPTER V

ENCULTURATION PRACTICES

Now that v;e have looked more c lose ly at the fam ilies in our

sample—th e ir fam ily structure, social organization, arid acculturation—

we are ready to examine th e ir enculturation practices. I t v a il be

shown in th is chapter that although the parents d iffe red in the ir

soc ia liza tion practices, the s im ila r itie s were greater than the d i f fe r ­

ences. The d ifferences were more of degree than o f kind. Parents

d iffe red on the amount o f physical punishment and rid icu le used to

control behavior, but a l l parents used these methods. A ll children

worked in the home, but the amount, the method o f assigning tasks, and

the supervision o f the work varied. Children in a l l the fam ilies

verba lly attacked each other, but some more than others. A ll parents

taught th e ir children respect behavior, but some put more emphasis on

th is aspect o f enculturation than others. The within-group v a r ia b il ity

o f these and other aspects w i l l be further explored.

The focus is on the elementary school ch ild , although we accumulated

some information on the younger ch ild and adolescent since i t was

impossible to remove one ch ild from in teraction with h is sib lings.

Children o f pre-school age usually were at home when the investigator

v is ited , at times alone with parents, and at other times with sib lings .

Among the adolescents, i t was generally the junior high school student

who was at home. I t seems that the older adolescents, especia lly the

boys, have more freedom a fter school and are less l ik e ly to be at home.

We are concerned with f iv e aspects o f enculturation: methods of

social control, resp on s ib ility tra in ing, s ib lin g and peer interaction,

the development o f values, and the encouragement o f achievement-oriented

behavior. These aspects were chosen because they manifest themselves

both in the home and at school. Our aim is to ascertain which behaviors

in the home are associated with academic and social achievement at

school.

In th is chapter we w il l keep in mind points made in Chapter· I I

about trad ition a l culture in Samoa and w il l p er iod ica lly compare the

findings o f the present study with those in the lite ra tu re . Such

comparisions w ill indicate how typ ica l these fam ilies are in re lation

to those presented in the lite ra tu re and may indicate the movement from

trad ition a l Samoan and Polynesian practices to more Western ones.

METHODS OF SO CIAL CONTROL

This section w il l deal with the methods and techniques used by

parents to inflixence the behavior o f children in a desired d irection .

The main concern is with techniques of d isc ip lin e—the threats, rep r i­

mands, and rewards,—and, where appropriate, the reaction o f the ch ild.

To place th is discussion in perspective, i t is f i r s t necessary to ta lk

about who exerts authority over the ch ild .

On being asked who had the main respon s ib ility fo r correcting the

behavior o f the children, f ifty -n in e percent o f the 40 parents who

partic ipated in the ch ild-rearing interview answered that i t was a

jo in t resp on s ib ility o f the mother and father. However, observation

in the homes revealed that although the fathers admonished the children

at times, th is task was mainly le f t to the mother. Where the father

did admonish the children, i t was mainly the younger children. Three

o f the fathers were not observed to correct the children at a l l . From

55

the comments gathered from the parents, i t seems that the father pun­

ishes more frequently than the mother when severe d isc ip line is required.

A ll except two parents stated that the older sib lings generally

corrected the behavior o f the younger ones. But a few parents qualifiedt

th is statement. Pour o f the parents did not permit the older sib lings

to physically punish the younger children. TVo mothers stated that the

older s ib lings could only correct the behavior o f the younger ones

when the mother was not present. Yet, in one o f these homes, an older

s ib lin g was observed to spank an infant and the mother did not react

to th is behavior. In addition, in one o f the fam ilies in which the

mother stated that the older s ib lings did not generally serve in a

d isc ip linary ro le , the older children were frequently seen reprimanding

the younger ones.

Two-thirds o f the parents stated that when they were not in the

home, the children had to obey the person in charge, usually an older

s ib lin g . Therefore, the adult is not the fin a l arb iter o f who is

correct in a supervision situation by a ch ild caretaker, but the younger

must obey the older sib lings . The youngest ch ild caretaker was eight

years old. Anvong the parents who did not leave an older s ib lin g in

charge, three o f them le f t no one in charge and instructed a l l the

children in th e ir appropriate behavior. One o f these mothers f e l t that

when older children give younger ones orders the la t te r resent i t , and

she wished her children to be kind to , rather than resentful o f, each

other.

The re la t iv e s who resided with the fam ilies a l l participated in

some authority ro le v is -a -v is the children. I f they were grandparents,

100

they served as parental substitutes. I f they were cousins, they partic ­

ipated as s ib lings. Sometimes there would he an older cousin or a

young aunt or uncle in the home, and they would participate according

to th e ir age rather than kin status.«

y / T h e main technique that parents used to correct the behavior of

th e ir children was physical punishment. When a young adult was asked

about her childhood, she said her strongest memory was o f bein'; phys­

ic a l ly punished, rather than being talked to , when her parents disap­

proved o f her behavior. Scolding is also done frequently. The choice

o f method depends upon the social situation, the distance o f the child

from the parent, and the severity o f the misbehavior. An example o f

the use o f the two methods occurred while the investigator was observing

in a home. One o f the sons, a first-grade boy, came home and the mother

knew that he had been truant from school that afternoon. She immediately

scolded him and h it him with a broom. He then ran away from her, and

the oldest brother threw something at him. The mother acted, as i f she

were going to spank the boy, but the oldest son to ld her not to do th is

in front o f guests. At th is point the mother asked the boy the reason

fo r h is leaving school.

Parents seem to have a well-defined point o f view regarding pun­

ishment fo r misbehavior versus rewords fo r proper behavior despite the

v a r ia b il ity o f both methods. They believe in the e ffica cy o f punishment

rather than reward. The trad itiona l approach is not to praise a child

fo r good behavior because i t may make him fee l too important. One hides

one’ s fee lin gs from a ch ild when happy with his behavior. This attitude

mainly applies to praising and showing love but can also apply to material

101

102

rewards. On the other hand, punishment does not make the ch ild fe e l

inportan t or th ink w ell o f h im self. I f punished, th e re fo re , he w i l l

keep t r y in g to do w e ll. In response to the a ttitu d e questions, a l l o f

the parents f e l t that they should teach the ir children early in l i f e«

that they (the parents) are in control; p rac tica lly a l l o f them thought

that s t r ic t d isc ip lin e develops a fin e , strong character in children;

that ch ildren who are held to firm rules grow up to he the hest adults;

and that children are actually happier under s tr ic t tra in ing . Some o f

the parents were upset that the school personnel did not physically

punish th e ir ch ild when the parent thought they should. The parents

recognize that physical punishment is the "Samoan s ty le " o f con trolling

ch ild ren 's behavior and that th is punishment can be exercised un til

the ch ild is married.

In response to the open-ended question o f how the parent reacts

when the ch ild does something wrong, 38 percent o f them responded with

physical punishment. Another 41 percent gave that response when spe­

c i f i c a l l y questioned about physical punishment. In a l l , only one

parent claimed not to spank her ch ild , and th is parent was a ch ild 's

grandmother.

A minority o f the parents interviewed (15 percent) stated that

they did not be lieve in physical punishment but resorted to i t on

occasion. Most o f these parents were fathers. In addition, another

fa ther was in the process o f rethinking h is methods and thought that

i t might be better to do things fo r the children so that they are happy

to behave properly. On the other hand, one mother found i t personally

upsetting to spank her children, so her husband punished them in her

place.

T h irty - fiv e percent o f the parents stated that the most frequent

method o f d isc ip lin e that they or the ir spouses use is physical punish­

ment. I t is generally combined with ta lk ing to and scolding the ch ild .

The observations in the home generally confirmed' the interview

data, although in many o f the homes the mothers were hesitant to punish

the children in front o f a guest. One mother picked up a slipper in

order to h it a pre-schooler, then rea lized the investigator was there

and instead placed the slipper out o f view. Another example was just

c ited above. Physical punishment by the parents was seen in 29 percent

o f the homes, and punishment by the older s ib lings (with mother present)

was seen in 23 percent o f the homes. The punishment was not systematic,

meaning that the same behavior did not e l i c i t physical punishment a l l

the time. There was some ligh t slapping without any e ffe c t on the

c h ild 's behavior; th is occurred mainly with the younger children. At

other times a spanking would stop the ch ild 's disapproved behavior

only terroorarily. In either case, the parent ra re ly followed through

to see that the disapproved behavior was discontinued. In some homes

there was a r itu a l in which, a fte r a spanking, the ch ild was made to

say he was sorry. An example o f th is in one home was where a pre-schooler

was struck on the legs with a belt because he was showing anger at his

mother by throwing things at her. A fter a great deal o f crying, the

boy was to ld , "T e ll mother you are sorry." The boy immediately calmed

down and went to h is mother, who kissed him. He was so contented or

exhausted by the emotional upheaval that he soon f e l l asleep. In another

home, during a spanking, the ch ild quickly knelt in front o f the mother

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and said he was sorry. The mother's anger then disappeared and she

stopped punishing him. That could be one way for the child to avoid

further punishment.

Considerable verbal aggression in the form of scolding and y e llin g«

is a lso used to control the behavior o f the ch ild . Only f iv e o f the

parents claimed not to use th is method, but two o f them were observed

y e llin g at th e ir children. S ib lings also scold and y e ll at each other.

One mother scolded her pre-schooler fo r touching her sewing machine,

another mother shouted at her elementary-school ch ild to take out the

rubbish, and another scolded her eighteen-year-old daughter fo r being

away so frequently from the house during the day. The la tte r g ir l did

not take th is reprimand eas ily , talked back to her mother, and then

grudgingly started to do the tasks that her mother asked of her. Her

mother did not correct her again.

Children scold each other a l i t t l e less but s t i l l im itate the

behavior o f th e ir parents. When the two-year-old s is ter o f a nine-

year-old boy started to cry because she wanted something the boy had,

the twelve-year-old s is ter ye lled at him to give the object to the

l i t t l e g i r l . The boy complied in a seemingly resentful manner. In

the same home, on a d iffe ren t occasion, the same boy took out the rub­

bish, and h is eleven-year-old s is ter scolded him fo r not doing i t

properly. The mother did not in terfere and commented that these two

s ib lings were always figh tin g with each other.

Toasing and r id icu lin g , other forms o f verbal aggression, are

often used to control behavior or fo r other reasons. Both the parents

and the children partic ipate in i t and apparently many parents do not

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see anything wrong with th is type o f verbal aggression. Almost h a lf

the parents e ither practiced r id icu le themselves or f e l t that i t was

permissible in th e ir children. "Stupid11 is the usual invective, with

"M ental," "Shut up," and "L ia r" being lesser ones. "L ia r" is usually

e l ic it e d when there is a statement on which there is disagreement.

Sometimes a parent reprimands the ch ild doing the name-calling, hut

usually not. On one occasion a fifteen -yea r-o ld hoy reprimanded his

younger s ib lin g fo r name-calling. Two o f the fam ilies participated in

a great deal o f r id icu lin g , with the parents as active participants.

On another occasion the father in one o f these fam ilies addressed the

two-year— old g i r l as "stupid" and then jokingly ca lled the mother stupid

a lso . A few minutes la te r he ca lled the l i t t l e g i r l stupid again.

Neither ch ild nor mother were behaving in an inappropriate manner.

Generally the parents r id icu le the behavior o f the children,

whereas the children resort to namecalling. One mother teased her s ix -

year-old daughter who was eating candy by saying that her teeth would

f a l l out i f she ate more candy and she would then look lik e an old man.

A father laughed at h is twelve-year-old son fo r signing up fo r a baseball

team because the boy did not know how to play baseball. The g ir l con­

tinued to eat the candy and the boy learned to play baseball. In one

fam ily a ten-year-old and twelve-year-old viere arguing over something:

Ten-year-old; "Shut your mouth!" Twelve-year-old; "Shut up!" Ten-

year-old ; "Crybaby—you always cry in g ." In another fam ily, the children

were teasing each other and ca llin g each other stupid. The eight-year-

old and six-year-old ca lled the five -yea r-o ld "Mental" and "Retarded."

The five -yea r-o ld reacted by h itt in g the other children.

105

i im w iiiU M i i f l i i i l l i i M T n n i r l i f

106

The predominant method o f in fluencing behavior in a desirab le

d ir e c t io n is making requests o f, or demands on, the ch ild ren . In most

o f the hones, parents, e sp ec ia lly the mothers, are constantly t e l l in g

the ch ild ren what to do. During the observations in the homes over<

400 o f these in ciden ts were noted. In about h a lf the cases the ch ild

reacted to these requests or demands with immediate compliance. But

about one-th ird o f the ch ildren did not comply and kept s ilen t or l e f t

the scene. Only 10 percent o f the ch ildren a c tu a lly made physical or

verb a l res is tan ce to the demands o f th e ir parents. I t i s important

to note that o f those parents whose ch ildren did not comply, only 8

percent fo llow ed through and in s is ted that the ch ild ren do so. I t

seemed that the ch ild ren knew what would escape fu rther reaction from

th e ir paren t.

The notation o f 418 incidents o f demands made on ch ildren seems

considerab le considering the amount o f time that the in ves tiga to r

spent in the home. I t would support the impression that most o f the

in te ra c t io n in the home was between the mother and ind iv idua l ch ildren ,

not among the s ib lin g s . When parents are dominant, ch ild ren seem le ss

l ik e ly to in te ra c t f r e e ly . In only a few homes was there much in te r - ,

a c tion between s ib lin gs but th is w i l l be discussed in a la te r section .

Of re la te d in te res t is how the parent would react when a ch ild

attempted to get the parent to change the request or demand. S ix ty -fou r

percent o f the parents stated that they would not change th e ir demands

and th ree o f these parents would go so fa r as to p h ys ica lly punish the

ch ild ren i f they attempted th is approach. The res t o f the parents

stated that they would sometimes change th e ir demands, depending on

the correctness o f the ch ild 's request.

Another method o f con tro llin g the behavior o f a child is by

threatening to take away some p r iv ile ge from him, to send him away, or

to physically punish him. Eighty-two percent o f the parents stated

that they use th is method o f d isc ip lin e , yet only 10 Incidents o f

parental threat were observed in the home. Eight o f them were threats

o f physical punishment. I t can he concluded that threats, though used

in frequently, generally take the form of threats o f physical punishment

fo r younger children, and threats o f sending teen-agers hack to Samoa,

i f th e ir misbehavior is su ffic ie n t ly serious.

Twenty-three percent o f the parents claimed that they did not

withdraw p r iv ile g es or something desired by the ch ild as a means of

punishment. In fact th is approach was never observed in the home and

is probably ra re ly used. Thirty-three percent o f the parents did not

mention th is approach as a reaction to a spec ific wrongdoing on the

oart o f the ch ild . One father stated that he did not use th is method

because children get angry i f th e ir privileges are withdrawn. The few

times the parents mentioned using th is approach was when they did not

le t the children play outside the home.

Parents mentioned other methods o f con tro lling negative behavior

less frequently. A good proportion o f the parents to ld the children

that misbehavior would bring shame upon the parents. One mother would

have her young children stand in the corner o f the room. One father

had the children "sleep on th e ir fe e t " (stand uo fo r a period o f time)

or kneel fo r some time. Other parents to ld th e ir children that the

way to show lovo and respect for th e ir parents is to behave correctly .

107

Another fa th er threatened h is ch ildren with c a ll in g the p o lic e when

they misbehaved. Three o f the fa m ilie s had weekly fam ily discussions

during which the members discussed what they l ik e or d is lik e about each

o th e r 's behavior.

In response to spec ific probing as to how the parent reacted when

a ch ild did something wrong, 10 percent of them stated that they threaten

the ch ild with the aitu or novi. Aitu means "s p ir its o f the dead" and

povi means "cows," and these are common threats in Samoa to frighten

children with physical in jury from these sources. Apparently th is

approach has not carried over to the new environment. Eighteen percent

o f the parents would show th e ir displeasure by not speaking to the ch ild ;

45 percent o f the parents would on occasion send the child to another

room. The la t te r two techniques removed the child from social interaction

with the parent. A majority, 58 percent, stated that they would in some

way re fe r to God when th e ir children misbehaved. Some parents stated

they would pray fo r th e ir children and others said that they would re fe r

to the teachings o f th e ir church.

Parents vie re asked about th e ir reaction to children showing anger

when punished. A surprising 36 percent stated that th e ir children did

not show anger toward the parents. Some parents d ifferen tia ted between

the c h ild 's being angry and displaying that anger to parents. Of those

parents whose children showed anger, 34 percent would react by spanking

them, another 8 percent would punish them further, 30 percent would ta lk

to the children and explain why they were being punished, and 12 percent

would not show any reaction . Only one parent stated that she would try

to help the ch ild get over h is anger by g iv ing him something he wished.

108

I t seems that the anger o f children is not a problem, since only six

o f the parents thought that any o f the ir children angered eas ily . In

contrast, 53 percent o f the parents thought that the ir children cried

too ea s ily . I t seerns that the expression o f anger toward parents is«

not permitted, and i f i t does appear, the parents try to eradicate i t

by one means or another.

We w il l now turn to the actions o f parents when the child exhibits

approved behavior. The greatest majority o f the parents (83 percent)

stated that they would react by g iv in g the ir child something material

(money, desired food, a g i f t ) as a reward fo r correct behavior. S ix ty -

f iv e percent o f the parents would praise th e ir children fo r desirable

behavior, most often fo r good schooluork. This means that 35 percent

o f the parents stated that they did not praise their children when they

exhibited approved behavior. F ifty -e igh t percent o f the parents would

g ive the children extra privileges for good behavior, and 13 percent

would play with th e ir children more when they were pleased with the ir

behavior. Three o f the parents mentioned that they would smile or ta lk

pleasantly to the children on such occasions.

Generally the observations in the home did not confirm statements

o f rewards given to children fo r approved behavior. Very few such

incidents were observed. I f the parents were rewarding the children

fo r appropriate behavior, rewards must have been given some time a fte r

the behavior occurred or given so in frequently that i t did not occur in

d a ily l i f e . The use o f praise was observed only in one fam ily and in ­

d ire c t ly noted in another. In the f i r s t family the mother showed approval

o f the manner in which her three-year-old cleaned a hook, o f high marks

105'

that her six-year-old daughter received in school, and called her two-

year-old a "smart boy" because he counted to the number three. In the

home where the approval was expressed in d irec tly , the mother noted that

her eigfrt-year-old son had his shoes with him when he came home from

school (previously he had le f t them at school). Rewards were not seen

to be given fo r correct behavior, but candy and money seemed to be given

to i l i c i t desirable behavior. In one family, a baby was given candy

when she was crying; in another, a four-year-old was given ten cents

when he refused to go to pre-school. Subseruentl.y, the baby stopped

crying and the four-year-old went to school. In another family an

eigh t-year-o ld was allowed to play outside a fte r he had taken out the

rubbish. I t is d i f f ic u lt to say whether th is was a reward fo r performing

the task or whether the desired a c t iv ity was contingent on performing

the task.

How did the other children in the fam ily react when one child is

rewarded? The largest number o f parents (27 percent) stated that the

other children viere upset and showed i t . Twenty-three percent o f the

parents stated that i f they rewarded one child, they also rewarded

the other children so that they would not get angry.

Another way o f looking at the control o f behavior is to examine

whether children in the same fam ily are treated d iffe ren tly according

to th e ir persona lities or a l l are treated a lik e . Most o f the parents

(56 nercent) thought that th e ir children viere sim ilar to each other,

that is , they behaved in the same viay. Judging from th e ir comments,

the parents interpreted personality in terms o f behavior rather than

temperament. Those parents who thought th e ir children viere d ifferen t

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from each other usually singled out one ch ild that was d ifferen t from

the others, or thought that th e ir children were d ifferen t from each

other because o f th e ir age. Forty percent of these parents stated that

they s t i l l treated th e ir children the sane even though they were d i f -<

ferent from each other. One father gave as a reason that otherwise

the children might get jealous o f each other.

Following th is lin e o f thought, 71 percent o f the parents stated

that th e ir spouse did not favor a particu lar ch ild . A father said that

p laying fa vo rites was a problem fo r fam ilies in Samoa. Apparently th is

practice has not been transferred to the new environment. Of the 9

parents who claimed that th e ir spouse favored a particu lar ch ild , the

fa vo r ite v?as usually the oldest or youngest ch ild . Kiddle children

missed out in the favoritism .

In response to the question at what age were children most desirable,

one-third o f the parents responded that the age o f the ch ild did not

matter to them. Of those who did favor a particu lar age, 42 percent

preferred the pre-school yearn because then children were more obedient

and less trouble. One-third o f the parents thought that beyond f i f t e e n

years was the best age because children could then take care o f themselves.

When asked at what age the ch ild was most worrysome most of the parents

designated the teens because children at that age rebelled at th e ir

parents' control and because they found i t d i f f ic u lt to protect the ir

daughters in boy-g irl relationships.

Another view o f the d iffe re n t ia l treatment o f children is gained

by questioning the parental reaction to a disagreement between a younger

and an older ch ild . More than h a lf the parents (56 percent) thought

111

the younger ch ild would more l ik e ly be at fau lt, but most o f the parents

thought the oldest ch ild should give in to the younger child because

the older child would be rr.ore mature and know better than to argue. In

other words, the older ch ild , even though more l ik e ly r igh t, should

accede to the wishes o f the younger child because the la tte r is too

young to behave correctly . A minority o f the parents f e l t that the

younger ch ild should always lis ten to the eldest as that accorded with

the Samoan s ty le o f l i f e .

The home observations revealed that younger children, especia lly

the youngest, are treated in a d iffe ren t manner based on ( l ) how often

the older ch ild is made by the parent to accede to the wishes o f the

younger and (2 ) the nurturant behavior o f the mother (see Appendix. C

fo r d e f in it io n ). The in teraction between younger and older sib lings

w il l be discussed further below. Here le t us consider the nurturant

behavior o f the parents, especia lly the mother.

