The BaMbuti People
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1. Among the BaMbuti people, as described by Colin Turnbull in The Forest People, crime exists in different types of offenses, as well as different types of punishment, though as Turnbull describes it, the system is informal on the surface and seems to have no authority standing over the people to make certain that they comply. It is not necessary that there be a separate authority since the community concurs in what is a crime and in the punishment for the crime, and all who are part of the community impose the punishment as if ordered to do so. Punishment was not an outright form of punishment but rather came in the form of community sanctions, considered to be effective as deterrents. This is because this is a small and cooperative group, which means not only that it is thus possible to get the entire group to act as one but also that no one individual wants to have the job of either passing judgment or of administering punishment. Certain crimes were considered so terrible that they would automatically lead to some form of supernatural retribution, and these offenses were rarely committed. A second type, also extremely rare, led to the intrusion of the molimo, the "animal of the forest," which might attack the hut of the offender and perhaps even the offender himself. The more serious general crimes, such as theft, were punished by a sound thrashing administered cooperatively by all who were inclined to participate, but this would come about only after the entire
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ized for a time for his crime does not operate in the American system as a rule even at the local or community level. Indeed, there is a criminal subculture with its own sense of community, acceptance, and ostracism, and the subculture and the majority culture exist side by side.
The BaMbuti people believe that they have no chiefs, no lawgivers, and no leaders because they do not need them, since they see themselves as people of the forest. The forest gives them the center their society needs, while American society lacks this sort of center and relies instead on authority, leaders, laws, and the like to impose a value system on the community as a whole. The BaMbuti have succeeded in reducing crime, though they do not manage to eliminate it. American society has a growing crime problem.
2. In the evolution of the human species, certain physical characteristics have been identified as most important in the way the human species has developed. One of the most important parts of the evolution of Homo sapiens is the brain, and the general enlargement of the brain over that of other primates is its most distinctive feature. Most of the enlargement is in the cerebrum, the forepart of the brian, which deals with the integration
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Modern American, Forest People, american society, , human species, bambuti people, Simon Schuster, crime punishment crime, human species physical, rehabilitation purposes, local community, effective deterrents, community bambuti, punishment crime, people believe, play constant,
Approximate Word count = 1489
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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