nding contribution to the understanding of primitive societies, and how they both were similar to, and collided with, Western civilization.
It was not until five years after her death, in 1983, that controversy began to swirl around Mead's writing, especially her research in Coming of Age in Samoa. Australian anthropologist, Derek Freeman launched a rather vicious and even personal attack on Mead. This attack "inspired a year of worldwide forums and discussions, and aroused spirited defense of her career. Her early field work may have been hurried and imperfect, but her generous view of human nature enduresa" (Howard 1984 118) What was Freeman's book and his argument, calling Mead's work "a myth" all about? Freeman claims that "Margaret Mead was an avowed cultural determinist, under the heavy influence of people such as Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict, two of the most important early figures in American cultural anthropology." (Turnbull 1983 32) According to Freeman, Mead "dismissed biology, or nature, as being of no significance whatsoeveraand claimed the determinism, of culture, or nurture, to be absolute." (Turnbull 32)
It is interesting to note that some of the
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