Approximately 130 nurturant actions by parents were observed in

the home. 1'Iineteen percent o f these were spontaneous, that is , they

were not in response to succorant actions o f the children. A majority

o f these nurturant acts (51 percent) were directed toward the youngest

ch ild in the fam ily. F ifty-one percent seems especia lly high considering

that there are usually two or three pre-schoolers at home. An even

greater proportion o f youngest children (62 percent) received emotional

nurturance (rather than physical help ) from the parent. Looking at the

lack o f nurturance o f most o f the children another way, 52 incidents

were observed o f succorant acts o f children that were ignored or rejected

by llie parent; 87 percent o f these children were other than the youngest

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113

ch ild . A typ ica l scene was as fo llow s: the youngest ch ild cried—the

mother comforted him. Soon afterward the thrce-year-old cried, and

the mother to ld her to be quiet.

Most o f the succorance (86 percent) was oriented toward the sat­

is fa c tio n o f emotional needs rather than physical needs, but the corre­

sponding response o f the parents, emotional nurturance, was less (64

percent). A typ ica l example o f th is was when a child cried and the

mother wiped his nose instead o f comforting him. Supporting information

on th is re la t iv e lack o f emotional nurturance was given by the parents'

responses to the question o f what the parent would do i f the ch ild asked

fo r help or vías hurt. Only two o f the fourteen mothers who responded

mentioned comforting the ch ild . One mother stated that she would even

spank the ch ild . Another indication o f the comparative lack o f nur­

turance is that most pre-schoolers seemed to nap when they were t ired ,

without seeking any attention from the parent and without the parent

o ffe r in g them any nurturance. Typ ica lly , the pre-schoolers would be

playing in the l iv in g room and would f a l l asleep without a sound when

they v/ere ready fo r i t . They would often wake up crying, and then

they would be given some milk or help by the mother.

In summary, compared with ch ild-rearing practices in Samoa,

immigrant parents in Hawaii have more responsib ility in controlling

the behavior o f th e ir children in the absence of extended kin .j Older

s ib lin gs s t i l l jo in in th is control, but some parents are beginning

to question the ad v isab ility o f th is practice.

The type o f d isc ip lin e used is beginning to depend partly on the

severity o f the misbehavior, especia lly fo r the school-age ch ild .

The socia l situation in which the misbehavior occurs is probably s t i l l

the most s ign ifican t factor, to which the child seems quite a le r t .

Most children seem to know when they can avoid, or leave, a po ten tia lly

unpleasant situation .<

Considerable physical and verbal aggression as seen in physical

punishment and scolding o f the children was observed. Whether through

im itation , id en tifica tion , or some other process, the older children

exh ib it the same behavior toward the ir younger sib lings . And, as w ill

be seen la te r , peer and s ib lin g in teraction involves a great deal o f

aggression that is usually not punished by the parent.

The provocation o f shame by the parents was observed but does not

seem to be a primary means o f d isc ip lin e . Ridicule does occur but

more often with the aim of b e l it t l in g others than o f correcting inap­

propriate behavior. Generally the parents re fe r to th e ir own. shame

i f th e ir ch ild misbehaves. Some o f the parents attempt to provoke

g u ilt in th e ir children as they interpret the misbehavior as lack o f

love and respect o f the ch ild fo r the adult.

In seeking nurturance from parents, young children s t i l l exhibit

succorance and are rewarded by parental nurturance. Succorance seems

to diminish as the child gets older.

RESPONSIBILITY TRAINING

Vihen one enters a Samoan home, one is impressed with how much

work the children do in the home, especia lly the older children. Parents

seem to pay more attention to responsib ility tra in ing than to obedience

tra in ing , and with greater e ffic a cy . The quantity o f work that an

elementary-school-age ch ild does depends on many factors—the health

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115

and employment o f the mother, the number o f children in the fam ily and

th e ir ages, how disposed both mother and children are to housework,

and the parental norms fo r household chores by children. Some children

show resentment at doing household chores, others do not. Even in the

most acculturated households, young children are trained to do tasks.

Ninety percent o f the parents who have th e ir children do household

chores give the reason that i t is proper tra in ing fo r adulthood. Only

18 percent mentioned that chores are performed by children so that

the necessary work in the home can be accomplished. In three-fourths

o f the homes the parent alone assigns the chores to the children. In

a minority o f the homes the older s ib lin g helps assign the tasks, and

in two o f the homes the children themselves participate in choosing

th e ir jobs.

Once a ch ild has been assigned a chore, 54 percent o f the parents

stated that they would not a l1 ow the ch ild to postpone doing i t under

any circumstances, and 13 percent said that they would allow the ch ild

to postpone the task i f the ch ild wanted to do something important such

as schoolwork or a church a c t iv ity . The rest o f the parents, 33 per­

cent, would allow the ch ild to do something else f i r s t , depending upon

the circumstances. L it t le in it ia t iv e regarding chores comes from the

children, judging from parental information, fo r in only four fam ilies

did the children ask to change jobs and in only three fam ilies did the

children ask i f there were further work fo r them to do.

Parents thought that children should be given regular jobs at

about 8 years o f age. Parents would give an important job such as

baby care and cooking to th e ir children at about 12 years o f age.

Some parents mentioned that they would not ask hoys to carc fo r a

baby or to cook, but in many o f the homes boys vie re seen cooking,

cleaning, and supervising younger sib lings, though far less often than

g ir ls .«

In a l l but one o f the homes, children were assigned household

chores. Parents had a very clear idea o f what tasks the children did,

who did them, and with what regu la rity . The youngest performer o f

regular chores was f iv e years old and the oldest was twenty-one years

old.

Children as young as f iv e , s ix , or seven would usually help a

parent or older s ib lings in such jobs as cleaning house, washing dishes,

setting and clearing the tab le, ironing, and fo ld ing the laundry. At

th is age they were generally asked to do such work, rather than per­

forming these tacks on a regular basis. The youngest child who performed

a chore a l l by himself was f iv e years old; i t was talcing care o f the

rubbish, a task usually·performed by younger boys. The youngest child

to help with the cooking was a g ir l , seven years old, and the youngest

ch ild to have fu l l respon sib ility fo r cooking part or a l l o f a meal

was nine years old. The youngest ch ild to have fu l l responsib ility for

cleaning the house was a g ir l th irteen years old. The oldest g i r l not

to have a household chore was ten years old and the oldest boy was

eight years old. The parents spoke o f the ch ild as s t i l l being " fre e "

when he has not been assigned a- regular household chore.

The sex d iv is ion o f household chores seemed to be in a state of

flu x . Although g ir ls helped with a l l the chores mentioned, boys par­

tic ip a ted in a minority o f the homes. In f iv e o f the homes the boys

116

helped with washing the dishes; in four homes they helped do the laundry;

in two homes they helped with the ironing; in three homes they helped

with the cooking; and in f iv e homos they participated in the housecleaning

(aside from talcing care o f th e ir own rooms). In a l l , boys participated<

in these major household chores in one-third o f the homes. In most

homes, the boys are supposed to help clean up the area around the home.

Most o f the parents were sa tis fied with the way th e ir children

performed th e ir tasks; only four parents stated that they often did not

do th e ir chore properly. Six o f the parents thought that th e ir children

always did th e ir tasks co rrectly ( f iv e were fa thers ), and the rest of

the parents stated that once in a while th e ir children did the ir chores

improperly. The parents were equally sa tis fied with the quantity and

quality o f the work o f th e ir elementary-school-age sons and daughters.

The few complaints they had were equally divided among the g ir ls and

boys.

I f the ch ild did not do h is job properly, the parent usually

reacted by t e l l in g him to do i t over, scolding the ch ild , or by phys­

ic a l ly punishing the ch ild . The fo llow ing reactions were also mentioned

in decreasing frequency: taking away a p r iv ilege or freedom; threatening

physical punishment; threatening to take away a p r iv ilege or freedom;

and shaming and r id icu lin g . I f the ch ild continued to do his task

improperly, most o f the parents stated that they would physically

punish the ch ild .

Children are trained in household responsib ility early by being

asked to do small tasks by the parent. Very young children are con­

stantly asked to fetch something fo r a parent, to put away an object,

117

and to do something fo r an even younger sib ling- The younger children

seem quite happy to do these tasks fo r i t increases th e ir importance

to the fam ily. Later on, the children observe the ir parents, especia lly

the mother, performing household chores and are asked to help parents

or s ib lin gs with them. S t i l l la te r , they are given fu l l responsib ility

fo r a household a c t iv ity . The children learn th e ir tasks mainly through

observation, im itation , and t r ia l and error; verbal instruction is

lim ited . Asked what they did when a ch ild performed a task improperly,

only four oarents mentioned that they to ld or showed the ch ild how to

do the task co rrec tly . Parents seemed to assume that children do not

perform properly due to perversity rather than in a b ility .

The observations in the home revealed that these children are

quite s e lf- re lia n t at an early age. The children changed th e ir clothes

when they return from school without being asked— even the youngest.

A five -yea r-o ld made and poured ju ice fo r himself. A four-year-old

boy got a sharp kn ife and cut an apple fo r himself. A three-year-old

worked fo r about ten minutes to put a picture back in i t s frame and

f in a l ly succeeded— she did not ask fo r help and no one offered i t to

her. An eight-year-old continued to work, saying he could do i t , even

though h is mother to ld him to wait so she could help him.

The fo llow ing more deta iled account o f observed behavior indicates

how the children re lie d on themselves to complete a d i f f ic u lt task

without any advice or supervision by the mother. Four g ir ls in the

fam ily, ages 7 ( a ), 9 (B ), 10 (c ) , and 12 years (D ), were asked by the

mother to clean the steps in the home. There was a paint s p ill on the

steps. I) f i l l e d a p a il o f water from the hydrant outside the house

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and passed i t through the window to C. A and B got a sponge and knife

from the kitchen. D said to A, "What are you going to do?" A scraped

the paint on a step with the kn ife , then said that the paint would not

come o f f . The others went to help her. One asked to b.orrow the kn ife,

and A said, "No!" "Who did the f i r s t one?" "C ." "Something didn 't

come o f f . " "Who did that one?" "D ." A ll four g ir ls worked a few

minutes longer and C said, "We fin is h ." D, "No we not, we have to do

over h ere ." C, "No." C and D both stopped working. At th is point

th e ir fifteen -yea r-o ld brother came home and made some deris ive state­

ment about the work o f the g ir ls . Said C, "You not doing the work."

Then the water came flow ing down the steps in to the l iv in g room. C

to ld B to get some newspapers, and a l l four g ir ls worked cooperatively

to clean up the water. A ll th is time the mother was in the kitchen;

the children did not come and seek her help, nor did she o ffe r i t .

The children completed th e ir task by a combination o f d ictation by

some s ib lings to others, jo int decision making, and individual in it ia ­

t iv e .

Observing in the homes, we noted approximately 250 incidents o f

children being requested by a parent to perform a task or children

performing them without a request. In 43 percent o f these cases, the

children performed a chore on th e ir own, without being asked. The

tasks seemed to be ones that were required and expected o f them. Usually

the parents did not react to th is behavior, e ither with approval or

disapproval. The frequency o f such behavior varied from home to home

but th is percentage o f s e lf- in it ia te d behavior seems fa ir ly high and

would indicate a large degree o f responsib ility on the part o f the

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ch ildren . The fo llow ing incident illu s tra te s th is . The mother was

being interviewed while her pre-school grandchildren were being cared

fo r by a n ine-year-old and an eleven-year-old g i r l . The nine-year-old

brought one crying pre-schooler to the mother (grandmother) and fin ished«

bathing another ch ild . The eleven-year-old cared fo r another child

and then washed the dishes. One ch ild cried and the nine-year-old held

him u n til he f e l l asleep. The nine-year-old h it another ch ild because

he was k iss ing the baby. In the meantime, the eleven-year-old in the

kitchen started cooking. A ll th is time, the mother gave no d irection

to e ith er o f the g ir ls .

Of the incidents in which the parent requested or demanded that

a ch ild perform a task, 76 percent o f the children immediately complied

with the request. This number is quite high considering that in the

f i r s t section, i t vías found that s lig h t ly under h a lf the children

immediately complied with a general request from the parent (one not

in vo lv ing re sp o n s ib ility ). I t would seem that, at least on the basis

o f these resu lts , respon sib ility tra in ing has been more e ffe c t iv e ly

transmitted than has general obedience tra in ing in these Samoan fam ilies .

The children conformed to the expectations o f th e ir parents in regard

to assuming resp on s ib ility . I t l í i l l la te r be seen, when formal education

is discussed, that these Samoan children were considered by the ir teachers

to be h igh ly responsible and helpfu l in the classroom.

I In summary, by the time children, at least the g ir ls , reach twelve

years o f age they have been exposed to most o f the work in the household,

and they are probably capable o f assuming quite a b it o f i t on the ir

own. There is l i t t l e resistance to these household respon s ib ilities ,

120

and the children seem to think that i t is appropriate that they perform

th is work.

SIB LIN G AND PUSH INTERACTION

Parents show some concern regarding the in teraction o f the ir«

children and others in the immediate neighborhood. Their main concern

is that th e ir children not figh t with the others—not that they d is­

approve o f th is show o f aggression but that they fear that such figh tin g

v a i l involve them in an argument with other parents over who was at

fa u lt . Apparently i t is customary, i f a figh t is severe and the other

ch ild is judged to be at fa u lt, fo r the parent to go to the other ch ild 's

parent. I f the la t te r denies the ,gu ilt o f her child, an argument

ensues.

To prevent such situations, many parents tr ied to keep the ir c h il­

dren close to home, with variab le success. S ixty-four percent o f the

parents stated that they preferred th e ir children to play at home with

th e ir s ib lings, rather than outside with friends. I f the ir children

did play with friends, two-thirds o f the parents would choose w e ll-

behaved children— children who did not swear or f ig h t—as playmates.

Five o f the parents stated that they did not care whom the ir child

played with because a l l children behave incorrectly at times. Twelve

percent o f the parents said that they would prefer the ir children to

play with kin or with others whose parents they knew. When the ouestion

was reversed, and parents were asked i f there were any type o f child

they would rather th e ir children did not play, with, 83 percent specified

children who fought and exhibited bad language and habits. Although

parents had strong preferences about th e ir ch ildren 's playmates, they

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paid l i t t l e attention to the a c t iv it ie s o f the children unless there

was quarreling or trouble, so ch ildren 's recreation tended to be in fo r­

mal and without adult supervision.

Do the parents encourage physical aggression among th e ir children?

They do not, according to what they say. Most o f the parents agreed

with the fo llow in g a ttitud ina l statements: A ch ild should be taught

to avoid fig h t in g no matter what happens (85 percent); a ch ild should

be taught always to come to h is parents or teachers rather than figh t

when he is in trouble (lOO percent); there is no good excuse fo r a

ch ild to h it another ch ild (91 percent); and children should not be

encouraged to box or wrestle because i t often leads to trouble or in jury

(76 percen t). In terms o f behavior, two-thirds o f the parents stated

that they never encourage the ir child to figh t back i f attacked. I f a

quarrel or figh t occurred among the children, one-third o f the parents

said that they would find out which ch ild was at fau lt, and i f i t were

the other ch ild , they would go to h is parent. They would also expect

a v is i t from the other parent i f th e ir own ch ild was to blame. Only a

few parents mentioned that they would spank th e ir child fo r figh tin g ,

yet they would expect other parents somehow to control the behavior o f

th e ir ch ildren.

Many parents even said that they do not encourage dominant behavior

in th e ir children. The parents were asked whether they thought their

ch ild should d irect the play o f h is peers or whether th is made the

ch ild bossy. Opinion was pretty evenly divided among the two alterna­

t iv e s . Some o f those who anproved o f th e ir children dominating others

qu a lified th is by statements such cas: They can t e l l others what to

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do as long as they are the oldest, as long as other children want to

submit to them, only i f the desired a c t iv ity is good fo r the other

children, or i f th e ir ch ild takes the leadership ro le but is not bossy

(uses reason rather than sheer domination). Gome o f the parents who«

did not want th e ir children to dominate stated that i t i^ould lead to

arguments and figh ts among the children.

The view that i t is not aggressive behavior i t s e l f that is disap­

proved o f but rather the fact that i t disturbs the social situation, is

supported also by our home observations. Kany incidents o f domination

and aggression of sib lings were observed, although in the interview

p ra c tic a lly a l l parents did not want th e ir child to be mean or to bully

younger children. When such an incident occurred in the home, most

parents ignored i t unless a quarrel or the resultant noise intruded

in to the adult conversation. Of the approximately 150 incidents of

domination or aggression observed among sib lings in the home, a parent

intruded in only 18 percent o f them. That is , the parent infrequently

questioned the a c t iv ity or admonished a ch ild about his behavior.

The evidence shows that the parent did not in te rfere to preserve

h ierarch ica l deference among sib lings, that is , the older children

dominating and d irecting the a c t iv it ie s of the younger. In 34 percent

o f the observed incidents o f domination the younger ch ild was a t te s t in g

to dominate the older ch ild , and the parent did not try to Gtop him.

The times that the parent did step in occurred more frequently when

the older ch ild was dominating the younger and the parent protected

the younger or made the older give in to the younger ch ild . A typ ica l

incident was the fo llow ing: a fourteen-year-old took a stick away

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from a two-year-old; the two-year-old cried; the mother made the

fourteen-year-old give the stick back to the younger ch ild.

How did the other ch ild react to the domination or aggression o f

the s ib lin g , whether older or younger? The most common reaction was<

resistance o f the domination or aggression. F i f ty - f iv e percent o f the

time the older ch ild resisted the domination o f the younger ch ild.

A s lig h t ly higher proportion o f the incidents, 59 percent showed the

younger ch ild res is tin g the domination o f the older ch ild. In terms

o f compliance, the older ch ild complies with the demands of the younger

ch ild with twice the frequency, 42 percent compared with 21 percent

(see Table 18).

TABLE 18

REACTIONS TO DOMINATION AND AGGRESSION BY SIBLINGS (/£ o f 148 incidents)

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Reaction

Of Younger To Dominati on/Aggression

By Older

Of Older To Domi nat i on/Aggr e s si on

By Younger

Compliance 21 42

Resistance 59 55

Avoidance 15 3

Succorance 5 0

TOTAL 100 (84 incidents) 100 (64 incidents)

The data reveal less deferen tia l behavior in, and more frequent

indulgence o f the demands of, the younger ch ild . Perhaps there is an

inconsistency between the teaching o f deferen tia l behavior among sib lings

and the indulgence o f the younger ch ild . Deferential behavior seemed

to lose out, at least when the parent was present. Whether the same

pattern o f behavior occurred when a parent was not present could not

be explored in th is study.

Most o f the incidents o f domination and aggression were those o f

the former (6 l percent) rather than the la t te r . S t i l l , 39 percent

aggressive acts seems a high proportion. Thirty-eight percent o f the

aggressive acts were physical, and the remaining 62 percent were verbal

(teasing and r id ic u le ). Again, such a proportion o f physical aggression

seems high. Parents intruded in 21 percent of the aggressive incidents

and 16 percent o f the domination incidents.

Regarding other types o f in teraction among sib lings, 23 acts of

nurturance and 73 acts o f s o c ia b ility and cooperation were observed.

The low incidence o f nurturance is not surprising, since the parent

v;as present to serve th is function. S oc iab ility among sib lings was

unequally distributed among the fam ilies, with the children in three

o f the fam ilies being highly sociable and cooperative. In two o f the

la t te r fam ilies , the parents were comparatively warm and permissive,

allow ing the children more autonorry. In the homes where the children

were least sociable, the mother was more authoritarian, and much o f

the in teraction occurred between the mother and individual children

rather than among the children themselves.

The emphasis in the lite ra tu re on the care o f younger by older

s ib lin gs vías not borne out in th is study. In the presence o f the mother

i t v as generally she who supervised the younger sib lings. In some o f

the fam ilies , the older sib lings did have spec ific respon s ib ilities

fo r an infant or toddler, but generallj’· they performed these responsi­

b i l i t i e s only at the request or demand o f the parent. These data f i t

125

with the low incidence o f nurturance found and the high degree o f

resistance o f the younger to the domination o f the older sib lings. In

addition, the parent did not support the caretaker ro le o f the older

s ib lin g , usually pressuring the older to give in to the demands of the

younger. In ciden ta lly , the "o lder s ib lings" under discussion vjere

usually younger than fourteen years.

The data in th is study do support the view in the lite ra tu re (see

Chapter I I ) that children are aggressive, although domination and verbal

aggression v/ere more frequently exhibited than physical aggression.

The children certa in ly seerned to know hov; fa r they could go vriith such

behavior in the presence o f a parent, and the la tte r did not find i t

necessary to in te rfe re in most o f the situations. The children ceased

to aggress before the parent corrected them.

DSYSLOPKdNT OF VALlEiS

Information on the transmission o f particu lar values and b e lie fs

from parent to ch ild vri.ll be presented in th is section. In terest is

focused on the content o f these b e lie fs rather than the method of

transmission or the success o f th is transmission. More sp ec ific a lly

v;e are in terested in what statements are made to the children as to

the type o f behavior expected o f them. The concern is with the normative

ru les that are communicated to the children.

F irs t, there are the norms o f behavior that the parents think are

important. In response to questioning, the parents placed the greatest

emohasis on obedience and respect toward elders. Deferential behavior

v;as stressed: the parents thought i t was the most important behavior

to teach children, and i t s execution by th e ir children made them happy

and proud. Almost two-thirds o f the parents preferred a child who

does what he is to ld to one who does things on his own. Eighty-eight

percent o f the parents thought that children should be taught to respect

th e ir parents above a l l other adults; 82 percent thought that children4

should not question the judgment o f th e ir parents; 79 percent fe l t

that children should be taught to have unquestioning lo ya lty to them;

and 59 percent thought i t best i f children never started wondering

whether th e ir parents' views were r igh t. The average age at which

parents thought young children could be taught right and wrong is four

years old.

