Egypt and the ¡Kung Bushmen

In the United States one of the most prevalent problems in our society is the problem of crime. While there are many reasons for the high crime rate in America, I feel that one of the main problems can be directly linked to how children are raised, predominately how our culture is structured to "force" certain individuals to commit crimes and act deviant. America can learn a lot from the people of Egypt and the ¡Kung Bushmen of South Africa. Egypt provides an example of how honor, community, and generosity can work together to create a country that thrives on excelling as a people, rather than harming one another for one's personal gain. America could also learn a lot from the ¡Kung Bushmen of South Africa who value social exchange and cooperation and look down upon competition and conflict. Both of these groups of people, in my opinion, have aspects of their society which America can learn from to make our society better in relation to deviance and social control.

In Egypt the value of community is one of the most important aspects to their society. People call others by familiar and friendly name, making all of the people they come in to contact with feel as if they are family. As described on page 180, "Egypt is a "touch" society…men greet their friends and relatives by first kissing on one cheek, and then on the other." This displays how the Egyptians place extreme value on the need for human interaction and "touch" within their society. I feel that this sense of community, in which everyone is "close" to one another, can foster an environment where deviance is less likely to occur. If everyone feels as if they are cared for by the entire community, then they will be less likely to commit a criminal act upon those who promote this environment of caring and compassion for one another.

The conflict of human beings also occurs in Egypt, but it is dealt with in a different way than it is in America. When there is an argument between people in Egypt, and it seems to be escalating to the point of violence, other members of the community will involve themselves in order to stop the crime before it happens. The example that is given in the text about the vendor and the customer fighting displays to the reader that even if there is conflict "An argument…brings all the merchants out of their stores"(180). When an event such as this occurs and has the potential to become a violent situation "…people rely on others, even strangers, to stop their conflict before it escalates too far" (Schneider and Silverman 180) displaying how there is a great deal of faith placed in to the community as a whole in the resolution and prevention of conflict that could possible turn in to criminal behavior. This value which is placed on community and togetherness can be looked to a one of the key deterrents of crime in Egypt and sets a model of excellence for Americans to learn from.

Another key to deterring crime and creating an environment that promotes peace in Egypt's society is the value of honor among people. The concept of honor, which is not as prevalent in American society, is one of the most precious values to uphold for Egyptians. Their family's reputation amongst members of the community serves as their main deterrent to crime. The concept of family honor is described on p. 181 where it states, "Individuals are judged by the reputations of their families and when Egyptians think about their own personal honor, they are thinking about how their actions will reflect upon their families" (Schneider and Silverman 181). As displayed by the quote, a member of Egyptian society will not commit an act that will reflect badly upon them because it will also bring dishonor to the entire family. This idea of consequence for one's actions works because it forces a person to be responsible for their entire family, not just themselves. The concept that is used a lot in America is "I am not hurting anyone but myself" and is used to justify a persons behavior and actions, but in Egypt this concept does not exist. Each person is responsible for all of the people in their family, and is therefore less likely to commit crimes that would bring shame on their family.

Another society that America can learn a lot from in relation to the problem of crime and deviance is the ¡Kung Bushmen of South Africa. In this society the idea of social exchange and cooperation are highly valued by all of the people. There are no formal sanctions in their community which, as described by the text, means there are no formal institutions such as schools, corporations, or government to regulate society or create opportunity for competition among the people. As stated on p. 144, "The ¡Kung rely entirely on the informal sanctions of small group life," this displays how the lack of these institutions presents the need for other groups, which consists of small groups of people, to control deviance in society.

The concept of social exchange is one that Americans can learn a lot from. Social exchange is an interaction process in which a person gives another person something and they receive something else in return. The norms of reciprocity that the ¡Kung follow are described as norms that "…tell people what to exchange, how, with whom, and when." (145) which display to the reader how each person follows an unspoken code that dictates to them what the proper course of action to perform a reciprocal act should be taken. I feel that this idea of social exchange can help prevent the level of crime in a given area because it makes all of the citizens in a society feel as if they are equals. Without a form of currency, and only the reciprocity of social exchange, people are less likely to feel as if they are in competition for monetary success. They only gain as much as they give out, and no one person becomes more materially (money and possessions) powerful than any other person.
By eliminating the push towards competition the ¡Kung Bushmen create an environment in which no one person feels as if they are "less" than any other. This fosters the concept of equality, and will lessen the need for crimes to be committed such as burglary and theft. All people have only what they need to live and they are content with their means. All of the citizens share the same quality of life and there is no need for jealousy, greed, or competition in their society. When the idea of conflict arises the ¡Kung fear and turn away from it. They use tales such as the "Kushe's Story: The Fight," which is described on p.146, as deterrents to conflict.

Like the Egyptians, when a minor conflict does arise the main institution for dealing with the conflict is the family institution. They have "talks" with one another in which they light-heartedly try to resolve any dispute among its members. If these talks fail then a more serious "fighting" talk occurs and it considered one of the last resorts for the ¡Kung families. Any other conflict which arises is considered and dealt with by the entire community, and if needed they turn to the Tswana and Herero people for their legal institutions.

These two groups of people each present different solutions to the problem of deviance, social control, and crime. While America has a more advanced, and some would say McDonaldized, process for dealing with criminals, I would not say that it is the best. America could learn a lot from Egypt and the ¡Kung Bushmen of South Africa, but I would not say that they stand to learn much from us in regard to this issue. Even though America is regarded as one of the greatest nations in the world, with the most advanced technology, we still lack in many areas of social governance. The point remains that we have some of the highest crime rates in the world, and we need to find out what the cause of this is. I feel that it is through the way that society is run and how individuals interact with one another. Societies like Egypt and the ¡Kung Bushmen serve as models to the rest of the world, especially America, to display how cooperation, "touch" and contact, and overall caring for one another can change the entire fabric of a society in terms of deviance.

WORKS CITED

Schneider, Linda and Arnold Silverman. Global Sociology Introducing Five Contemporary Societies. McGraw Hill. New York, New York. 2000.