Book
Becoming Tongan: an ethnography of childhood
University of Hawai'i Press • Honolulu • Published In 1996 • Pages:
By: Lee, Helen Morton.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document, aptly subtitled 'an ethnography of childhood', is a study of the various socio-cultural factors that are operational in the socialization of children from birth to late adolescence in order to become an adult member of Tongan society. After a brief discussion of some of the theoretical concepts utilized in this study, Lee (Morton) then presents a detailed description of some of the major the factors noted above, such as: ANGA FAKATONGA ('the Tongan way'), the concept of what constitues the ideal individual; Tongan notions of 'personhood' with its cultural values of 'OFA (love, concern), respect, obedience, and independence, and the availability and acquisition of this knowledge by children; physical punishment in children's socialization; and the management of emotion. The work concludes with the author's analysis of childhood socialization processes in reference to recent (ca. 1979-1989) political developments in Tonga.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Drives and emotions
- Social personality
- Personality traits
- Acculturation and culture contact
- Sociocultural trends
- Ethos
- Norms
- Cultural identity and pride
- Humor
- Gender status
- Ethics
- Household
- Family relationships
- Ethnopsychology
- Ethnosociology
- Conception
- Infant care
- Child care
- Childhood activities
- Socialization
- Gender roles and issues
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tongans
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2006
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Oceania
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Polynesia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- 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
- John Beierle; 2004
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1979-1989
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- ca. 1950s-1989
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Villaage of Holonga, Tongatapu Island, Tonga
- NotesAdditional notes
- Helen Morton
- Includes bibliographical references (p.305-337) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 95041374
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tongans