The next most frequently mentioned approved behavior was doing

well in school, especia lly i f the children received some special recog­

n ition from the school. Other approved behavior mentioned in decreasing

order o f frequency was doing housework properly, gettin g a good job in

the future to be able to care fo r oneself, fo llow ing the teachings o f

the church, and knowing right from wrong.

The observations in the home revealed l i t t l e d irect instruction

in normative behavior. Parental injunctions on what children "should"

or "should not" do were ra re ly heard. The only exception was that

respect behavior was taught, mainly in front o f guests. In twelve

homes parents were observed specifying to children proper respect

behavior. I t frequently involved t e l l in g the children not to walk in

front o f guests. Only one mother took other opportunities to specify

ru les o f behavior that could be generalized to other situations, and

she was married to a non-Samoan from the mainland United States.

I t can be concluded that although there is some consensus among

127

Samoan parents as to appropriate behavior fo r children, these b e lie fs

are not being communicated d ire c t ly to children to any great extent.

But these ru les are being communicated in d irec tly ; by example, by what

is rewarded or punished, and what is ignored. The fo llow ing examples«

i l lu s tra te th is : two children are reprimanded fo r name-calling; one

ch ild is not comforted when she is crying because she is not hurt;

one father only speaks Samoan in the home and encourages the children

to do the same so that they can more eas ily learn respect behavior;

one boy is punished fo r not answering his mother; children are usually

not reprimanded fo r interrupting adult conversations. Such indirect

methods are not conducive to generalization to other situations since

the norms are not made ex p lic it and the behavior o f the parents is

inconsistent from one situation to the next.

The primary value, obedience, does not seem to be consistently

transmitted, because as mentioned in the previous section, so few o f

the parents in s is t on obedience when children do not comply with requests

and demands. The attention focused in the home on the importance of

formal education w ill be discussed in the next section.

We w il l now turn to the last o f our aspects o f enculturation to

be considered, parental attitudes toward, and encouragement o f, achieve­

ment-oriented behavior.

ACIII5VBI.2SNT-OHIBHT5D EEMVIOR

We would expect these parents to encourage the ir children to

achieve since they gave as the primary reason fo r emigrating, the ir

desire fo r a better education for th e ir children. We w ill now see

whether that expectation is correct.

128

A ll the parents believed i t important to t e l l th e ir children how

to behave in school. Most frequently (90 percent) they mentioned

t e l l in g the children to obey, and lis te n to , the teacher. Twenty

percent o f the parents stated that they to ld th e ir ch ild to show proper<

respect and manners. F o rty -five percent expressed concern about the ir

ch ildren ge ttin g along with peers. In teresting ly , only 28 percent

stated that they to ld th e ir children to work hard and do th e ir school-

work properly. Of course, urging a ch ild to lis ten to h is teacher is

an ind irect way o f encouraging academic work, but one wonders i f the

ch ild would see the relationship o f obeying his teacher with doing well

in schoolwork.

When parents were asked what th e ir children did in school that%

made them happy, a large proportion, mentioned something re lated to

the academic aspect o f school. Conparing th is response to the previous

one, fa r more parents approved o f good schoolwork than mentioned i t to

th e ir ch ildren. Supporting evidence is that one-third o f a l l the parents

would not show any sign o f approval to th e ir children or would not

praise them i f they did well in school. That again is re lated to the

b e l ie f that one must hide pos itive fee lin gs regarding behavior, other­

wise the ch ild would fe e l too self-con fident and might reduce his e ffo r ts

in school. Parents chose other ways o f showing approval o f schoolwork.

S ixty-four percent said they would buy the children special g i f t s ; 46

percent would give them money; and 38 percent would allow them extra

p r iv ile g e s .

Reversing the question and asking parents which school behavior

they disapproved in th e ir children, the majority mentioned disobedience

125

and misbehavior. Twenty-four percent mentioned figh tin g s p e c ific a lly .

Only 22 percent o f the parents stated that they would be unhappy i f

th e ir children did not perform well in the academic work.

How would the parents react to disapproved behavior in school?

The fo llow ing responses were given in decreasing frequency: scolding

(84 percent), physical punishment (73 percent.), ta lk ing (51 percent),

taking away p r iv ileges or freedom (43 percent), threatening to take

away p r iv ile g e s or freedom (35 percent), and shaming and rid icu lin g

(22 percent).

From the above responses, one could conclude that although most

o f the parents want th e ir children to do well academically, the only

way they claim to be encouraging such behavior is rewarding i t when i t

does occur. They do not t e l l the children that they want them to do

w ell, and they are not unhappy i f the child does not give good academic

performance at school. I t could be that the parents do not wish to

pressure the children beyond th e ir a b il ity , but, as w il l be shown in

the next chapter, school tes ts show that some of these children have

high potentia l and i t is doubtful that they are receiv ing much encour­

agement. A much larger group has not met school standards fo r po ten tia lly

high academic achievement but must certa in ly have the a b il it y based on

a normal d istribu tion o f the population.

The responses to the attitud inal questions were mixed but do give

some support to the parents' views regarding achievement. On the one

hand, 97 percent o f the parents agreed with the statement that children

who do not try hard fo r success w ill fe e l they have missed out on

things la te r on, and 89 percent f e l t that i f a ch ild is better able to

130

do things than other children, he should shov; i t . Yet 86 percent o f

the parents f e l t that children should not attempt anything beyond th e ir

a b il i t y ; 88 percent agreed with the statement that a ch ild should be

protected from jobs that might be too t ir in g or hard fo r him; and 82<

percent f e l t that children should be kept away from a l l hard jobs that

might be discouraging. Svich desire to protect children because o f

th e ir assumed lim ited a b il ity may have some connection with the tra ­

d ition a l tolerance o f the slow developer, as mentioned in the second

chapt e r .

Observing in the homes, we noticed l i t t l e encouragement o f achieve­

ment-oriented behavior. Parents ra re ly asked the children about school

or th e ir schoolwork. In only two homes were children observed doing

schoolwork, and in only one o f these homes were the children doing i t

on th e ir own in it ia t iv e . In the other home the mother encouraged the

children to do schoolwork and worked along with them.

There was actually more s e lf- in it ia te d achievement-oriented

behavior than was encouraged by parents. I t was generally confined

to four homes and the parents usually did not react to i t . The following

examples i l lu s tra te th is behavior: a seven-year-old formed le t te rs

with her b racelet; a nine-year-old boy tr ied to teach himself how to

type; and an eight-year-old practiced arithmetic with his younger

brother.

There were ind irect signs of the parents' lack o f encouragement

o f achievement in th e ir children. Books were seen in only four homes.

Only f iv e parents mentioned v is it in g the school. Pour out o f eleven

children e l ig ib le to be in kindergarten were not enrolled ( a l l four

i 3 i

were boys). Two o f the mothers said that th e ir five-year-o lds did not

want to go to school. One o f the boys tr ie d school fo r a few hours

and cried a l l the time. Children in one fam ily frequently overslept

in the morning and would not go to school a l l day. A nineteen-year-old

takes an exam, fa ile d , and would not try again; the parents accepted

i t . One mother put emphasis on education, yet f e l t that housework[

came before school work. .s

Perhaps the most pervasive indirect influence on the lack o f

encouragement o f achievement is the Samoans' unwillingness to place

themselves in a position o f greater respon sib ility . They fe e l that

other Samoans are c r it ic a l o f those who s tr ive to advance themselves.

An example is the fo llow ing: one woman was made a supervisor over

other Samoan women in a laundry. She did not lik e th is promotion

because the other women were saying mean things to her; in her words,

"Habit o f Samoans— don't l ik e to see others r is e above them."

Yet, though they do not encourage i t , the fam ilies do place emphasis

on education and general achievement. One fam ily vías considering

moving to the mainland United States because they thought the schools

were better there. An eleven-year-old boy who joined his fam ily in

Honolulu two years previously was unhappy and wanted to return to Samoa,

but h is mother keot him in Honolulu fo r h is education. One o f the

reasons a father gave fo r h is obtaining a post-secondary education is

that i t would provide a suitable ro le model fo r h is children. One

mother bought a piano, which she could i l l a fford , thinking that i t

would stimulate her children to meet her expectations. Another mother

talked vdth oride about her daughter's having been selected Hay Hay

132

Queen at school. And another mother complained that her child did not

do any homework.

Part o f the d isparity between an emphasis on education and the

lack o f encouragement o f achievement-oriented behavior could be that

the parents did not know what is going on in school (as they would

know in Samoa), and i f they did wish to stimulate th e ir children toward

greater achievement they would not know how. I t is not that the parents

had comparatively l i t t l e education but that the school setting was

completely strange to them. Parents ra re ly showed up fo r conferences

with the teachers or attended the yearly open house. Whether a l l the

parents received notice of these through th e ir children is questionable.

Perhaps i t was easier fo r the parent to leave the formal aspects of

education to the school rather than placing themselves in the awkward

situation o f ta lk ing to school personnel in English and conversing

about unfamiliar content.

ACCULTURATION-TRADITIONALISM

We w il l now examine how the model presented at the end o f the

la s t chapter applies to the ch ild-rearing practices investigated in

th is chapter. Are those practices linked with le v e l o f acculturation

and traditionalism ? Is trad itiona l enculturation exhibited among the

h igh ly trad ition a l fam ilies regardless o f th e ir le v e l o f acculturation,

or is the le v e l o f acculturation the more crucial element?

Methods o f Social Control

F irs t , le t us turn to an aspect o f social control that does not

d i f fe r grea tly among the fam ilies , the quantity o f demands made o f the

children by parents. This docs not vary according to leve l of

133

acculturation or traditionalism . I f there is any change in th is practice,

i t is occurring fo r the group as a whole rather than fo r certain ind i­

viduals based on a particu lar dimension pursued in th is study. That

is , the Samoan immigrants in th is study probably make fewer demands<

o f th e ir children than do parents in Samoa. But as we noted, parents

s t i l l make a large number o f demands o f children. 1

One aspect that varies only s ligh tly with the degree of trad ition a l­

ism is the le v e l o f emotional nurturance provided by the mother.

F ifty -n in e percent o f the 17 mothers in the highly trad itiona l group

exhibited l i t t l e nurturance, whereas only 36 percent o f the 11 mothers

who are low on traditionalism exhibited such a low le ve l o f nurturance.

Acculturation is not a factor in the le v e l o f nurturance. I f the

mother is more trad it ion a l, she is less l ik e ly to nurture her children

regardless o f her le v e l o f acculturation. I t could be that the leve l

o f emotional nurturance is not increased with acculturation, since

parents have l i t t l e opportunity to observe th is type o f behavior in

the la rger society. On the other hand, the fam ilies that are high on

trad itionalism partic ipate in a c t iv it ie s with other Samoans that re in -■ r f

force the lack o f emotional nurturance. ■■ ■>\

Physical punishment is another means o f socia l control that varies

s lig h t ly with traditionalism . Of the to ta l number of incidents of

physical pvmishment observed in the home, a l l except one were carried

out by trad ition a l parents. But, in the ch ild-rearing interview,

there was less varia tion in the emphasis on the use o f physical pvmishment

as a method fo r correcting the children between the trad itiona l and

the non-traditional parents. Seventy-two percent o f the trad itiona l,

134

compared, with 55 percent o f the non-traditional parents, emphasized th is

method. I t is surprising that th is d ifference is not larger, fo r

physical punishment is recognized by the parents as a Samoan method o f

socia l control, and i f they were g iv ing up aspects o f trad itiona l l i f e ,

the use o f physical punishment might well be among them. Perhaps the

parents do not ea s ily see other methods that are as e ffe c t iv e as physical

punishment.

Two aspects vary grea tly with the degree o f traditionalism in the

fam ily: the parental emphasis on obedience and the le v e l o f compliance

in the fam ily by children to parental requests or demands. In the ch ild -

rearing interview , the degree o f emphasis on obedience varied according

to le v e l o f acculturation and traditionalism . S ixty-four percent of

the r e la t iv e ly unacculturated parents emphasized obedience compared

with 45 percent o f the acculturated parents; 79 percent o f the trad itiona l

compared with 27 percent o f the non-traditional parents placed a heavy

emphasis on obedience. When we loo!: at the actual le v e l o f compliance

o f the children (as observed in the home), a large varia tion also occurs

based on trad itionalism . The children o f 67 percent o f the trad itiona l

and 22 percent o f the non-traditional parents exhibit a high le v e l o f

compliance. The fam ilies in which obedience is emnhasized are not

necessarily the ones in which the' children have a high le ve l o f com­

pliance. The parents who emphasized obedience consist o f at least two

types: those that have successfully transmitted the value o f obedience

to th e ir children, and those who are concerned with obedience because

they cannot exact compliance from the ir children.

The last item to be mentioned as a means o f social control is the

135

use o f praise to re in force positive behavior. Of a l l the methods men­

tioned, th i3 one varies the most according to the le v e l o f acculturation.

Ninety-one percent o f the acculturated compared with 40 percent o f the

unacculturated parents stated that they praise th e ir children when they

exh ib it approved behavior. The degree o f traditionalism did not a ffec t

th is va riab le . The proportion o f trad itiona l and non-traditional parents

who use th is method was sim ilar. That th is method varied only viith the

le v e l o f acculturation could owe to i t s being a new item in the parents’

reperto ire and the use o f praise can be read ily observed in the dominant

soc ie ty . The more exposure to the dominant culture, the greater the

opportunity to observe i t . The practices that vary with traditionalism ,

in contrast, are generally already in the reperto ire o f Samoan parents,

and such practices v^ould cease mainly because o f a lack o f reinforcement

in the new culture. In other words, in the process o f acculturation

one is adding to one’ s reperto ire , whereas in the process o f becoming

non-trad itional, one is los ing certain cultural practices.

R esponsib ility Training

The two aspects o f responsib ility tra in ing that are relevant here

are ( l ) at what age children are given regular jobs in the home and (2 )

the amount o f observed household work performed by the children. As to

be expected, more work was seen performed in the trad itiona l than in

the non-traditional homes, and trad ition a l parents f e l t that the ir

ch ildren should have regular chores in the home at an ea r lie r age. But

le v e l o f acculturation showed mixed resu lts : i t did not d iffe ren tia te

the amount o f work performed in the home, and the acculturated parents

f e l t that children should perform regular tasks at an ea rlie r age than

136

did the unacculturated ones. An explanation o f the la tte r unexpected

resu lt could be that more o f the acculturated mothers axe employed and

thus neod th e ir children to assume household responsib ility at an ea r lie r

age.

S ib ling and Peer In teraction

The socia l in teraction o f the children was not eas ily d ifferen tia ted

among the homes. There v:ere d ifferences based on le v e l o f acculturation

and traditionalism , but they were not great. Nevertheless, some patterns

o f behavior did appear in the homes. Among the sib lings in the more

acculturated homes, there appeared more so c ia b ility and less domination

and aggression. In the homes that v/ere more trad ition a l, there v:as

less s o c ia b ility among the children and more domination, aggression,

submission, resistance, and avoidance. In addition, the younger children

submitted to th e ir older s ib lings and the older submitted to the younger

more frequently in the trad ition a l homes.

These observations support the assumption that in the more accul­

turated and less trad ition a l homes, where the parents play a less author­

ita r ia n ro le , there is more so c ia b ility and less aggression and domination

among the children. That there is more submission, resistance, and

avoidance to s ib lin g domination and aggression in the trad itiona l homes

is not inconsistent, fo r these three reactions appeared in settings v/ere

there vzas a considerable quantity o f dominating and aggressive behavior.

Generally a ch ild v/ould res is t i f the parents had not noticed the behav­

io r ; submit or comply i f the parent v/ere aware o f the in teraction ; and

avoid or ignore the domination or aggression o f h is s ib ling i f he washed

to remove himself from the in teraction or the situation.

137

Neither is there a contradiction in the observation that the tra ­

d itiona l homes showed more submission by both older and younger sib lings.

In these homes, because s ib lings were given more child-care responsib il­

i t i e s , there was more in teraction between older and younger sib lings

than in less trad ition a l homes. The younger ch ild could either accept

th is supervision or r e s is t . In the la tte r case, the ch ild would cry

and usually the older ch ild (a s is te r ) would adapt her behavior so that

the younger one ceased to create a disturbance.

As regards peer in teraction , i t is in teresting to note that the

less acculturated and the more trad itiona l parents stated that they do

not encourage th e ir children to figh t i f they are involved in a dispute

with others. In other words, these parents seem more in terested in

themselves avoiding con flic ts with other adult members o f the community

than in the child* s defending h im self.

Development o f Values

Vie have already analysed the data on parental concern fo r obedience

in the section "Methods o f Social Control." Here le t us examine the

data on the values o f proper deference or respect behavior and the

importance o f education in re la tion to the le v e l o f acculturation and

trad itionalism .

Parental emphasis on deference and the observed teaching o f deference

in the homes varies s lig h t ly with acculturation and grea tly with tra d i­

tionalism . F i f ty - s ix percent o f the trad itiona l compared with 2$? percent

o f the non-traditional parents responded with a strong emphasis on

deference behavior in the interview . Deference behavior was observed

being taught in 6l percent o f the trad itiona l homes compared with 20

138

percent o f the non-traditional homes. Curiously, the more acculturated

trad ition a l parents showed a greater b e lie f in the value o f respect

behavior and actually taught i t to the ir children more than the less

acculturated trad ition a l parents. I t is almost as i f greater exposure«

to the dominant society made the trad itiona l parent more aware o f the

need fo r deference behavior.

Parental emphasis on the importance o f education varied only s ligh tly

with acculturation but grea tly with traditionalism . The more trad itiona l

the fam ily, the greater emphasis i t placed on schooling. This is not

surprising considering the cultural emphasis on education and i t s ro le

in the fam ily 's decision to immigrate.

Achievement-Oriented Behavior

The acculturated parents tended to place more emphasis on achievement

than the unacculturated ones, and th e ir children exhibited more achievement-

oriented behavior in the home. Level o f traditionalism did not d i f f e r ­

entiate th is typo o f behavior. I t could be that i t takes a certain

amount o f exposure to the dominant culture to understand the indicators

o f achievement in school, and the unacculturated parents would not eas ily

recognize these indicators. I f one does not know the signs o f achievement,

one cannot exert pressure on children to achieve. The trad itiona l practice

o f not showing pleasure when a ch ild does well may reduce the acknowl­

edgment o f achievement. A ll but two parents v;ho said they would not

show pleasure at th e ir ch ild 's school performance were trad itiona l ones.

And three o f the four parents who would not show displeasure at the ir

c h ild 's poor performance in school were trad itiona l ones.

These attitudes can be considered independent of the parents'

139

emphasis on education mentioned previously in that here the top ic i3

the academic performance o f the child rather than schooling in general.

Case I ll i is tra t io n

With reference to the typology hased on acculturation and tra d i­

tionalism presented at the end o f the last chapter, we describe below

the enculturation practices o f a typ ica l fam ily in each category. The

practices that are associated with each type w ill be given, along with

those that do not exactly f i t the pattern.

Type 1: High on acculturation, high on traditionalism —The E

fam ily consists o f the parents and seven children liv in g in the home,

the youngest o f whom is seven years old. The mother is not employed.

The mother makes many demands on her children, with the two youngest

g i r ls generally at home carrying out her requests. The boys are usually

not at home, seemingly try ing to avoid demands made on them. The older

s ib lin gs do not generally supervise the younger ones because the youngest

are no longer toddlers and the children seem to know what is expected

o f them. Both parents expect the children to do regular chores at an

ea rly age, and the g ir ls were observed to perform a great deal o f house­

work.

Both the mother and father place a great deal o f emphasis on obe­

dience and deference behavior, and the children usually comply with the ir

demands. The g ir ls comply immediately, whereas the hoys sometimes do

not, hut the mother generally fo llovjs through and in s is ts that the hoys

obey her. The mother stated that she uses physical punishment most

often as the way o f con tro llin g behavior. Although her g iv ing th is

type o f punishment was not observed, the mother stated that the youngest

140

boy complains o f being frequently scolded and spanked by her.

As the children are older in th is fam ily, l i t t l e emotional nurturance

was observed, but there was considerable warmth between the mother and

the children, especia lly the g ir ls . The main in teraction was between

the mother and the children, with l i t t l e so c ia b ility among the children.

Tho older children attempted to dominate, with the younger ones sub­

m itting to the older ones or avoiding them. The younger ones ra re ly

t r ie d to dominate the older s ib lings . No aggressive behavior and l i t t l e

resistance was observed.

The parents use pos itive reinforcement by praising and rewarding

the children. The parents also acknowledged the importance o f education

and stated that they reward th e ir children fo r high marks on th e ir

report cards. They are also one o f the few fam ilies to have encyclopedias

in the home.

Type 2: High on acculturation, low on traditionalism —The F fam ily

consists o f the parents and f iv e children, aged two to nine years.

The mother is not employed. The older children do very l i t t l e super­

v is ion probably due to th e ir youth. The mother makes many requests of

her children and they generally comply. She rewards them with a great

deal o f emotional nurturance and praise. Neither parent emphasizes

obedience or deference behavior but they both stress physical punishment

as a means o f con tro llin g the children ’ s behavior. The mother was

observed to span]; the two younger children.

Both parents f e l t that children should be given regular chores at

an early age, and th e ir children performed a great deal o f housework

fo r th e ir age le v e l. The parents placed high importance on education

141

and the ch ildren 's academic performance in school. Both parents stressed

that they wanted th e ir children to learn as much as they could, and they

praised the children when they displayed the ir new knowledge at home.

