article
Culprits, culpability, and crime: stocktheft and other cattle maneuvers among the Ila of Zambia
African studies review • 25 (1) • Published In 1982 • Pages: 1-26
By: Cutshall, Charles R..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article is an examination of livestock theft, cattle rustlers, and responses of the involved parties within the broader context of overt and covert manipulation of cattle wealth among the Ila. The focus is on the parameters of individual and group decision-making that led to changing concepts of behavior meriting praise or esteem and of behavior meriting blame or condemnation in cattle transactions. Drawing on the perspectives of legal pluralism and interactionist labeling theories of crime and deviance, the author views the legal definition of a behavior as a matter of competition for power between individuals or groups.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cultural identity and pride
- Domesticated animals
- Property in movables
- Property offenses
- Instigation of war
- Social personality
- Legal norms
- Crime
- Sex and marital offenses
- Ethics
- Ethos
- Functional and adaptational interpretations
- Initiation of judicial proceedings
- Litigation
- Social control
- Social relationships and groups
- Community heads
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Ila
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2015
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2014
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1977-1978
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1920-1978
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Namwala and Itezhi-Tezhi districts, Southern Province, Zambia
- NotesAdditional notes
- Charles R. Cutshall
- Includes bibliographical references (p.25-26)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 77612664
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Ila (African people)