This wa3 one o f the few homes in which reading books were available to

the children and in which the mother v is ite d the school regu larly. When

the children would return from school the mother would ask them about

th e ir a c t iv it ie s and would help them with th e ir schooluork. (This

mother was one o f the few parents who had attended Hawaiian public

schools).

The children generally played in the house together. I f they became

involved in an a lterca tion with another ch ild , the mother stated that

she would encourage her children to defend themselves. Although the

mother was very dominant, she allowed the children autonomy, and the

children displayed considerable s o c ia b ility . The children attempted to

dominate each other but were not aggressive. They generally submitted

to each others' domination and ra re ly exhibited res is tin g or avoiding

behavi or.

Type 3: Low on acculturation, high on traditionalism —The G fam ily

has f iv e children liv in g at home, aged one to twelve years. The mother

is not employed. The twelve-year-old g ir l has considerable responsib ility

in household chores and ch ild care. The mother makes many demands on the

children, which they generally meet. Both parents placed heavy emphasis

on obedience and deference behavior and the la tte r was obsei'ved being

taught in the homo. Surprisingly, both parents thought that children

should be assigned regular chores at a r e la t iv e ly la te age but the two

oldest children had been given chores before the age they mentioned.

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i

Only the mother mentioned physical punishment as a means o f con trolling

the "behavior o f her children. Neither mother nor father would praise

the ch ild or show joy i f the ch ild exhibited approved behavior. Although

there were thi'ee pre-schoolers, the mother exhibited nurturance in fre -«

quently and never spontaneously.

The parents recognized the importance o f education, but in the

in terview only the father mentioned achievement-oriented behavior.

There was no v is ib le sign o f the encouragement o f achievement in the

home.

The mother f e l t that i t was not correct to encourage her children

to figh t i f they v;ere involved in an a ltercation with others. On the

other hand, the father f e l t that such con flic ts should be resolved by

the children themselves and that parents should not in te rfe re .

In the home, the children exhibited some so c ia b ility , but domination

and aggression were the primary modes o f in teraction . Submission,

resistance, and avoidance were ecjually represented in the s ib lin gs '

reactions. At times the younger submitted to the older s ib lin g 's domi­

nation, and at other times the older s ib lin g submitted to the younger's

domination.

Tyoe di Low on acculturation, low on traditionalism —The H family

consists o f the parents and seven children, from four to eighteen years

o f age. The mother is employed. The oldest daughter ( f i f t e e n years of

age) was in charge o f most o f the housework and cooking and supervised

the younger ch ildren in th e ir chores. She complained that the younger

ch ildren did not help her su ffic ien tly . Although the mother made many

demands on her ch ildren, she placed l i t t l e emphasis on obedience, and

143

the children ra re ly complied with her requests. The mother admitted

that the children v;ould only obey the father, not her. In the interview

the mother mentioned the importance o f teaching respect behavior to the

children, but such behavior v;as not observed in the home. She also did

not expect the children to do regular chores un til a r e la t iv e ly la te

age.

The mother did not lik e to spank her children fo r i t upset her;

she would threaten them and the father would do the spanking. Although

she did not physically punish the children, she practiced verbal aggres­

sion by teasing and rid icu lin g them. She did praise the children when

she approved o f th e ir behavior but was not observed to nurture them.

The mother did not place much errphasis on the importance o f education

but did mention approving o f achievement. The children were observed

in achievement-oriented behavior.

There was a great deal o f in teraction among the children; i t was

at times cooperative, dominating, and aggressive. The aggressive behavior

vías generally verbal, although physical aggression also occurred. The

children usually did not submit to each other; they either showed re s is ­

tance or avoidance. Therefore, the younger children did not submit to

the older ones, nor did the older ones submit to the younger ones. The

mother did not in te r fe re in these situations, just as she said she would

not in te r fe re i f her children were having an a lterca tion with the ir

friends; she le ts the children themselves work i t out.

144

THE CHILD IN SCHOOL

This chapter focuses on the Samoan children in our study sample

and th e ir social and academic performance in school. VIhere possible,

we corpare them v:ith other groups o f children o f sim ilar age. The sources«

o f our data on the Samoan ch ild ’ s social and academic performance in

school include observation, sociometric study» teacher evaluations,

grades received, test scores, and attendance records. In the concluding

sections we w ill explore the relationship o f enculturation practices,

acculturation and traditionalism , and the school behavior o f the ch ild.

In the f in a l chapter, we v a il take up a key task o f th is study, the

determination o f the social and cultural factors that are re lated to a

ch ild 's school success (br.sed on the index described in Chapter I I I ) .

SOCIAL PERFOPdIANCE IN THE CLASSROOM

The data on the socia l in teraction o f the Samoan children v;ith each

other, with non-Samoan children, a.nd with the ir teachers are presented

in th is section. The major findings reveal that the Samoan children

are just as well lik ed by th e ir classmates as any other children. They

are not concerned about acceptance but they are h ighly gregarious and

he lp fu l. Compared to the other evaluated tra its , teachers view the

Samoan children as assertive but compliant, and not aggressive. The

methods that the teacher uses to control the ch ild 's behavior is quite

d iffe ren t than those used by the Samoan parent; yet the ch ild is compliant

and exhib its dependence on the teacher.

Sociometric Study

A ll o f the children (not just the Samoans) in eight o f the classrooms

145

CHAPTER VI

in. which observations were held were asked to name the three children

they liked to play with most and the three they liked to play with least.

Thirty-one Samoan children were in these classrooms. The older children

(those in fourth to sixth grade) were also asked to give reasons fo r the ir«

choices. The purpose o f th is sociometric study was to obtain information

on the socia l success o f the children in school and to see whether the

Samoan children liked or d is liked each other more often as playmates.

The resu lts are quite variab le, with some Samoan children being

h igh ly desired and others being re jected as playmates. Seven o f the

Samoan children were picked only as desirable playmates, never as unde­

s irab le . F ive o f them were picked only as undesirable playmates, never

as desirable. Two Samoan g ir ls and four Samoan boys were among the most

popular children in th e ir class. One boy and one g ir l were the most

d is lik ed children in th e ir classroom. Age did not seem to influence

these choices, but there was a sligh t tendency fo r boys to be more

a c t iv e ly lik ed and d isliked than g ir ls . The d iv is ion among classrooms

was equal: in four classrooms the Samoan children were more liked than

d is lik ed , and in the other four they were more d isliked than liked .

When the children v/ere apportioned in to percentiles by how they

stood in re la t ion to a l l members o f the classroom in social d es irab ility ,

they were p ra c tic a lly in the middle. The average percentile fo r the

31 Samoan children was 49 percent; that is 49 percent o f a l l the children

in the eight classes were chosen more frequently than the Samoan children.

On the other hand, as regards the most d isliked children, the 31 Samoan

children stood at the 53rd percen tile ; that is , 53 percent o f the other

children were d is lik ed more frequently than the Samoan children. This

146

i s contrary to H irsh 's find ing (1956:38, mentioned in Chapter I ) that

Samoans were iso la ted by being excluded by the non-Samoan children.

One may conclude that the Samoan children are no more desirable

or undesirable as playmates than any other children in the classroom.

Me vri.ll la te r see how the teacher rates the Samoan ch ild on some o f the

t r a i t s that may contribute to h is social acceptance in the classroom.

Do the Samoan children desire each other as playmates more often

than children o f other ethnic backgrounds? Of the to ta l number o f

choices the Samoan children could have made, they picked another Samoan

ch ild 19 percent o f the time. But the proportion o f Samoans in these

e i^vt classes was 21 percent o f the to ta l. Therefore, the Samoans

chose other Samoans s lig h t ly less than th e ir proportion in the to ta l

classroom population.

Regarding the frequency o f d is lik es , o f the to ta l number o f re je c ­

tion s the Samoan children could have expressed, they mentioned other

Samoan children 13 percent o f the time. Since the to ta l number o f

Samoans was 21 percent o f the to ta l number o f children, there is a

d iscern ib le d ifference between th e ir re jec tion o f each other and the ir

representation in the classroom.

One can conclude from these data that the Samoan children lik e to

p lay with each other p rac tica lly as often as with non-Samoans but they

d is lik e playing with each other considerably less often than viith non-

Samoans. They are more l ik e ly to accept each other than re jec t each

other. I t could bo that they are uncertain o f th e ir play relationships

in school and therefore wish to repress th e ir own negative fee lin gs

toward Samoans. I f so, the Samoans would be misjudging the situation,

147

at least based on our data, because they are no more d isliked or liked

as playmates than any other ch ild.

The reasons that the older children gave fo r the ir lik es and d is lik e

were fa ir ly non-specific. The most frequent reason given fo r choosing

someone to play with was that they were fun to be with; Second, they

were "good," fr ien d ly , and nice. More spec ific characteristics such as

sharing, help fu l, and being fa ir were mentioned less frequently. The

most common reason given fo r re jec tion was that the ch ild was a trouble­

maker. That the ch ild was a member o f the opposite sex (boys do not

lik e to play with g ir ls and v ice versa) and not a good player were also

mentioned. Teasing and cheating were given as reasons by only a few

children. Comparing the Samoan with the non-Samoan children, the Samoans

were more concerned about the other ch ild being a good person generally

and less concerned about the specifics o f whether they knew how to play,

made trouble, or cheated at games.

Teacher Evaluations

The teachers v/ere asked to rate the children on 17 characteristics

(see Appendix D), eleven of which possibly had some re la tion to social/ ·

d es ira b ility . Each ch ild 's score (see Chapter I I I ) on these t r a its was

summed up to obtain a mean score which is shown in Table 1$·.

The 11 characteristics pertinent here are as fo llow s: coivcerned

about acceptance, not assertive, self-m inim izing, adaptable, considerate,

not aggressive, not occlusive, help fu l, compliant, non-avoiding, and

gregarious, host o f these t r a it s showed up on the higher end o f the

scale. Compared with the other characteristics, Samoan children are

not very concerned about acceptance, are assertive, and are not

148

particu la rly self-m inim ising or adaptable. This would seem to contradict

the fact that they are generally accepted by th e ir classmates. But the

other ratings more than counterbalance these four. In ascending order,

the children are seen as considerate, not aggressive, not seclusive,<

help fu l, compliant, not avoiding and gregarious. The teachers see these

children as not being aggressive but as highly compliant and gregarious.

TA3LB 19

K3AN SCORNS GIV13N BY TBACKBRS RATING SAK0A1T FUPILS ON B2HAVI0R

149

Trait Score Trait Score

1. Original 3.31 10 . Considerate 4.522. Concerned about acceptance 3.34 11. Not aggressive 4.623. Imaginative 3.42 12. Not seclusive 4.364. S e lf-re lia n t 4.10 1 3 . Helpful 4.985- Not assertive 4.25 14. Compliant 5.006. Dependent 4.35 15. Non-avoidance 5.047. Self-m inim izing 4.41 16. Responsible 5-053. Adaptable 4.42 17. Gregarious 5.039· Achievement-or i ent ed 4.--43-..

I f th e ir viev/s are an accurate re fle c t io n o f the Samoan ch ildren 's

actual behavior, that would certa in ly contribute to the ch ildren 's

acceptance by th e ir classmates.

Let us f i r s t look at t r a it s that would presumably have a negative

connotation: lack o f concern about acceptance, assertiveness, and

l i t t l e self-m inim ising behavior. I t is probably true that the children

sho1.·/ some lack o f concern about social acceptance. Their parents have

been described as lacking th is characteristic and perhaps have transmitted

i t to th e ir children. In the sociometric study, only one ch ild said

that he wanted to play, or not play, with another ch ild because the

other ch ild liked or d is lik ed him. But as can be seen by the lim ited

evidence, any conclusion as to a lack o f concern about social acceptance

would have to be quite ten ta tive .

The lack o f self-m inim izing behavior is d i f f ic u lt to confirm or

deny. In the classroom, the Samoan children are not hesitant to speak

out, to approach the other children and the teacher, or to announce out

loud that they have fin ished an assignment when no one else does the

same. This would indicate a lack o f humility, but whether i t indicates

a tendency to brag or show o f f is another question. I t would seem in

announcing that they have fin ished an assignment that the children are

seeking approval from the teacher (but not necessarily from the other

ch ildren ) and are also acknowledging th e ir own sense o f accomplishment.

Although they wish the teacher's approval they do not show fear of her.

For example, when many children in a classroom were misbehaving and the

teacher asked i f they wished to stay a fte r school, only one child spoke

up, a Samoan g i r l , who said "No!" Such behavior is annoying but is not

r e a lly an act o f defiance. Actual defiance w ill be discussed when the

data on compliance are presented. About the only bragging behavior

that was seen was on the playground, when a good player was c r it ic a l of

other ch ild ren 's a b il it y .

Assertive behavior was seen with groat frequency. Eighty-eight

incidents were observed involving Samoan children. Sixty-nine percent

o f the time the Samoan ch ild in it ia ted the assertive or dominant behavior,

and 31 percent o f the time a non-Samoan child in it ia ted i t . Of the 6l

incidents in it ia ted by a Samoan child, 34 percent were an attempt to

dominate another Samoan rather than a non-Samoan ch ild . Considering

150

that Samoans only represent 21 percent o f the classroom to ta l, th is

figu re o f 34 percent indicates proportionately more assertive action

by Samoans toward other Samoans rathor than non-Samoans.

How does the recip ient o f the assertive or dominating behavior<

react? Table 20 shows these reactions. When a Samoan child in it ia te s

TABLE 20

REACTION BY RECIPIENTS OF ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOR

151

Reactor—ft (n ) Samoan, to Assertion Non-Samoan, to

Reaction b?/ a Samoan Assertion by SarnoanSamoan, 10

Assertion Non-Samoan

Compliance 42 (5 ) 50 (20) 26 ( 7 )

Resistance 25 (6 ) 23 (9 ) 44 (12)

Avoidanceor escape 29 (6 ) 27 (11) 30 (8 )

TOTAL 100 (21 incidents) 100 (40 incidents) 100 (27 incidents)

the assertive behavior, the main reaction is compliance, with s ligh tly

more compliance on the part o f the non-Samoan reactor. When the non-

Samoan in it ia te s the assertive behavior, the Samoan reactor mainly

re s is ts .

We \rill now see i f there are sim ilar resu lts with aggressive behavior

One should remember that the teacher did not view the Samoan ch ild as

pa rticu la rly aggressive compared with the other rated t r a its . Sixty-two

incidents o f aggression involving Samoan children were observed, 63 per­

cent o f which were physical rather than verbal aggression. S ixty-s ix

percent o f the time the Samoan ch ild in it ia ted the aggressive behavior,

and of th is number, 37 percent involved aggression against another

Samoan rather than a non-Samoan ch ild . These percentages are quite

!

close to the resu lts on assertive behavior, so one sees Samoans aggressing

against each other more often, in proportion to th e ir numbers, than

against non-Samoans. Table 21 depicts the reactions o f those who were

the targets o f aggressive behavior.

TA3L3 21

REACTIONS BY RECIPIENTS OP AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

Reactor— L/o (n )Samoan, to Aggression Non-Samoan, to Samoan, to

152

Compliance 0 (0 ) 12 (3 ) 10 (2 )

Avoidance 60 (9 ) 69 ( 1 8 ) 61 ( 1 3 )

Resistance 27 (4 ) 19 (5 ) 29 (6 )

Succorance 13 (2 ) 0 (0 ) 0 (0 )

TOTAL 100 (15 incidents) 100 (26 incidents) 100 (21 incidents)

Table 21 shows, in contrast to Table 20, that aggression in the

classroom is res is ted with less frequency and is avoided fo r the most

part. The reaction patterns are sim ilar fo r both Samoans and non-Samoans

except that when a Samoan aggresses against another Samoan ch ild , the

la t te r is s ign ifica n tly less compliant. The observations showed that

very few children cry or seek the teacher's help when they are the

v ictim o f aggression.

The teachers ranked Samoan children somewhat higher in considerateness

than in the other t r a its evaluated. This characteristic is d i f f ic u lt

to observe fo r i t is a sentiment that needs to be in ferred from behavior.

On the one hand, th e ir high degree o f assertive behavior and lack o f

concern about socia l acceptance would not be conducive to being considerate

o f others. Yet th e ir high degree o f helpfulness and gregariousness

might have a positive e ffe c t on considerateness. The fo llow ing incidents

i l lu s tra te th is . In a kindergarten class a Samoan ch ild grabs a set of

earphones from a non-Samoan ch ild . A second Samoan child takes the

earphones back and gives them to the ch ild who had them o rig in a lly . In

a fifth -g rad e class, a Samoan boy is one o f two boy3 chosen to pick

teams fo r games. His f i r s t choice is a boy v:ho has just been crying

a fte r being in a figh t with a th ird ch ild . Considering th is apparent

concern fo r others, i t would seem that the teacher is correct in her

evaluation o f considerateness among the Samoan children as being somewhere

in the middle o f a l l the t r a it s lis ted .

Seclusiveness should be discussed at the same time as gregariousness.

As seen in Table 1 ', the Samoan children were rated highest by the teacher

in gregariousness, and the observations in the classroom generally con­

firmed th is . Very l i t t l e o f the behavior was seclusive or withdrawn,

and the children who did seem withdrawn were generally new to the school

or were in kindergarten. The la tte r children happened to be a l l g ir ls

who had not adjusted to the in teractional patterns in the classroom.

Of th is group only two seemed re a lly to prefer being by themselves.

Many incidents o f gregarious or sociable behavior (fr ie n d ly or

cooperative in te ra tion ) we re recoi'ded (11$), most o f i t (70 percent)

d irected toward non-Samoan children. Since the Samoan children made up

21 percent o f the to ta l in the classes, they socia lized with each other

with greater frequency (30 percent) than th e ir proportion in the classes.

The Samoan children seem h ighly gregarious toward adults also;

on e-fifth o f a l l the sociable incidents recorded were directed toward

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v.·'

the adults in the classroom. The children usually did not hesitate to

approach th e ir teacher or the in vestiga tor. The casual observer is

impressed with the overt friend liness of these children.

Another read ily observable t r a it of the Samoan children is th e ir«

helpfulness in the classroom. They are so helpful that the teacher

tends to c a l l on them fo r help more frequently than other children.

Even without being asked, these children help others and the teacher.

Only tv;o times was a Samoan ch ild observed not to help the teacher when

a re que st was made, and th is was in the kindergarten class.

Helpfulness is re la ted to compliance, especia lly when the teacher

requests the aid of the ch ild . Helpfulness and compliance were rated

almost equally by the teacher. Table 22 shows the response o f Samoan

children to the requests and demands o f the teacher, both overa ll and

by upper and lower grades. Looking f i r s t at the overa ll data and remem­

bering from the previous chapter that only about h a lf of the reactions

TABLE 22

RESPONSE BY SAMOAN CHILDREN TO TEACHERS * REQUESTS {%)

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Resoonse Overall

By Grade Level Kindergarten- Fourth-Sixth Third Grade Grade

Compliance 63 70 66

Avoidance 19 14 23

Resistance 13 16 11

TOTAL 100(2/]6 incidents)

100(105 incidents)

100( 14O incidents)

to parental requests and demands were compliance, we see fa r greater

conformance to expectations in the classroom than at home. The grade-

le v e l data show that the older children comply and re s is t s ligh tly

less often than the younger children. But avoidance, keeping silen t

and ignoring the teacher's demand, increases in the upper grades.<

Yet the teachers as a whole rated the children high on non-avoiding

behavior. This would be contrary to the data just presented in Table

22 and in Tables 20 and 21, on ch ildren 's reactions to assertive and

aggressive behavior. The reason fo r the contradiction could be that

because the Samoan children are so gregarious, one tends to assume

that they would not l ik e ly remove themselves from in teraction by disap­

pearing or remaining s ilen t. Being impressed with th e ir gregarious

behavior, one tends to ignore th e ir avoiding behavior.

Another t r a it that re la tes to a ch ild 's social acceptance is his

adaptab ility . The teachers rated the Samoan children s ligh tly below

the midpoint in adaptab ility as compared with the other t ra its . In

terms o f the socia l behavior¡discussed in th is section, the Samoan

ch ild does not stand out from h is classmates, and th is would indicate

adaptab ility . Although school is quite d iffe ren t from home, these

children are so c ia lly acceptable to classmates and teachers. They may

be more assertive, help fu l, and gregarious than th e ir classmates, but

only assertiveness might be considered a negative t r a i t . They were

rated high in compliance, and i t could be concluded that they are just

as compliant as th e ir classmates.

Their adaptab ility probably owes partly to th e ir s en s it iv ity to

the socia l situation o f the classroom. Often a Samoan child was seen

about to misbehave or misbehaving with one eye on the adult in the

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’I

classroom. I f the adult see3 them, they desist. Once the adult saw

but did not react to the misbehavior, and the two Samoan children

continued to misbehave. When the children were not doing th e ir work,

they tended to avoid a ttractin g the teacher's attention by not being

obvious about i t . They also locked to the teacher fo r pos itive clues

as to expected behavior, the younger children more frequently than the

older ch ildren . A ch ild was chosen to work at the blackboard, and he

r e a l ly did not know what he was to do there. He looked patien tly at

the teacher who gave him some signals as to the appropriate behavior.

The older ch ildren seem to know better how to avoid con flic ts with the

teacher and seem to atta in th e ir own goals by f i r s t conforming to the

expectations o f the teacher and then requesting permission to do some­

th ing that they wish to do.

Contrary to th is evidence o f adaptability is the case o f the child

new to the classroom. Ten children who had just come from Samoa entered

as new students during the time o f th is study. I t took approximately

four months fo r them to become aware o f, and begin conforming to , the

expectations o f the classroom. They had to learn that the classroom/

was a d iffe ren t sort of place than home. In i t ia l ly they reacted in

tv/o ways; aggressiveness against other children and ignoring the teacher,

and there was some overlap between the two. The new children tended to

bu lly and tease the other children. They did not react when the teacher

admonished them or gave them instructions and did not seek help from

the teacher. Some teachers thought that the non-reaction was due to

lack o f a b i l i t y in English, but most o f these children had a elementary

knowledge o f English; that is , they understood English well enough to

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i

obey sinple commands. I t seemed, rather, that these children were

carrying over from the home th e ir avoidance behavior and were ignoring

undesirable situations. Gradually they learn other methods o f con tro lling

th e ir environment and aggressed less and attended more to the teacher.«

Even two boys who showed disturbed behavior when they were new to the

classroom lost these synptoms a fte r a time. On the other hand, a g i r l

who was also somewhat disturbed never did adapt and returned to Samoa

within three months.

School Attendance

The average absence rate fo r these Samoan children is 17.3 days

per school year. This rate seems quite high. Students in the lower

grades tend to be absent more than those in the higher grades. Perhaps

parents are not committed to the idea that the ir young children should

be in school; as almost h a lf o f these Samoan children above kindergarten

le v e l have never attended kindergarten.

Since attendance is an indication o f the quantity o f in teraction

among students, one wonders i f there is any re la tion between attendance

and socia l acceptance by classmates. But, no association was found

between these two variab les. This suggests that greater quantity o f

in teraction would not necessarily promote the d es ira b ility o f Samoan

children as playmates.

S oc ia lisa tion Techniques

Before we leave our consideration o f social performance in the

classroom, i t i s pertinent to re ca ll two top ics that were discussed

in Chapter V— methods o f socia l control and the development o f values—

and compare them in the two settings. Conpliance, as a reaction to

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the teacher's and other students' demands, has already been discussed.

As to be expected, one sees l i t t l e physical punishment in the

school settin g . The only major punishment observed was that o f iso la tion

the removal o f the ch ild from the group, and th is was seen in frequently.<

Only on one occasion was a ch ild observed facing the wall as a punishment.

Teachers did state that they send the children to the o ff ic e o f the

principal when there is serious misbehavior, but th is action was never

observed.

Scolding and y e llin g at the ch ild wa3 observed more often but raoro

with the older children and by certain teachers. Threats o f the with­

drawal o f p r iv ile g es or iso la tion occurred less often than scolding

and more often with the younger children. Ridicule o f the child by

the teacher was also seen in frequently, and where i t did occur, i t s

purpose v;as to correct the behavior o f the ch ild .

By fa r the teacher's most frequent method o f con tro lling the ch ild 's

behavior was the verbal correction o f spec ific misbehavior in a firm

tone o f vo ice . The correction could he done d irec tly , by prohibiting

certain behavior, or in d irec tly , by questioning spec ific behavior so

that the ch ild would corne up v/ith the righ t response. An example o f

the la t te r occurred when the teacher asked a ch ild why he was working

at somebody e ls e ’ s placo, and the ch ild immediately returned to his

own seat. As v/ith a l l demands and requests from the teacher, the

Samoan ch ild usually modified h is behavior appropriately when corrected

by the teacher.

The next most frequently used method o f influencing the ch ild 's

behavior was the use o f praise by the teacher. Such praise was usually

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given fo r academic v/ork rather than proper behavior. Generally the

Samoan ch ild responded with a smile o f pleasure.

Another way o f con tro llin g behavior is by requiring the children

to ask permission to do certain a c t iv it ie s in or out o f the classroom.

Apparently that practice starts early, fo r the kindergarten children

requested permission most often. Asking permission was expected in

the upper grades also; a Samoan boy was observed being severely scolded

by h is teacher because he was not doing his assigned work; i f he had

requested permission to change assignments, she said, i t would have

been a l l r igh t.

Aside from these spec ific techniques o f influencing socia l behavio

one can in fe r from the behavior o f these children that they depend on

and are oriented toward th e ir teachers, and are, therefore, subject

to th e ir in fluence. One form of such behavior is ta tt lin g , irainly

done by children in the lower grades. The child would t e l l the teacher

about someone e ls e 's misbehavior; sometimes she would respond. I t was

surprising to see the Samoan children do th is because such behavior

v;as ra re ly seen in the home among s ib lings.

Announcing to the teacher that they have fin ished th e ir work and

showing the classwork to the teacher are other ways these children

have o f showing a dependence on the teacher’ s approval. Some o f the

teachers require that the students show them th e ir work, but others

do not. bhether required or not, the children in the younger grades

most often showed the ir work to the teacher, the Gamoan children prom­

inent among them. Usually the teacher responded with praise or a

suggestion o f further work to do.

The la s t type o f dependent behavior we w ill consider is the exhi­

b it io n o f succorance. Here i t is lim ited to the verbal asking fo r

help , because emotional succorance and nurturance by the teacher was

only seen on two occasions, once in the kindergarten and once in the

fir s t-g ra d e c lass. In fa c t, one teacher who considers.herself an

a ffe c t io n a te person commented that when she tr ied to be a ffectionate

w ith the Samoan children, they generally did not respond. The Samoan

ch ild ren did not hesitate, however, to ask fo r help from the teacher.

Again, the younger children more frequently asked fo r help, and the

teacher usually gave i t .

The teaching o f values was observed fa r more frequently in the

school than in the home. Host o f the incidents observed occurred in

the f i r s t through the th ird grades. For example, the teachers would

g iv e reasons fo r correcting the ch ildren 's behavior: "Please turn

around— th a t 's dangerous," "Don't put your fee t on the wall; they

belong on the f lo o r , " "You shouldn't do that with school papers,"

"You are going to f a l l in a minute," and "When you do naughty things,

I have to scold you just lik e your parents do." Or, she would ask

lead in g (questions about the ch ild 's behavior: " Is that what blocks

are fo r ? " "Are you a baby?" and "Do you have to y e ll? "

Children are taught to attend to the teacher by such statements

as, "You must pay a tten tion ," " I f you don't want to lis ten , you can go

back t o your sea t," " I f you have questions to ask, ask me," " I w ill

t e l l you which is righ t and wrong," and by in s istin g that the child

respond when the teacher asks a quostion. The encouragement o f dependence

i s a lso seen when the teacher makes the ch ild wait fo r something that

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Iis within the power o f the teacher to g ive, and by not allowing the

ch ild to do something without the teacher*3 previous consent.

Respect fo r property and working alone is taught by such comments

as, " I hope you keep your hands to you rse lf,” "Look at your own book,”

" Is that your cubbyhole?" and "How come you are doing your work at

someone e ls e 's tab le?"

Consideratenes3 was taught d irec tly : "We waited fo r you before—

now you wait fo r us." That the children understand the advantage o f

being good generally is shown by the fo llow ing incident. The children

are w riting a le t t e r to Santa Claus and the teacher asks, "v/hat do you

do to get something from Santa?" The children respond in unison,

"Be good."

Spec ific values such a3 fam ily size can also be taught in the

classroom. A group of children are reading a story with the teacher

about a g i r l who has many sib lings . The teacher asks, "How many think

you have too many brothers and s is ters?" The two Samoan boys in the

group do not ra ise th e ir hands. "Do you think that having brothers

and s is te rs is good?" A Samoan boy responds, "No, they figh t too much."

Proper deference behavior is taught but mainly in the form o f

language. Children are taught to say "Yes, Ma’ am," and "Yes, Miss"

instead o f "Yah." A Samoan boy is chided fo r the language he is using.

A teacher r id icu les a new boy because he nods his head instead o f saying

yes. Appropriate status behavior is also made ex p lic it when a teacher

says to a Samoan boy, "You want to be the teacher?" a fte r he rid icu led

another boy fo r g iv ing a wrong answer.

In general, one sees uniformity among the teachers in the spec ific

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values that are being taught. But there is d ive rs ity in that some

teachers emphasize the development o f proper behavior and concomitant

values more than others, and a minority o f teachers stress certain

values such as deference and dependence on the teacher. «

In conclusion, i t is pertinent to compare the social performance

o f the children in school and th e ir socia l behavior at home. As for

methods o f socia l control, there is minimal physical punishment in the

school compared with the home, less r id icu le , and less scolding. A l­

though the data are not completely comparable, probably equal demands

are made on the ch ild in both settings, that is , the amount o f in te r­

action between ch ild and adult and between ch ild and other children

or s ib lin gs is probably the same in both settings. The teacher in the

school makes fewer verbal demands on the children, but she probably

controls th e ir behavior as much, in less direct ways. The children

react to the d iffe ren t methods o f the teacher in the d iffe ren t setting

with greater compliance, less avoidance, and about the same amount of

resistance as they react to th e ir mother in the home setting.

Praise is used to show approval o f appropriate behavior fa r more

frequently in the school setting than in the home. The Samoan children

react p o s it iv e ly to th is praise and try to seek approval from the teacher.

Whether they are helpfu l to gain approval or fo r other reasons, they

are h ighly helpfu l in the classroom just as they are at home. But the

children seek help and are given help far more often in school than at

home.

The proportion o f assertive to aggressive acts is sim ilar in both

settings; at home, in Samoan ch ildren 's in teraction with th e ir sib lings,

i63

and at school, in in teraction with th e ir classmates. Of the to ta l

number o f assertive and aggressive acts observed in the school 41 percent

were aggressive, and in the home 39 percent were aggressive. Yet the

reactions o f the children were d iffe ren t in the two settings. There

was about twice as much resistance to dominance and aggression in the

home than in the classroom. Therefore, the incidents in the home were

more disturbing than those in the school. Also, counteracting th is

type o f behavior, more s o c ia b ility was observed among classmates than

among s ib lin gs at home.

The d irect teaching o f values was observed far more frequently in

the school than at home. Deference behavior was emphasized in both

settings, but in the school i t took the form o f proper language, whereas

in the home the emphasis was on proper behavior.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN THE CLASSROOM

This section focuses on how the ch ild performs academically in

school. Our analysis is based on teacher evaluations, test resu lts ,

class standing as represented by sectioning, grades received, andII

achievement-oriented behavior in the classroom.

Sectioning and Test Performance

To g ive an overa ll perspective, lie note that o f the 26 Samoan

children in the fourth to sixth grades in the school that practices

sectioning according to academic a b il ity and performance, one ch ild is

in the A section (h igh est); four are in the B section; four are in the

C section; and two are in the D section. The res t, f i f t e e n children,

are in special classes fo r those with academic or social d i f f ic u lt ie s .

Therefore, at least in terms o f th e ir placement in the school's structure,

\

these children are not doing well compared with other children.

Let us see i f the resu lts o f th e ir a b il it y and achievement tests

are consistent with th e ir section placement. Table 23 shows the number

and percentage o f children in the study group (o f those who had taken«

the particu lar t e s t ) who had scores at or above the Honolulu mean on

a number o f achievement and a b il ity tes ts .

TABLE 23

PERCENT A11D NUK33R OF SAMOAN CHILDREN AT OR ABOVE THE HONOLULU MEAN ON ACHIEVEMENT AND ABILITY TESTS*

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Second Grade % N

CTMM 17 7CAT 21 6

Fourth Grade

SCAT 6 1STEP

Reading 6 1Math 0 0W riting 10 3

F if th Grade

STEPScience 0 0S oc ia l Studies 0 0Listen ing 0 0

Sixth Grade

SCAT 0 0STEP

Reading 0 0Math 0 0W riting 20 1

*See Chapter I I I fo r description of tes ts .

According to the tab le , about one-fifth o f the Samoan children

who had talcer. the a b i l i t y and achievement te s ts in the second grade

scored at or above the mean o f a l l Honolulu students taking the test

the previou.3 -rear. As one moves up the grades th is proportion holds

true only fo r the achievement tes t in W riting. In the fourth-grade

a b i l i t y t e s t only one ch ild scored at or above the Honolulu mean, and

in the s ix tn grade none o f the four children that took i t reached the

c it y mean. On. the parts o f the achievement te s t , only one ch ild scored

at or above the mean in Reading in the fourth grade, and one o f the

seventeen ch ild ren taking the tes t scored that high in mathematics.

Thus, a g rea te r proportion o f children did well on tes ts in the second

grade than in the fourth and sixth grades.

Locking a t te s t performance long itu d ina lly , out o f the four children

who scored above the mean in te s ts in the second grade and have a

subsequent t e s t performance in the upper grades, only two appeared

again scoring at or above the mean, one in the fourth-grade a b il ity

te s t , and the other in the w ritin g part o f the fourth-grade achievement

te s t .

One can conclude that not only do the Samoan children not do well/

on a b il i t y -and achievement te s ts in school, but those that are in the

upper grades do le s s w ell than those that are in the lower grades.

School Grades

The le b te r grades the children rece ive fo r performance in the

classroom are d i f f ic u l t to corrpare from one ch ild to the next and from

one group t o another. They vary with the individual teacher, o f course,

and the grade patterns can d i f f e r considerably. Bearing that in mind,

we note thai the grades fo r these children in th e ir academic subjects

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(reading, w riting , speaking, lis ten ing , social studies, and arithm etic)

seem to consist h a lf o f "5"s, meaning "Satis factory” and h a lf o f "3 -

minus"es. Thus, these children seem not to be doing too badly in their

le t t e r grades, but are probably receiv ing s lig h t ly poorer grades than

th e ir classmates. Letter-grade records a lso reveal that the children

who rece ive poorer grades tend to be older. The th ird o f the group

rece iv in g the lov/est le t te r grades are in an average grade placement o f

4.1, whereas the upper th ird in le t t e r grades are in an average grade

placement o f 3.3· This could r e fle c t either that more is expected of

the older children than o f the younger, or that the performance o f Samoan

children f a l l s o f f coirroared with non-Samoan children.

Let us look more c lose ly at the grades received in two subjects,

reading and arithm etic. Of a l l the grades given to Samoan children in

reading, 2 percent were ”E"s (the highest on the sca le ), 75 percent

were "S"s, and 23 percent were "Uns ( "Unsatisfactor3r” ) . Of a l l the

grades given in arithmetic, 3 percent were ”3” s, 84 percent were ”Sns,

and 13 percent were ”U"s. These figures show that the teachers rate

the Samoan children a l i t t l e higher in arithmetic than in reading,

but very few children are seen as outstanding in either subject.

Teacher's Evaluations and Observed Performance

lie w i l l now turn to the teacher's ratings o f the t ra its that have

a bearing on academic achievement: o r ig in a lity , imagination, s e l f -

re liance, dependency, achievement-orientation, and responsib ility .

Referring back to Table 15, we see that four of these t ra its are below

the mid-point o f a l l the other t r a its ; aohievement-orientation is at

the mid-point; and respon sib ility is next to the most highly rated

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t r a i t . In the observations in the classroom i t was inpossible to gauge

o r ig in a lity and imagination, but manifestations o f the other four tra its

were noted.

Se lf-re lian ce and dependency are considered together because an

a ltern a tive to re ly in g on oneself alone to corrplete a task is to ask

fo r help. Incidents o f se lf-re lian ce and asking fo r help with c lass-

vork ire re noted with almost equal frequency. The most frequent s e l f -

re lia n t behavior was found in the kindergarten class. Remembering

that the children seemed to be h ighly s e lf-re lia n t in the home, i t is

understandable that in i t ia l ly they would re ly on themselves to corrplete

work in the classroom. Perhaps they subsequently learn that they do

not necessarily have to complete d i f f ic u lt a c t iv it ie s or that they

can seek help with them. The ch ild becomes socia lized to the d ifferen t

expectations in the classroom than at home.

Achievement-oriented behavior in the classroom was measured by

how often students ( l ) announced to the teacher that they viere fin ished

with th e ir work or showed th e ir classwork to the teacher, and (2 )

ra ised th e ir hands to answer the teacher’ s questions about the class-

work. Both types o f behavior appeared with almost equal frequency,

but the younger children exhibited achievement-oriented behavior far

more frequently than the older ones. Of the to ta l number o f such

behaviors noted, the Samoan children in kindergarten through the th ird

grade accounted fo r 79 percent o f the to ta l. Some unknown influences

in the home or school must a ffe c t the older ch ild ’ s display o f th is

type o f achievement-oriented behavior. I t was also noted that both older

and younger children would look pleased i f thoy gave the right answer

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to a teacher's question and embarrassed i f they gave the wrong answer.

Prom the high degree o f responsible behavior observed, one can

agree with the teacher that the Samoan children are highly responsible.

But almost one-fourth o f the time in the classroom the ch ild was not«

doing the sp ec ific work assigned. The younger children showed th is

tendency with twice as much frequency as the older children. Perhaps

th is f i t s with respon sib ility tra in ing in the home, where the child

under eight years o f age is expected to do fa r fewer tasks than the

older ch ild .

Conclusion

The Samoan children in th is study are performing fa r more poorly

academically than they are so c ia lly . They are not doing well academ­

ic a l ly compared vrith th e ir peers, and within-group analysis shows that

the older children are performing less adequately than the younger ones.

The children in the lower grades receive higher scores on tes ts , receive

higher grades in th e ir subjects, and exhibit a greater frequency o f

achievement-oriented behavior. I t could be that the older children

have already become alienated from school, that ea r lie r they adapted

th e ir behavior to conform with the new school setting but found l i t t l e

reward from the school or the home fo r having done so. The teacher

does praise them a l i t t l e , but they receive average school marks.

And as already mentioned, the parents ra re ly acknowledge th e ir achieve­

ment-oriented behavior. Perhaps at some point many o f the children

abandon the e ffo r t i t takes to perform well in school.

ENCULTURATION PRACTICES AND SCHOOL BEHAVIOR

168

In th is section we examine the re la tion o f enculturation as discussed

in Chapter V with the ch ild 's behavior at school.

Methods o f Social Control

VJe w i l l f i r s t see whether physical punishment in the home is

associated with peer aggression. Does parental physical punishment

in h ib it overt aggression, or, perhaps due to modeling behavior, is i t

associated with aggressive behavior in the school? Judging from the

teacher's evaluation o f the ch ildren 's behavior and the observed

aggressive behavior in the school, parental emphasis on physical pun­

ishment as a means o f d isc ip lin e does not have a patterned relationship

with aggression in the school setting. In addition, parents who were

observed to physica lly punish th e ir children at home did not necessarily

have children who were aggressive in school. This lack o f relationship

could owe to the fact that physical punishment is an in tegra l part o f

Samoan enculturation practices, and i t s s ligh t varia tion in U3e produces

l i t t l e va ria tion in behavior.

Follow ing the same lin e o f reasoning, one would expect physical

punishment in the home not to vary with corrpliance to the teacher's

demands at school. Does physical punishment at home produce corrpliant

children at school? The findings f u l f i l l the expectation—the children

o f parents who emphasize physical punishment at home are not necessarily

corrpliant at school.

The emphasis on obedience is also pervasive in Samoan enculturation

p ractices. And i t was found that parents who f e l t that the teaching

o f obedience was important did not necessarily have children who were

obedient in school. But i t should be remembered that parents who

regarded obedience h igh ly f e l l in two categories: those who had

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successfu lly transmitted the value of obedience to th e ir children, and

those who had not. When we look at the amount o f obedience observed

in the home and i t s relationship to the observed obedience in the

school and the teacher's ra tin g on obedience, we get a d ifferen t picture.

Children who were more obedient at home tend to be more obedient at<

school. Children whose parents had successfully taught them obedience

tended to comply with the teacher's requests at school. This finding

i s d iffe ren t from the others just mentioned in that here we see the

s im ila r ity o f a particu lar behavior in the home and the school. As

regards the degree o f obedience, then, the ch ild behaves s im ila rly in

both settin gs.

R esponsib ility Training

I f we look at helpfulness in terms o f sex, we find that g ir ls who

are help fu l to the teacher and other students in the classroom tend to

do a great deal o f work at home. The responsib ility tra in ing o f the

boys is d iffe ren t in that they tend to do less work at home, and twice

as many boys we re rated less helpful in school them g ir ls .

One would think that children v/ho do a comparatively larger amount

o f work at home would be judged more responsible and se lf-re lia n t at

school. But th is was not so. The teacher did not necessarily rate

ch ildren who had greater respon s ib ility at home higher in performing

required tasks at school or in it ia t in g and carrying through d if f ic u lt

a c t iv i t ie s . On the basis o f these resu lts , we can only say that there

i s a re lationsh ip between the amount o f respon sib ility a g i r l has at

home and how helpfu l she is at school.

170

successfu lly transmitted, the value of obedience to th e ir children, and

those who had not. Ylhen we look at the amount o f obedience observed

in the home and i t s relationship to the observed obedience in the

school and the teacher’ s ra tin g on obedience, we get a d iffe ren t picture.

Children who were more obedient at home tend to be more obedient at<

school. Children whose parents had successfully taught them obedience

tended to comply with the teacher’ s requests at school. This finding

i s d iffe ren t from the others just mentioned in that here we see the

s im ila r ity o f a particular behavior in the home and the school. As

regards the degree o f obedience, then, the ch ild behaves s im ila rly in

both settin gs.

R esponsib ility Training

I f we look at helpfulness in terms o f sex, we find that g ir ls who

are help fu l to the teacher and other students in the classroom tend to

do a great deal o f work at home. The respon s ib ility tra in ing o f the

boys i s d iffe ren t in that they tend to do less work at home, and twice

as many boys were rated less helpful in school than g ir ls .

One would think that children who do a comparatively larger amount

o f work at home would be judged more responsible and s e lf-re lia n t at

school. But th is was not so. The teacher did not necessarily rate

ch ildren who had greater respon sib ility at home higher in performing

required tasks at school or in it ia t in g and carrying through d if f ic u lt

a c t iv i t ie s . On the basis o f these resu lts , we can only say that there

i s a re lationsh ip between the amount o f respon sib ility a g i r l has at

home and how help fu l she is at school.

170

S ib lin g and. Peer In teraction

There is l i t t l e correspondence between social behavior among

s ib lin gs in the home and the same type o f behavior among classmates

at school. Those that are sociable at home are not necessarily gregar­

ious at school or w e ll- lik ed by th e ir classmates; those that are aggressive

and dominating at home do not tend to behave that way at school. The

children seem, to know that home and school are places where one behaves

d if fe re n t ly . For example, at home, in a fam ily with whom domination

is a prominent mode o f behavior, the two younger children are assertive,

as they perhaps have to be to g ra t ify th e ir needs. At school where

other modes o f behavior are prevalent, the two same g ir ls are not

assertive . In other cases the behavior is sim ilar in both settings.

The dimensions pursued in th is study do not d iffe ren tia te any patterning

o f socia l in teraction in the home and school setting.

Development o f Values

There is very l i t t l e correspondence between an emphasis on defer­

ence behavior in the home and compliance in the school setting. Parents

who thought that the teaching o f respect behavior was inportant did

not necessarily have children who were more obedient at school. Nor

did the children coming from homes where deference behavior was observed

seen to be more obedient at school. I t seems that respect to one's

elders in the home and obedience to the teacher in the classroom are

d iffe ren t types o f behavior, besides taking place in d ifferen t contexts.

Although some parents f e l t that a ch ild shows respect by obeying,

apparently one can have respect without showing obedience and vice versa.

Looking at parental emphasis on the value o f education and i t s

171

re lationsh ip to the c h ild 's achievement-oriented behavior in school,

we find a d ifferen t situation. The parents who emphasised education

in the interviews and informal conversation tended to have children

whom the teacher rated higher in manifesting achieving behavior. This

means that somehow the inportance of the school experience is trans-«

mitted by the parent to the children, whose behavior a ffe c ts the teacher's

judgment o f the ch ild in the school setting.

Achievement-Oriented Behavior

As with the emphasis on education, parents who stressed achieving

behavior in the ch ild-rearing in terview had children who were evaluated

as achievement-oriented by the teacher and were observed to exhibit

such behavior in school. In addition, the homes in which the children

were observed in achieving behavior or the parents discussed such

behavior in form ally contained children who exhibited achievement-oriented

behavior in the classroom. This consistent finding indicates that those

parents who recognize achieving behavior and acknowledge i t s importance

probably encourage and exert pressure on th e ir children to exhibit

such behavior in the home and school. Those who do not recognize the

ind icators o f achievement-oriented behavior cannot exert such pressure.

Nov/ le t us conclude by considering how the model based on accul­

turation and traditionalism presented in Chapter IV lends i t s e l f to

patterning with the ch ild ’ s behavior in school. That is , how does the

fam ily 's le v e l o f acculturation and traditionalism re la te to the

ch ild ren 's socia l and academic performance in school?

ACCULTURATION, TRADITIONALISM, AND SCHOOL BEHAVIOR

When v/c look at the groupings of fam ilies by degree o f acculturation

172

and trad itionalism and the behavior o f the ir children in school, we do

fin d some fa ir ly well-defined relationships. Compliance is associated

with acculturation; aggression, assertiveness, so c ia b ility , responsi­

b i l i t y , and se lf-re lian ce Eire re lated to traditionalism ; and socia l

d e s ira b ility and achievement-oriented behavior are associated with both

acculturation and traditionalism in the fam ily.

Level o f Acculturation

In terestin g ly , fam ilies who are more highly acculturated have

ch ildren who are more obedient in school. This group includes both

tra d it ion a l and non-traditional fam ilies . In addition, children from

acculturated fam ilies are better-lik ed by the ir classmates, and the ir

teachers f e l t that they exhibit more achievement-oriented behavior.

I t i s almost as i f these children, due to th e ir exposure to the dominant

society, know the essentials o f being w e ll- lik ed by th e ir classmates

and th e ir teachers. They conply, they show achieving behavior, and

they behave so that th e ir classmates w il l want to play vrith them.

Level o f Traditionalism

More types o f behavior are d iffe ren tia ted by the dimension of

trad itiona lism than by acculturation. Aggressiveness, dominance, and

s o c ia b il ity —aspects o f peer socia l in teraction—vary with the le v e l

o f trad itionalism of the fam ily. Children who were more aggressive,

more assertive , and less sociable in school tended to come from trad i­

tion a l fam ilies . In addition, they were least lik ed by the ir clasmates.

But the greatest proportion o f children exh ib iting these behaviors

came from the unacculturated rather than the acculturated trad itiona l

fam ilies . This means that fo r th is particu lar group o f fam ilies—the

173

unacculturated trad itiona l ones— certain trad itiona l behavior o f the

children appears in both the home and school setting.

The teachers also evaluated children from unacculturated trad itiona l

fam ilies as being the least responsible, s e lf- re lia n t , and achievement-

oriented. This judgment d if fe r s from the evaluation o f such behavior

in the home, where a lack o f responsib ility , se lf-re lian ce , and achieving

behavior was not necessarily found in unacculturated, trad ition a l

fam ilies . One o f the explanations would be that these behaviors were

not d ire c t ly comparable in the two settings, i . e . , the teacher rated

the ch ild on respon sib ility in school, whereas we observed how much

work the ch ild did on his own at home. The other explanation fo r the

low ra tin g could be that the children from the unacculturated, trad itiona l

fam ilies were generally rated lower by the teachor on a l l characteristics

compared with th e ir Samoan classmates. This group received the mo3t

disapproval o f th e ir teachers. Seventy-one percent o f the children

in th is category received a low rating from th e ir teacher.

Case I llu s tra tio n s

Type 1: High on acculturation, high on traditionalism —The I

fam ily has three children in elementary school, a boy and two g ir ls

in the second to fourth grades. Their behavior as seen by the teacher

and the in vestigator is generally typ ica l fo r th is category. Regarding

peer in teraction , only the hoy is viewed as aggressive, assertive, and

gregarious. Though one o f the g ir ls is not viewed a3 gregarious by

the teacher, she is w e ll- lik ed by her classmates. A ll the children

are seen as compliant, help fu l, s e lf- re lia n t , and achievement-oriented.

Their teachers approve o f th e ir behavior since th e ir general rating

174

Bcorcs are high. Those children are viewed as highly responsible,

which is unusual fo r th is category. In other words, the children in

th is fam ily exhibit behavior that enables them to be highly successful

in the classroom.

Type 2; High on acculturation, low on traditionalism —The J

fam ily has three children in elementary school, two g ir ls and a boy,

in kindergarten to second grade. Some o f the ir behavior does not show

as good a f i t viith the patterns in th i3 category as the children in

Type 1. The boy is not seen as aggressive or dominant, whereas both

g ir ls are aggressive and only the youngest g i r l is considered dominant

and gregarious. The boy is not liked , probably because he ta t t le s on

others. The oldest g i r l is not viewed as compliant; the boy is not

considered responsible (he constantly seeks help from the teacher);

and none o f the children are viewed as s e lf- re lia n t , although they are

considered to be helpful by the teacher. Perhaps one o f the reasons

that these children have fa ir ly in d iv id u a lis tic behavior patterns is

that they are re la t iv e ly young and are s t i l l find ing th e ir way in the

classroom settin g.

Type 3: bow on acculturation, high on traditionalism —The K

fam ily has two children in elementary school, a boy in the second

grade and a g i r l in the sixth grade. Their behavior is generally typ ica l

o f th is category. They are both aggressive and assertive, but the boy

i3 considered gregarious although his classmates do not lik e to play

with him. The g i r l is not viewed as sociable by the teacher but she /

is lik ed by a sp ec ific group o f g ir ls . She belongs to a clique of

four g ir ls (the others are non-Samoan) that was one o f the few active

175

and. aggressive cliques observed in the school. The teachers do not

viev; these two children as compliant or responsible, and only the g ir l

is seen as s e lf - r e lia n t . Perhaps the la t te r judgment was made because

the g i r l never seeks help from the teacher. Neither child is seen as

exh ib iting achieving behavior, and both were given a low general rating

by the teacher.

Type A: Low on acculturation, low on traditionalism —The L fam ily

has four children in elementary school, two g ir ls and two boys, spread

between f i r s t and sixth grades. For so many children, they show a

surprising amount o f consistent behavior, only some of which is untypical

o f th is category. Only the youngest g i r l is seen as aggressive; they

are a l l not considered assertive. A ll are sociable, but the oldest

g i r l i s not liked by her classmates. The two youngest children are

not seen as compliant or responsible, but they are a l l vie\ved as s e l f -

r e lia n t . They a l l exhibit achieving behavior, and they are given a

high general ra tin g by the teachers. Incidenta lly , none o f these children

are h igh ly successful in school.

176

CHAPTER VII

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In th is fin a l chapter we return to the basic question posed in

Chapter I : What factors in the l iv e s o f immigrant Samoans are apt to

promote th e ir ch ildren 's success in school? Whereas ill the previous

chapters we examined re la ted behavior in d e ta il, here v:e focus on the

demographic, socia l, and cultural factors that re la te s p e c ific a lly to

the c h ild 's success in school as measured by the success index. This

index included the fo llow ing c r ite r ia : ( l ) test resu lts , (2 ) teacher

evaluations, (3 ) attendance record, and ( 4 ) formal grades. The re lated

factors f a l l under the broad headings o f acculturation, traditionalism ,

and enculturation practices.

ACCULTURATION

I t was hypothesized in the f i r s t chapter that Samoan children

who are r e la t iv e ly more successful in school have parents who (a ) are

more consistently exposed to the b e lie fs and the behavior of the larger

society, (b ) id en tify to a greater extent with the dominant culture,

and (c ) have rewarding access to the opportunities o f the larger society.

One's exposure to the b e lie fs and the behavior o f the larger society

is p a r t ia lly contingent on the ethn ic ity o f one's parents. I t is thus

pertinent that o f the ten parents who either had been raised in a

household in which a non-Samoan was present or had themselves married

a non-Samoan, 57 percent o f th e ir children were ranked very successful

in school; 30 percent moderately successful; and 13 percent of low

12success. Another possible means o f exposure to the larger society

is longer residence in Hawaii. Among the 15 fam ilies who had lived in

Hawaii nine years or more, 38 percent o f the children were in the high

success group, 36 percent in the medium success group, and 26 percent

in the low success group.

I t was also mentioned in the f i r s t chapter that 1-anguage harriers4

inpede contacts with the larger society. In the nine fam ilies where

both parents rated themselves "good" in spoken English, 60 percent o f

the children were in the high success group, 17 percent in the medium,

and 23 percent in the low success group.

Parental education may indicate exposure to the larger society.

Of the parents who had a tenth grade education or above, 62 percent

o f th e ir children were h ighly successful in school, 35 percent moderately

successful, and 3 percent were in the low success group. Another pos­

s ib le channel fo r contacts with the larger society is through the

mother’ s employment. Of the children whose mothers were employed, 37

percent were in the high success group, 37 percent were in the medium

success group, and 26 percent were in the low success group.

Partic ipation in ethn ica lly mixed re lig iou s and other groups may

a lso increase one’ s exposure to the larger society. Of the children

whose fam ilies participated in a mixed re lig iou s group, 50 percent

were h igh ly successful, 25 percent were in the middle, and 25 percent

were rated low in success in school. Of the children whoso parents

partic ipated in mixed (non-relig ious) organizations, 50 percent were

in the high success group, 32 percent were in the medium success group,

and 18 percent were in the low success group. This relationship is

confirmed by data on the eight parents who acknowledged that they

belonged to the Parents and Teachers Association at school. F ifty -fou r

percent o f th e ir children vicre in the high success group, and 23 percent

each were in the medium and low success group. An a lternative expla­

nation could be that parents who jo in the PTA believe that education

is important and communicate th is value to th e ir children.

The second major hypothesized association with a ch ild 's success4

in school is parental id en tifica tion viith the dominant culture. This

was measured by citizenship and intention to return to Samoa. Of the

children whose parents were United States c itizen s , 39 percent were

in the high, 31 percent were in the medium, and 30 percent were in the

low success group in school. Of the children whose parents do not plan

to return to Samoa (excluding the ethn ica lly mixed marriages), 29 per­

cent vrere h ighly successful, 42 percent were moderately successful,

and 29 percont were o f low success in school. I t would seem that

parental id en tifica tion with the dominant culture, by our measures at

lea s t, has very l i t t l e relationship with a ch ild 's success in school.

The th ird hypothesized relationship with a ch ild 's success in

school is parental access to the opportunity structure o f the larger

society . The la t te r was measured by the fa th e r 's type o f occupation,

and fam ily per capita income. Of the children whose fathers had semi­

sk illed jobs or above, 34 percent were highly successful, 32 percent

were in the middle, and 34 percent were low in success. Of the children

whose fathers had sk illed occupations or above, seven o f th e ir children

were h ighly successful, three were medium, and none were low in success.

Of the children whose fam ilies had a monthly per capita income of o75

or more, 36 percent were in the high success group, 33 percent in the

middle, and 26 percent in the lowest success group. These three sets

179

o f data indicate that parental access to the opportunity structure has

a s ligh t pos itive association with a ch ild 's success in school. The

reason that th is association is not stronger could be that occupationally

and fin an c ia lly , the d ifferences between these fam ilies are not great.

Despite d ifferences in income, a l l the fam ilies have low incomes. The

d ifference between an unskilled and sem iskilled occupation is n eg lig ib le

in i t s e ffe c ts on one's l i f e - s t y le . But having a sk illed occupation

involves a certain degree o f motivation and a b il ity to go through the

necessary tra in ing fo r such positions. These concomitant attribu tes

o f holders o f sk illed positions may have a d ifferen t influence on

l i fe - s t y le s than do the a ttribu tes o f fathers having semiskilled or

unskilled occupations.

The subject o f parental access to the opportunity structure leads

to the re lated top ic o f orientation toward upward mobility. Parents

who were more oriented toward upward m obility tended to have a greater

proportion o f children who were successful in school: 41 percent were

in the high success group, 36 percent in the middle, and 23 percent

in the lowest group. In other words, parents who were not happy with

th e ir current situation, and who thought that th e ir children would havo

greater opportunities than they had, tended to have a greater proportion

o f successful (rather than unsuccessful) children in school.

Apart from the spec ific indicators ox acculturation, le t us consider

the re la tion o f the fam ily 's general le v e l o f acculturation with the

ch ild 's success in school, as depicted in Table 24. Table 24 shoiis a

strong relationship between general le v e l o f acculturation and tho

ch ild 's success in school. Almost 60 percent o f the highly acculturated

180

children were in the high success group; only 11 percent were in the

low success group. About h a lf the children from fam ilies medium and

low in acculturation were in the lowest success group.

TABES 24

PAULY LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION AND THE CHILD'S SUCCESS IN SCHOOL (%)

Level of Acculturation High

Ch ild 's Success Medium

in School L ow Total

High 59 30 11 100 ( 37)

Medium 12 36 52 100 ( 25 )

L ow 14 36 50 100 (22)

In summary, the greatest proportion o f successful (rather than

unsuccessful) children came from fam ilies in which the general le ve l

o f acculturation was high, there was mixed ethn icity , the parents

spoke English w ell, the parents were highly educated and participated

in ethn ica lly mixed groups, the father had a sk illed occupation, and

parents were oriented toward upward m obility. There was a s ligh tly

greater proportion o f successful children who came from fam ilies who

had a long residence in Hawaii, in which the mother was employed, the

parents were United States c itizen s , and the fam ily per capita income

was comparatively high (above $75 Per month). Success in school was

less marked among children whose parents did not intend to return to

Samoa or whose fathers had sem iskilled occupations. Vie now turn

attention to the le v e l o f traditionalism in the family, i t s in teraction

with acculturation le v e l, and how the two, in conjunction, re la te to

a c h ild 's success in school.

TRADITIONALISM

When v;e look at our typology based on the fam ily 's leve l of accul­

turation and trad itionalism (Chapter IV ), as re lated to the ch ild 's

school success, the picture presented is strik ing and quite sign ificant

(Table 25). The children who came from trad itiona l fam ilies that were al

TABLE 25

ACCULTURATION/TRADITIONALISK FAMILY TYPE AND THE CHILD'S SUCCESS IN SCHOOL

TypeSuccess

High ......in School-

Low-% (N )

Total

1 71 (20) 29 (8 ) 100 (28)

2 74 ( 1 4 ) 26 ( 5 ) 100 ( 1 9 )

3 14 (3 ) 86 ( 1 8 ) 100 (21)

A 31 (5 ) 69 (11) 100 ( 1 6 )

acculturated tended to be successful in school."^ Parents could main­

ta in trad ition a l social and cultural practices (excluding ch ild-rearing

practices which w il l be considered next) and had successful children

i f they (parents) had the acculturated t r a its of speaking English w ell,

being comparatively well-educated, and partic ipating in mixed groups.

Those three aspects were primary in distinguishing the acculturated

trad ition a l from the unacculturated trad ition a l fam ilies (see Chapter

IV ).

One item that d iffe ren tia tes Types 1 and 2 on the model, and that

has high current s ign ificance, is the primary use of Samoan rather than

English in the home. The acculturated trad itiona l fam ilies mainly v

spoke Samoan in the home, yet th e ir children were successful in school.

Confirming th is find ing is the fact that, looking at the study group

as a whole, the children who spoke only English at home were not nec­

essa r ily more successful than others, and the parents who spoke only

Samoan at home did not tend to have children who were less successful

in school. To succeed in the school setting, children do not have to

learn and practice English at home. Of course they have to acquire

English somewhere, but the parents do not necessarily have to re in force

the acqu isition . In fa c t , because o f the poor quality o f many o f the

mothers' English, perhaps i t is better fo r them to speak Samoan to

th e ir children.

We w il l now turn to a discussion o f both trad itiona l and non-tra-

d itiona l child-care practices to discern th e ir possible relationship

with a ch ild 's success in school.

ENCULTUHATION PRACTICES

The second hypothesis in the f i r s t chapter stated that parents

who have been able to assume fam ilia l authority and teach obedience

and deference behavior e f fe c t iv e ly have children who are better oriented

toward the authority structure in school and therefore tend to be more

successful in school. We have already seen in the previous chapter

that children who were obedient at home tended to be obedient at school.

And there was a s ligh t tendency fo r children who exhibited obedience

and deference behavior at home to be more successful at school.

But when v;e look at obedience and deference as re lated to the

model based on acculturation and traditionalism , we see a fu lle r and

more complex pattern (Table 26). Regarding obedience, in each o f the

four types o f fam ily the parents who e l ic ite d high obedience from the ir

children had a greater proportion o f children in the high success column

133

184

ACCULTURATION/TRADITIONALISM FAMILY TYP3, CHILD’ S SUCCESS IN SCHOOL, AND CHILD’ S OBEDIENCE AND DEFERENCE

TABLE 26

Child ’ s Obedience and

Deference

Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4Success Success Success Success Total

High Low High Low High Low High Low_________

ObedienceYesNo

13 4 5 2 2 9 2 2 392 2 1 1 0 8 3 8 25

DeferenceYesNo

14 2 1 1 3 9 3 3 360 1 8 4 0 9 2 7 _______31

And conversely, the parents who did not e l i c i t obedience from th e ir

children had a greater proportion o f children in the low success group.

Surprisingly th is is true o f the non-traditional as w ell as the trad itiona l

fam ilies .

We fin d sim ilar resu lts fo r deference behavior in Table 26 except

fo r the acculturated non-traditional fam ilies (Type 2 ). So few o f

them in sisted on deference behavior and so many o f th e ir children were

comparatively successful in school that a negative resu lt is not sur­

p ris in g . But the accu lturated-traditional, and the unacculturated-

tra d ition a l and non-traditional parents whose children exhibited defer­

ence behavior at home had a greater proportion o f children in the high

success group than did those parents whose children did not exhibit

deference behavior.

Although the numbers are small, the generally consistent pattern

with respect to obedience and deference is manifested when the fam ilies

are d iffe ren tia ted by acculturation and traditionalism . This means

that there is a relationship between trad itiona l obedience and deference

behavior and school success among fam ilies that are d ifferen tia ted by

acculturation and traditionalism . Furthermore, th is relationship

re in forces the sligh t association found between obedience and deference

and school success fo r the group as a whole.

VJhat about other trad ition a l enculturation practices? Are children

x/ho are dominant, responsible, and who come from fam ilies that practice

severe d isc ip lin e more successful in school? Apparently an emphasis

on physical punishment or respon sib ility tra in ing has l i t t l e to do with

success in school. The parents who emphasized physical punishment did

not have e ither more or fewer successful children. The children who

assumed more tasks at home were not l ik e ly to have more or les3 school

success. But there was a tendency fo r children from fam ilies with

assertive s ib lin g in teraction to be less successful than children who

came from fam ilies with l i t t l e assertive in teraction . The meaning of

th is find ing is not clear because f i r s t , we do not know whether the

ch ild was at the receiving or g iv ing end o f tho assertive action, and

second, the ch ild could have been assertive with or without cause—

taking leadership or being bossy.

Let us now consider the re la tion o f two po .it iv e actions—the

g iv in g o f emotional nurturance by the mother and the stated use o f

praise by the parents—with the ch ild 's success in school. The findings

are quite c lear, as seen in Table 27. Children whose mothers gave ay

comparatively high le v e l o f emotional nurturance were l ik e ly to be

more successful in school than children whose mothers exhibited less

emotional nurtxxrance. And those children whose parents stated that

they praise th e ir children fo r pos itive behavior were more successful

105

than those children whose parents did not use praise as a means of

socia l control. Emotional nurturance and praise can be c la ss ified as

elements o f maternal and paternal warmth. Thus, th is finding may mean

that parents who exhibit warmth tend to have children who are more«

successful in school than do those parents who do not exhibit warmth.

TABLE 27

PARENTAL EMOTIONAL NUItTURANCB, PRAISE,AND THE CHILD'S SUCCESS IN SCHOOL

186

Use o f Nurturance Success in School— c/o (N)and Practice High Medium Low Total

NurturanceHigh 40 (15) 33 (14) 22 (8 ) 100 ( 37 )Low 16 (6 ) 32 (12) 52 (19) 100 ( 37 )

PraiseHigh 40 ( 1 5 ) 30 (11) 30 (11) 100 (37)Low 14 (4 ) . .25 (& L . 57 ( 1 6 ) 100 (28)

The la s t two variables to be considered fo r th e ir re la tion to

school success are parental enphasis on education and achievement-

orien tation in the home. Parental enphasis on education has some

relationsh ip with school success, but the greater association is between

home achievement behavior and school success (Table 28). In terestingly,

TABLE 28

AC HIE VE KENT-ORIENTATION IN THE HOME AND THE CHILD'S SUCCESS IN SCHOOL

Achievement- Success in School -1 o (N)Orientation at Home High Medium Low Total

Present 38 (16) 36 ( 1 5 ) 26 (11) 100 ( 42)

Absent . ..15.-15.).... ....36..,(1.2).... 49 (16) ..100 .(33.)

fam ilies which exhibited a lack o f achiovement-orientation had a greater

proportion o f ch ildren in the low success group than fa m ilie s which

d id exh ib it ach ieving behavior had in tho high success group. The

p o s it iv e e f fe c ts o f parental and ch ild achievement-o r ien ta tion are

e v id en tly not transferred so e a s ily to a successful experience in school.

SUMMARY AND I IMPLICATIONS

Vie turn to the task o f summarizing the fin d in gs regarding Samoan

immigrants and to suggest some im plications fo r fu rther study o f accul­

tu ra tion , trad ition a lism , enculturation, and the school performance o f

the immigrant ch ild .

Acculturat i on-Trad.it i onali sm

We found that the Samoan immigrants in the study group were r e la ­

t i v e l y unacculturated. The parents had a lim ited command o f English,

they had a low le v e l o f education, and they ra re ly pa rtic ip a ted in

e th n ica lly mixed groups. Kinship patterns seemed to be s im ilar to

those in Samoa. Households were la rge , including natural and adopted

ch ild ren and various k in . There was much v is i t in g among the extended

fam ily , there was mutual a id among k in , although probably to a le sse r

extent than in Samoa. Uhat l i t t l e le isu re a c t iv i t ie s there were took

p lace w ith in the fam ily . Their patterns o f group membership and fr ien d ­

ship invo lved th e ir own. ethnic group fo r tho most part and they tended

to speak th e ir native language at homo.

T rad ition a l church a f f i l ia t io n s remained with th is group o f immigrants

although a small m inority had iso la ted themselves from the church,

mainly through the lack o f p a rtic ip a tion in church a c t iv i t ie s . In

fa c t , the Samoans in th is study seemed to be more s o c ia lly iso la ted

than th e ir countrymen in Samoa where they s t i l l p a rtic ipa ted in a

187

trad ition a l v il la g e l i f e .

When we looked at the within-group v a r ia b il ity based on acculturation

we found that the Samoan parents were apt to bo more acculturated i f

they were part-Samoans, i f they came from "urban" Samoa or the county

in which Pago Pago is located, i f they had resided many years in Hawaii,

i f they did not plan to return to Samoa, i f they generally spoke English

and Samoan in th e ir homes, i f the mother was employed, i f the parents

were upwardly mobile, and, most strongly o f a l l , i f the father was

employed in a sk illed or higher occupation. Fewer family and cultural

in stitu tion s varied with le v e l o f acculturation. Acculturated parents

usually had fewer re la t iv e s l iv in g in the household, had not adopted

other children or allowed th e ir ovm children to be adopted, were more

desirous that tho ir children attend co llege , were less happy with th e ir

present situation , and were more l ik e ly to trea t guests in a modern

manner. They also tended to belong to a non-traditional church and

partic ipated more in church a c t iv it ie s .

When the fam ily 's partic ipation in trad ition a l cultural practices

was scrutinised, i t was found that such partic ipation can vary in con­

junction with and independently o f acculturation. Acculturated fam ilies

may or may not exhibit attachment to the trad ition a l culture, and un-

acculturated fam ilies may or may not exhibit th is same attachment.

I t was postulated that in becoming acculturated one adds to one's

cu ltural reperto ire , and in becoming less trad ition a l one drops certain

cultural practices.

Enculturation and the Child in School

Compared to the situation in Samoa, immigrant parents in Hawaii

180

had more responsib ility in con tro llin g the behavior o f the ir children

in the absence of extended fam ily members. Older sib lings s t i l l joined

in th is control, but \ath decreasing frequency. The typo o f d isc ip line

used is beginning to depend partly on the severity o f the misbehavior,

esp ec ia lly fo r the school-age ch ild . The social situation in which

the misbehavior occurs is probably s t i l l the most sign ifican t factor

and the ch ild seems quite a lert to th is aspect. Considerable physical

and verbal aggression as seen in physical punishment and scolding o f

the children was practiced by both parents and older sib lings. Maternal

warmth, as exemplified by praise o f children and emotional nurturance,

was ra re ly observed.

Samoan children, especia lly the g ir ls , had a great deal o f respon­

s ib i l i t y fo r work in the home. I t scern3 that parents have been more

e f fe c t iv e in responsib ility tra in ing than in general obedience tra in ing.

S ib lin g in teraction in the home was dominated by assertive and

aggressive behavior. l/hen there was a disagreement between two children,

the mother usually pressured the older ch ild to give in to the demands

o f the younger ch ild . L it t le support fo r h ierarchical deference among

s ib lin gs was observed. The younger s ib lin g was indulged often. The

children were the least sociable in homes where the mother was quite

authoritarian. S ib lings in homes in which the mother was comparatively

permissive exhibited the most so c ia b ility .

Normative ru les were ra re ly communicated d irec tly to tho children

although the parents f e l t that the values o f obedience, deference,

education, and school achievement were important. The parents placed

p rirary emphasis on the need to teach a child to obey his elders.

In contrast to the home, in the school there was minimal physical

punishment, less r id icu le and scolding, but probably just as many

demands were made on the ch ild . The Samoan children reacted to the

d iffe ren t methods o f the teacher with greater compliance, less avoidance,

and the same amount o f resistance as to the mother in the home setting.

Praise was tised to show approval o f appropriate behavior fa r more f r e ­

quently in the school setting than in the home, and the children reacted

p o s it iv e ly to th is praise and tr ie d to seek approval from the teacher.

The children sought help and were given help more often in school than

at home. Although deference behavior was emphasized in both settings,

the d irect teaching o f other values was observed with a greater frequency

in the school than at home.

In the schools the Samoan children were just as well liked by

th e ir classmates as any other children. They were not concerned about

acceptance but they were highly gregarious and help fu l. Compared to

the other evaluated t ra its , teachers viewed the Samoan children as

assertive but cornpliant, and not aggressive.

The Samoan children were performing fa r more poorly academically

than they were performing soc ia lly in school. They were not doing

well compared to th e ir non-Samoan peers, and the older Samoan children

were performing less adequately than the younger ones in the ir academic

work. The children in the lower grades received higher scores on

a b i l i t y and achievement tes ts , received higher grades in the ir subjects,

and exhibited a greater frequency o f achievement-oriented behavior.

The only exception to th is less adequate performance o f the older ch ild

is that the la t te r had a better attendance record than the younger ch ild .

190

C oncltisi ons

Vie found that the more acculturated fam ilies incorporated two

ch ild-care practices that have greater prevalence in the dominant

soc ie ty ; the use of praise and an emphasis on achievement. These«

practices are generally observable in the dominant society. As accul­

turated parents are exposed to the larger culture, they can observe

the use o f praise and comprehend the content o f achieving behavior.

In addition, the children o f acculturated parents exhibited more achieve­

ment-oriented behavior at home. Traditional parents tended to place

a greater emphasis on obedience and deference, and th e ir children shov/ed

greater compliance and deferen tia l behavior. The trad ition a l, compared

to the non-traditional, parents placed a greater emphasis on education

and th e ir children did a greater amount o f housework.

When we sought to correlate spec ific behavior in the home with

sp ec ific behavior in the school, the fo llow ing pos itive findings appeared.

G irls who did more work at home were comparatively more helpfu l in

school. Children who were more compliant at home were more compliant

in school. Parents who emphasized the importance o f education had

children who shov/ed more achieving behavior in school and parents who

emphasized achievement and whose children exhibited achieving behavior

at home had children who were more achievement-oriented in school.

Level o f acculturation and traditionalism showed a greater patterning

with sp ec ific school behavior than did spec ific behavior in the home

as mentioned above. Children from acculturated fam ilies tended to be

more compliant, more desired by th e ir peers as playmates, and exhibited

a greater frequency of achievement-oriented behavior in school. Children

191

from trad ition a l fam ilies tended to be less desired by th e ir peers as

playmates, shov;ed a lesser frequency o f achievement-oriented behavior,

were more aggressive and assertive, and were evaluated by th e ir teacher

to be less sociable, responsible, and se lf-re lia n t in school.

In the fin a l analysis we turned our attention to the hypotheses

and found that they were p a r t ia lly confirmed. The general le v e l o f

acculturation o f the fam ily was found to be highly re lated to a ch ild 's

success in school. Exposure to the dominant society as exemplified by

parental English a b ility , education, and membership in ethn ica lly mixed

groups was a lso highly associated with school success. The children

who came from trad ition a l fam ilies that v:ere also acculturated, tended

to be successful in school. In addition to these factors o f accultura­

tion , i t v?as found that the parents who were more oriented tovjard upward

m obility tended to have a greater proportion o f children who were suc­

cessful in school.

In the analysis o f data fo r the second hypothesis, we did find

that there was a relationship between trad itiona l obedience and deference

behavior and school success among fam ilies that were d iffe ren tia ted by

acculturation and traditionalism . I t was also found that the non-tra-

d ition a l practices o f maternal emotional nurturance and praise were

associated with a ch ild 's success in school. In addition, achievement

behavior in the home was re lated to school success.

Im plications

Our findings lend support to acculturation theory as explicated

in Chapter I . Certain changes occurred more read ily than others, a l l

forms did not change at the same ra te, and adequate exposure to the

192

dominant culture was crucial to the beginning stages o f acculturation.

But acculturation theory as presented in the lite ra tu re includes

a mixture o f components. There is l i t t l e specifica tion o f what is

meant by acculturation and how one can distinguish i t from other concepts.«

In th is study we attempted to be spec ific in the use and operationali­

zation o f the concept. An important component that is usually considered

under the rubric of acculturation is partic ipation in trad itiona l cul­

tu ra l p ractices, lío found i t fa r more meaningful to separate th is com­

ponent from the concept o f acculturation. This separation added further

complexity and meaning to our analysis.

I t was hypothesized that in the process o f acculturation one adds

to one's reperto ire aspects that are read ily observable in the dominant

culture. In the process o f becoming non-traditional, one drops certain

cu ltural practices which the larger society does not support. Confir­

mation o f th is hypothesis in re la tion to the operation o f these two

processes would require further study.

Substantively, we found that there were two general family types

that contained children who were comparatively successful in school.

These two types are the acculturated non-traditional and the acculturated

tra d ition a l fam ily. I f th is finding has general ap p licab ility , i t s

im plications arc pervasive. One does not have to give up an attachment

to one's native culture in order to have one's children compete success­

fu l ly in the dominant culture. In fa ct, certain trad itiona l attributes

such as e ffe c t iv e transmission o f compliance and deference enhance the

p o s s ib il ity o f success. But, in addition to being trad ition a l, parents

should exhibit certain attribu tes o f acculturation that were found

to be s ig n ific a n t in th is study. There may be other aspects o f accul­

tu ra tion and trad ition a lism that contribute to a c h ild 's success in

the dominant cu ltu re; the d isclosure o f these aspects must be l e f t to

fu rth er research e f fo r t s .

195

■'■"l'latai" re fe rs to the head of the extended fam ily who tra d it io n a lly exerts much authority over the individual liv e s o f fam ily members.

2The in terv iew schedules were adapted from those used in Gallimore,Boggs, and Jordan n .d .; Gallimore and Howard I960; Howard n .d .; and hh itin g et a l. i 960.

"^Appendix D. This form is adapted from Gallimore and Howard 1968.

^Gamma i s used as coe ffic ien t because o f i t s s u ita b ility fo r ordinal data.

5See note 4·

^The source fo r demographic data on American Samoa fo r i 960 is the U.S. Census (United States Bureau of the Census 1963) unless noted otherwise.

7Employment status or le v e l o f occupation was determined by reference to the occupations l is te d by Hollingshead (n .d .) and to Boggs' discus­sion o f employment o f Hawaiian males (Gallimore and Howard 1968:17).The ty p ic a l male unskilled occupation is manual labor, sem iskilled is truck d r iv e r , and the sk illed positions ranged from craftsman to semi- p ro fess iona l. For women the typ ica l unskilled position is that o f a laundry worker whereas the sem iskilled ranged from laundry supervisor to a machine operator.

gIn confirmation o f the v is it in g habits o f Samoans, when the in ves ti­gator -went to homes fo r an interview , re la t iv e s were frequently there. These v is i t s seemed quite informal, and no one appeared to be disturbed by the in ves tiga to r 's presence or the conduct o f an interview .

9As an instance o f such lack o f partic ipation in the immediate community a s lid e show on Samoa was held during the time o f the study to which only fou r o f the Samoan mothers in the community came.

^ T h is was v e r i f ie d in our v is i t s to the homes, as we received more tra d it io n a l treatment in the less acculturated homes.

"^This typology was based on the dominant characteristics o f the fam ilies occupying the low frequency c e lls in the cross-c lass ifica tion o f le v e l o f acculturation and social and cultural variab les. These fam ilies departed from the depicted generalizations and indicated a sub-class w ithin the broader category o f acculturation.

12In order to in terpret th is and other sim ilar corrparisons, one should remember that the Samoan children in the study group were divided equally among three success groups; that iEj 33 percent o f the children are in each group. In th is conparison, the parents had a greater proportion o f ch ildren who were successful rather than unsuccessful in school.

NOTES

196

^ a b le 25 includes a l l 84 children in the study, although one to seven children my be from the same home. When the came type of analysis was done, using only one ch ild from each o f the 31 fam ilies (or the mean score on success where there is more than one ch ild from each home), wo obtained sim ilar resu lts .

Success in School—#(11)Type High Low

1 67 (6 ) 33 (3 )2 B3 (5 ) 17 (1 )3 11 (1 ) ¿*9 (6 )4 29 (2 ) 71 (5 )

197

APPENDIX A.

HS X

1. HS Head.

Address_

2. Hatai

Id en tify in g InformationIn for mant_____________Hat e___________ __________In fo taken by_

Household Questionnaire

Phone

_yes_ no

3. Household EembersBirth l-!ar Hel to Nation llies t Gr. Date of

Sex B.D. Place Stat Head a l i t y Iie l. & Sch. A rriva lName

4. S ign ificant non-Household Hembers ( i . e . rea l parents, chn. adopted orv is it in g elsev;here)

B irth Ear llel to Nation Where resid ingName Sex B.D. Place Stat Head a l i t y Educ. A live? à how long?

ct - ■ . — - . ... . ..II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _________________ .

b.

HS # I d e n t i f y i n g In fo r m a t io nIn fo rm a n t____________________

5· Close R e la tivesHow o ften

Name Location R e l. to Head Age Sex v is i t ? . How long stay?

•b.

c.

How o ften do r e la t iv e s v i s i t you from Samoa and how long do they stay?

6. Previous Harriage o f L ife or Husband?

Name Nationality Harriage Nate Termination Nate

Husband_____________________________________________________________________________

W i f e _____________________________________________________________________________

Names o f children o f present marriage______________________________________

Names o f children o f previous marriage______________________________________

Is w ife pregnant now? yes no

Noes husband wish to have more children?_____yes______no

Noes w ife wish to have more children?_____yes_____ no

Has w ife or husband ever done anything to keep from having children? ______yes______no

7- When you were f i r s t married, where did you two liv e ? _____________________Hov/ long did you l iv e there?________________

Have you ever liv ed with your parents or parents-in-law? yes noI f yes, when?_________________________________________

Nid you ever l iv e in the town in Samoa? yes noI f yes, hov; many years?_______________

Why did you leave Samoa?_____________________________________________________

Where did you l iv e when you f i r s t came to Hawaii?________________________

Later moves before present address?________________________________________

How long at present address?_________________«

Do you wish to move? yes no. I f yes, why and where to?________

V is its to Mainland? yes no. I f yes, when and hov: long?

V is its to Samoa? yes no. I f ye3, when and hov; long?

Are you a U.S. C itizen? Husband? Children?

I f not, do you intend to become a c itizen ? yes no.

Do you intend to return to Samoa to l iv e ? yes no. When?_______

8. What church do you attend?________________________________ Att/mo.__________

What church does your husband attend?___________________ Att/mo.__________

What church do the children attend?______________________Att/mo. _________

Are the services in Samoan or English?__________________

Do you partic ipate in church sponsored a c t iv it ie s ? yes no. I fso, in what a c t iv it ie s ? _______________________________ Hov; often?.___________

What a c t iv it ie s do the children partic ipate in?__________________________

I f the minister v is i t s you in your home, how do you receive him? ( i . e . g ive him food? g ifts ? _________________________________________________________

9. Who does the b ig shopping?_____________________________________

Are there set meal times or do fam ily members eat when hungry?_________

I f there are set meal times, does your fam ily s it together at meals when everyone is at home? yes no.

Who serves the meal?_______________________

What kinds o f meals do you cook most of the time? Samoan Palagi Other

I f you have guests, who servos and who eats f ir s t? _______________________

199

HS # I d e n t i f y i n g In fo rm a t io nIn fo rm a n t_________________________________________

200

IIS //_____ Id en tify in g InformationInformant

I f a matai or m inister i s v is i t in g , what is the order o f eating?_

10. I s anyone in the fam ily sick or disabled? yes no. I f yes, whoand with what?_____________________________

«

Does anyone in the fam ily ever use Samoan or P h ilip in e medicine? yes no. I f yes, who and fo r what?_________________________________________

Does anyone see a doctor regu la rly? yes no. I f yes, who andfo r what ?

11. Do you or your husband belong or have you belonged to any organizations l ik e PTA, Samoan groups, sport or soc ia l clubs, etc? yes noI f yes, do you attend most o f the meetings?Do you hold or have held o f f ic e s ? I f yes, what?Where does i t meet?

W ife or Attendancehusband Name Y or N O ffic e s Where Meets?

a .____________________________________________________________________________________

b.

Do your ch ild ren belong to any organised groups? yes noI f yes , \;ho and to what?________________________________________________

Do you p re fe r a l l Samoan or mixed grouos ?Why?

Do you p re fe r a l l Samoan fr ien ds or neighbors or mixed ?Why?

12. I f you were having a problem with your w ife (o r husband) and neededadvice, who would you ask? (Who is th a t? )Anyone e lse?I f you were having trouble with your ch ildren and needed advice, whowould you ask? (Who is th a t? )Anyone e lse?

Suppose you needed help from , how would you fe e l aboutasking? (Show informant)

Not Nervous I f Nervous:Would ask Would not ask

Boss _ _ ____ _ _ _ _ _Foreman_____________ _______ _______ _______Dentist

d

201

Not Nervous I f Nervous:Would ask Would not ask

Doctor _______ _______ _______Nurse _______ _______ _______School principal _______ _______ _______Social Worker _______ * _______Minister _______ _______ _______Policeman _______ _______ _______Clerk in a store _______ _______ _______Manager at Sears _______ _______ _______

Social ContactsSocial Agency Problem Whose problem? Was contact helpful

HS # ___________________ I d e n t i f y i n g In fo rm a t io nI n f o r mant_________________________________________

13. Does fam ily participate in a c t iv it ie s together? yes noWhat type o f a c t iv it ie s ? ( i . e . p icn ics, movies, v is it in g re la t iv e s )

Kow often?_______________Does husband or w ife have independent a c t iv it ie s outside o f the home? yes no. I f so, what?__________ ___________________________________

14· Is Samoan or English mainly used in the home?____________

To whom is English spoken?_____

To whom is Samoan spoken?_________________ _

Which language do the children speak and to wh0? ___________________

How do you c la ss ify your English speaking a b ility ?Mot her_______Good______ Average_______ P 0 orFather_______Good______ Average_______ Poor

Do you want your children to speak Samoan? yes no.I f yes, are you making any e ffo r t to teach your children Samoan? yes no.

15. Occupation o f w ife?__________________________2 mol oyer? - Hours/week_____

II01/ long has w ife worked?,___________________

(Father) How do you fe e l about having your w ife working?______________

202

Occupation o f husband?____________________________Employer ? _______________________________________ H our s /v;e ek?_____________

Can you describe what you do on the job?_________________________________<

Did you learn th io s k i l l here , or in Samoa ?

Do you belong to a union?_____ yes noI f yes, how often do you attond meetings?_____________

Do you belong to a credit union? yes no

Previous job3 and fo r hov; long?____________________________________________

How do you lik e your present job?__________________________________________

I f you thought that you could get another job that would give you greater prestige, would you try to get i t ? yes no

I f you were offered a promotion to a supervisory position in the placewhere you are now working, would you take i t ? yes noI f no, why not?______________________________________________________________

How fa r would you lik e your children to go in school?Pat h er________________________Mother________________________

VJhat would you lik e to have your children do a fte r fin ish ing high school?Father_______________________Mother________________________

Do you think your sons (or daughters) w il l have a better job than youhave when they are your age? ______sure of i t

think so, hope so ______no, don't think so

Do you think your children w il l be better o f f fin an c ia lly when they are your age? yes, fa i r ly sure don't know

(Father) 't/hat was your fa th e r 's usual lin e o f work?____________________Was or is he a matai? yos no

Hov; about other Samoan fam ilies in Honolulu: Do you think that yourfam ily is well o f f , better, or not as well o f f fin ancia lly?

Better o f f as well o f f , average most doingbetter

HS # I d e n t i f y i n g In fo r m a t io nIn fo rm a n t_________________________________________

16. Gross pay o f w ife?_________________

Gross pay o f husband?______________

Gross pay o f other working members o f household -(inc. summer or part- time employment)?__________________

I f children work, do they g ive th e ir earnings to parents? yes r

Other sources of income? ADC? Pension?__________________________

How much o f your monthly income do you spend on Church contributions?

How much o f your monthly income do you spend on Samoan fa 'a lavelaves?

Do you fe e l obligated to g ive or do you want to give_____ ?

How much o f your monthly income do you give to individual fam ily re la t iv e s? ______________________________Do you fe e l obligated to g ive or do you want to give_____ ?

Who makes decisions regarding expenditure o f fam ily money?Family head Head and spouse______

Do you own a TV Car Washing machine ?

Do you have a savings account or a checking account? yes no

Do you want to better your situation here , or are you happy withwhat you have ?

I f you want to better your situation, what would you change f ir s i

What would you change second?

203

IIS -/_______ I d e n t i f y i n g In fo rm a t io nI n f or mant_________________________________________

Impression o f interview—who answered questions, va lid ity?

204

APPENDIX B.

Date______________________ _In fo taken by__________________

<

A. 1. Do you think that i t is irrportant to t e l l the children how to boliave in school? yes noI f yes, what do you t e l l the children?_______________________________

IIS }r C h i ld -R e a r in g I n t e r v ie wI n f o r m a n t __________________

2. 1 diat do your children do in school that makes you happy?.

3. Do you show your happiness to the children? yes noI f yes, how?__________________________________________________________What about special g i f t s , p r iv ileges , allowance, or praise?___

4· What do your children do in school that makes you unhappy?.

5. Do you show your unhappiness to the children? yes noI f yes, how?_______________________________________________________________a. What about threatening to take away p r iv ileges or freedom?b. Acting to take away p r iv ileges or freedom?c. Threatening physical punishment?d. Physically punishing?e. Scold or y e ll? (what is said)f . Shame or rid icu le?g. Other? (w rite in )

B. 1. Could you t e l l me who in the household has the main charge o fthe children to see that they behave?__________________________________2. Who corrects the children when they misbehave?___________________a. ( i f husband) Do you ever? ( i f w ife ) Doe3 your husband everd isc ip lin e the children? yes nob. Do the ch ildren ’ s older sib lings generally correct them? yes noc. Now about others in the household? yes no № 0?________

3. I f the adult in charge is not there, who usually takes over?

4 . Is the adult the fin a l authority, or does the child have to lis te n to the person who is taking over fo r him?_________________

Its # C h ild -R e a r in g In t e r v ie wIn fo rm a n t ____

Family tanks 1/ho ? Does anyone else do that? Does any partic ­ular ch ild do i t ? Viho? Anyone Regular job Who sees

else? or asked to that the jobdo i t ? is done?

Feeds baby/children __________________________________________Teaches children things___________ __________________________________________Punishes children when necessary __________________________________________Helps children with school work __________________________________________Cares fo r children when they’ re

sick_______________________________ __________________________________________Seo3 children get to school on

time __________________________________________Sees children get meals___________ _____________ ____________________________Washes dishes________________________________________________________________Does laundry and hangs i t out ____ ____________________________________Takes laundry in and fo lds i t _________________________________________Does iron ing__________________________________________________________________Sets tab le fo r meals____________________ _____________________________________Clears tab le a fte r meals __________________________________________Takes care o f rubbish __________________________________________Picks up children from school __________________________________________Keeps track o f children and what

they are doing __________________________________________Picks up and puts away own

clothes every day__________________________________________________________Puts away others’ clothes every

day __________________________________________Cleans and dusts house____________ __________________________________________Mends fam ily 's clothes____________ __________________________________________Checks whether children do the ir

jobs when mother is not there __________________________________________

2. Who decides what fam ily chores the children w il l do? ( i f task is performed by more than one ch ild ) (Who t e l l3 them how to do tasks?) p a r e n t older s ib lin g the children themselves

3. Is there any job which_______doesn't do when he i3 supposed to ,or when does do i t , doesn't do righ t? (Which task?)

4· How often doesn't he do his job righ t?a. p re tty often b. once in a while_____

5. What does ( supervisor) do when ______ does not do his job right?a. Threaten to take away p r iv ileges or freedom?b. Act to take away p r iv ileges or freedom?c. Threaten physical punishment?d. Physical puni sh rnent ?o. Scold or y e l l (what is said )?

206

f . Shame or rid icu le?g. Other? (w rite in )

5· I f _____ s t i l l doesn't do i t , what does ( supervisor) do?

HS //_______ C h i ld -R e a r in g In t e r v ie wIn fo rm a n t_____________________

D. 1. At what age do you think g ir ls should be given regular jobsaround the house?____________________Boys? ____________________________2. At what age would you give a g ir l a r e a lly important job—you know, that has to be done or things won't go righ t? ( i . e . baby care, cooking, e t c . )______________________B oy s ?__________________

3. V.'hat does ___________ do that gets you mad at her—you know,something that you think is wrong? (w rite below)

4 . What i f she goes on doing that kind o f thing—what do you do?

a. How about not le t t in g them have something they want?b. How about making fun o f them?c. How about not speaking to them?d. How about sending him outside or to another room?e. How about threatening them with the 'a itu ' or 'p o v i'?f . How about threatening to send them away?g. How about re fe rr in g to God?h. How about spanking them?

5. What do you do i f that doesn't work and she goes on doing i t ?

(repeat a-h above i f necessary)

6. What does ____________ do that gets you mad at him— something thatyou think is wrong? (w rite below)

7. What i f he goe3 on doing that kind o f thing—what do you do?

(r e fe r to a-h above)

8. What do you do i f that doesn't work and he goes on doing i t ?

(repeat a-h i f necessary)

9. What methods o f d isc ip lin e do you use most frequently?

10. What about others in the household?

11. At what age would you start taking away p riv ileges or other thing3? ( i . e . movies, beach, playing, watching T .V .) as a punish­ment?_______________________________________________________________________

12. At what age would you start to spank children? «

13. At what age would you stop spanking children?____________________

14. Have you ever found i t necessary to spank any o f the g ir ls ? yes_____noI f yes, which ones?What did you have to spank _______ for?

I f no, would you ever spank any o f the g ir ls ? yes no I f•no’ , why not?

15» Have you ever found i t necessary to spank any o f the boys? yes_____noI f yes, which ones?What did you have to spank _______ for?

I f no, would you ever spank any o f the boys? yes no. I f’ no·, why not?

S. 1. What would you do i f one o f your children asked to put o f f something you to ld him to do, so he could do something he wanted to do? allow exceptions, depending on circumstances ( l ) ____ not a llow (3 ) allow exceptions, under unusual circumstances (2 )

2. Why do you give the children jobs to do?

3. Do any o f your children ever ask i f they can change jobs ortake on a few job around the home? yes no. I f yes, what doyou do then?

F. 1. What does _______ do that makes you happy with him? I f necessary,use fo llow in g probes, good manners, t r ie s to succeed, honest, neat and clean, gets along with other children, obeys parents, good student?

207

IIS # C h i ld -R e a r in g In t e r v ie v iI n f o r mant______________________________

2. Does ______ know when you are happy with him?_____ yes_____ noI f yes, how does he know?I f necessary, use fo llow ing probes; special g i f t s , p r iv ileges , allowance, praise?

113 # Child.-Rea.rins Interview In fo rm a n t ________

3. How do the other children act when you do that?

4· I s your (w ife ) (husband) rea l fond o f one o f the children—youknow a pet? yes no. I f yen, who? _________

«

5. What do you think is the most important thing in ra is ing children?

6. What things do your children do that makes you very happy about or proud o f them?

7. At what age do you lik e children best?_______________ Why?

8. At what age do the children worry you the most?_________ Why?

9. Which do you lik e better— a ch ild who does things on h is ownor one who does what he is to ld ?

1. Sometimes children get angry at the ir parents when they are being punished. How do you handle th is with your children?

2. Could you give an example o f th is?

3. V.'hat do you do when ___________ asks fo r help or gets hurt?a. Vihen he fa l l s down?b. When he gets hurt by another child?c. When he asks you to f i x something or do something?d. Hov; about when he can re a lly do i t fo r himself?e. How about when you are busy doing something else?

4 . Do you prefer that your children play with sib lings, friends, or alone? How do you express th is preference? ( What do you do to encourage any o f these forms o f play?)

5· Are there any kind o f children you would rather your childrend idn 't play with? yes no. I f yes, what kind?

6. Is there any type o f ch ild that you would rather have him play with? yes no. I f yes, what type?

7. lihen your children play with others, do you lik e to see yourchildren t e l l others what to do, or do you fe e l th is rakes themtoo bossy?What do you do about th is?

8. What do you do when your children try to get you to change your mind about something?

209

9· How about when he t r ie s to get his own way with other children?

10. How about when your ch ild is playing with another ch ild outside and there is a quarrel or f ig h t—how do you handle th is?

11. Do you fe e l that any o f your children get angry or cry too eas ily?Who?_________________ Anyone else?

12. Do you ever encourage any o f your children to figh t back? yes no

13. Some parents have d i f f ic u lt y keeping th e ir ch ild from beingmean to smaller children and bu llying them. How have you managed th is?

14. How about teasing?

H. 1. How often do you and your spouse ta lk about what your children do?Almost always Once in a while ______Usually ______ Almost never ______

2. Does your spouse give the children too much attention or not enough?

3. I f a young and older ch ild disagree about something, who is more l ik e ly to be at fau lt, the younger or older one?V/hat do you do about it ?

4. Do you think young children can be taught righ t and wrong behavior? yes no. I f yes, how?

5. Do you think your children are d iffe ren t from each other (have d iffe ren t p erson a lities ) or are p retty sim ilar to each other? I f you consider them d iffe ren t, do you trea t them d iffe ren tly according to th e ir personalities? yes no

6. Vihat is the idea l number o f children to have in a family?How many boys? How many g ir ls ? ______

I . (These questions are d ifferen t from the ones we have just done.This time I want you to t e l l me the way things should be. There are four possible answers to each question— strongly agree, m ildly agree, m ildly disagree, and strongly disagree. Choose an answer which somes closest to the way you fe e l about each statement.)1. Children should not attempt anything beyond th e ir a b il ity .2. I f an older ch ild is upset or angry, a parent should question the ch ild and t ry to find out why.

HS jp C h i ld -R e a r in g I n t e r v ie wI n f ormant____________________

210

HS # _______ C h i ld -R e a r in g In t e r v ie wIn fo rm a n t

3. I f a parent doesn't understand why a child is acting a certain way, he should t ry and find out why.4. I f a ch ild is better able to do things than other children, he should show i t .5· I f a ch ild has a good idea about how something should be done in the home, others should lis te n to him.6. Children should ask questions about how things are done rather than accept something because that is the way i t is always done.7* Children should express hov/ they fe e l about things.8. A husband should leave care o f children to h is w ife .9. The husband should be the main one to punish the children.10. Children should be allowed to disagree with th e ir parents i f they fe e l th e ir own ideas are better.11. I t ' s best fo r the child i f he never gets started wondering whether hi3 parent's views are r igh t.12. More parents should teach th e ir children to have unquestioning lo y a lty to them.13. A ch ild should be taught to avoid figh tin g no matter what happens.14» Parents should adjust to the children 3ome rather than always expecting the children to adjust to the parents.15· Children would be happier and better behaved i f parents would show an in terest in th e ir a ffa ir s .16. Children should be encouraged to t e l l th e ir parents about i t whenever they fe e l fam ily ru les are unreasonable.17· I t is frequently necessary to drive the mischief out o f a ch ild before he w i l l behave.18. S tr ic t d isc ip lin e develops a fin e strong character.19· The ch ild should be taught to respect h is parents above a l l other adults.20. A ch ild should be taught to always come to hi3 parents or teachers rather than, figh t when he is in trouble.21. Parents must earn the respect o f th e ir children by the way theyact.22. Children who don't t r y hard fo r success w il l fe e l they have missed out on things la te r on.23. A ch ild should never keep a secret from h is parents.24 . A ch ild has a right to h is own point o f view and ought to beallowed to express i t .2 5 . A ch ild should be protected from job3 v/hich might be too t ir in g or hard fo r him.26. A v/ise parent w il l teach a ch ild early just who is boss.27 . Children who are held to firm rules grow up to be the best adults.28. Children should never learn thingG outside the home v/hich make them doubt th e ir parents' ideas.29. There is no good excuse fo r a ch ild h itt in g another ch ild .30. The e a r lie r a ch ild cuts i t s emotional t ie s to i t s parents the better i t w il l handle i t s own problems.

HS ;i Child-Hearing Interview In f orrrant

31. A ch ild 's ideas should bo seriously considered in making fam ily decisions.32. Children need some o f the natural meanness taken out o f them.33. The ch ild should not question the thinking o f his parents.34· Children should not be encouraged to box or wrestle because i t often leads to trouble or in jury.35· Children should be kept away from a l l hard jobs which might be discoxiraging.36. Children are actually happier under s tr ic t tra in ing.37· There is no reason parents should have the ir own way a l l the time, any more than that children should have th e ir own way a l l the time.33. When you do things together, children fe e l close to you and can ta lk easier.

strongly agree a— mildly agree d— mildly disagree D— strongly disagr

212

BEHAVIORAL DEFINITIONS

Defin itions o f Spec ific Behavior to be Looked fo r in Observations

in the Home and School (0 is other person and P is ch ild observed)

1. Nurturance - whether spontaneous or not

a. 0 gives emotional help to P including comforting, reassuring, showing signs o f love and a ffec tion .b. 0 g ives physical help to P such as fix in g something fo r P or ge ttin g something fo r P.c. 0 protects P from someone e lse .

2. Succorance - P asks fo r help bya. crying, looking sad, seeks nurturance (person-oriented dependency).b. verba lly asking fo r help (task-oriented dependency).

3. Dominance - 0 demands that P acts in certain ways (attempts to change o ther 's behavior) bya. commanding P.b. physical motions, i . e . , pushing, pu lling, holding P, or motions o f the head.c. grabbing P 's toy or ge ttin g in the way o f P.

4. Aggrossion - 0 t r ie s to injure P or some object re la ted to , likedby, or made by P bya. h itt in g , kicking, scratching, b iting, or breaking things (ph ys ica l).b. making fun o f or teasing, scolding, b e lit t l in g , c r it ic iz in g , r id icu lin g , and insu lting (ve rb a l).

5· Submission or compliance - P accepts domination or aggression by0— gives in —does not r e s is t— does what P is commanded to do. P admits gu ilt or apologizes fo r some behavior.

6. Resistance - P defends s e l f from domination or aggression o f 0— does not conform to demands of 0. P denies g u ilt , sh ifts blame, or d e fies reprimand—disobedient, stubborn.

7. Avoidance or Escape - P removes s e lf from in teraction by disappearing, running away, keeping s ilen t, or ignoring those around him.

8. S e lf-re lian ce - P in it ia te s an a c t iv ity and carries i t through despite any d i f f ic u lt y (doesn't ask fo r help ).

5· Responsib ility - P performs a task that is required or expectedo f him.

APP3HDIX C.

213

10. A ch i eve r:io tvt - or i c nt od Behavior - P evaluates his behavior or that of others by re fe rr in g to standards and tr ie s to behave so that he w ill reach these standards.

11. o o c ia b ility - P t r ie s to make a fr ien d ly response, to engage in a c t iv it ie s with others and to cooperate fo r the sake o f social in teraction .

214

APPENDIX D.

TEACHER EVALUATION

Dear Teacher,

As you know I am conducting a study o f Samoan children in the school and home setting. In order to obtain additional information about the children, please f i l l out th is ra ting sheet on each Samoan ch ild in your class.

Thank you very much fo r your cooperation.

Mrs. Mildred Bloombaum

Instructions: On the fo llow ing pages are a number o f scales alongwhich some characteristics o f ch ild behavior pertinent to th is study may be rated. Each behavior characteristic has been defined, on the basis o f past research, in terms of concrete examples o f behavior related to the characteris tic . Please keep these examples in mind while con­ducting the ratings.

In using the scales consider each characteristic in turn and place a check at the point on the scale which, in your opinion, best describes the ch ild in question with respect to th is characteristic . I f , fo r example, you decide that child being rated is somewhat, but not always, able to cope successfully with new situations, place a check on th is scale as fo llow s: -

ADAPTABLE: Cope3 eas ily and successfully with new and strangesituations.

1_____________L_____________ bL__________ LHot at a l l Hot very Somewhat Very muchNever Not usually Sometimes Always

I f you fe e l that you can best describe the ch ild 's behavior by placing the check somewhere between two points on the scale (e .g . , i f a ch ild "almost always, but not always" adapts well to new situations), please fe e l fre e to do so. For exanple:

ADAPTABLE: Copes ea s ily and successfully with new and strangesituations.

L_____________L_____________ / /Not at a l l Not very Somewhat Very muchNever Not usually Sometimes Always

Use the "don 't know" category, i f you fe e l you don't have su ffic ien t information about the ch ild , but please use th is category sparingly.

I f you wish to make any additional comments at the end, please do.

215

Name o f c h i l d :

Name o f r a t e r :

SBCLU3IVE: D islikes group a c t iv it ie s ; prefers to "be by s e lf or incompany o f one or two others; d is lik es being in crowds.

L________________L_____________ L_________________ / ‘ ______Not at a l l Not very Somewhat Very much Don't knowNever Not usually Sometimes Always

ASSERTIVE: Bossy; attempts to d irect actions o f others; is convincedh is (h er) way is best; shows others "how things should be done."

L________________L_____________ L___ _ _________ / ______Not at a l l Hot very Somewhat Very much Don't knowNever Not usually Sometimes Always

IMAGINATIVE: Has active v iv id imagination; very fan c ifu l; seesp o s s ib ilit ie s overlooked by others.

L________________L______________L_________________ / -Not at a l l Not very Somewhat Very much Don't knowNever Not usually Sometimes Always

CONCERNED ABOUT ACCEPTANCE: Expresses concern about rea l or imaginedrebu ffs; worries that lie (she) w il l lose friends or that others w ill not lik e him (h er).

L________________L_____________ L_____________ :____/ ______Not at a l l Not very Somewhat Very much Don't knowNever Not usually Sometimes Always

GREGARIOUS: Like to be with others and seeks th e ir company; d is lik esbeing alone.

/., - ......... .........L_____________ L _________________/______ ______Not at a l l Not very Somewhat Very much Don't knowNever Not usually Sometimes Always

SELF-MINIMIZING: Minimize own importance; humble; does not brag orshow o f f .

N ot a t a l l Not v e r y Som ewhat V e r y much D o n 't knowN e v e r Not u s u a l l y S o m e tim e s A lw a y s

216

ADAPTABLE: C o p e s e a s i l y a n d s u c c e s s f u l l y w it h new and s t r a n g e s i t u a t i o n s .

L________________L______________L_________________ /Not at a l l Never

Not very Not usually

Son«what Sometimes

Very much Don't know Alv/ays

CONSIDERATE: Thoughtful o f others; sensitive to o thers ', fee lin gs .

/ __________ ______ / .... .......... ..... / /Hot at a l l Never

Not very Not usually

SomewhatSometimes

Very much Don't know Always

ORIGINAL: Has novel and d iffe ren t ideas and/or solutions to problems; thinking and behavior characterized by unusual approaches.

/ . / . / JHot at a l l Never

Not very Not usually

SomewhatSometimes

Very much Don't know Alv/ays

HELPFUL: Helpful to teacher and other students in classroom a c t iv it ie s

/ ....... . / ....../ /Not at a l l Never

Not very Not usually

SomewhatSometimes

Very much Don't know Always

DEPENDENT: Asks teacher and a c t iv it ie s .

other students fo r help in classroom

1 ............ / / /Not at a l l Never

Not very Hot usually

SomewhatSometimes

Very much Don't knot·/ Alv/ays

AGGRESSIVE:

/ .....

Insu lts others

/

or tr ie s to

.. J L ,

hurt them.

/ ’Not at a l l Never

Not very Not usually

SomewhatSometimes

Very much DonH know Alv/ays

COMPLIANT:

/

Accedes to wishe

........./ . . . .

s of other

.. /

students and teacher.

/Not at a l l Never

Not very Not usually

SomewhatSometimes

Very much Don't know Alv/ays

SELF-RELIANT: In it ia te s a c t iv it ie s and any d if f ic u lty .

carries them through despite

/................. ....... / _ /Dot at a l l Not very Somewhat Very much Don't knowNever Not usually Sometimes Always

217

RESPONSIBLE: Performs tasks that are required and expected.

Z_______________L______________L_________________ /______ ______Not at a l l Not very Somewhat Very much Don’ t knowNever Not usually Sometimes Always

ACHIEVEIGNT-ORIENTED: Evaluates own behavior or that o f ’Other3 byre fe rr in g to standards and t r ie s to behave so that he w il l reach these standards.

L________________L_____________ L_________________ /______ ______Not at a l l Not very Somewhat Very much Don't knowNever Not usually Sometimes Always

AVOIDANCE: Removes s e lf from in teraction by disappearing, running away,or keeping s ilen t, or ignoring those around him.

L________________L_____________ L_________________ /______ ______Not at a l l Not very Somewhat Very much Don't knowNever Not usually Sometimes Always

COMMENTS: (Continue on back i f necessary).

218

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