Children of the Kibbutz

Fülszöveg

Having shown in his previous book, Kibbutz: Venture i?i Utópia (see back of jacket) the development of an Israeli agricultural settlement from a barren area to a flourishing cooperative community, Professor Spiro here continues his anthropological analysis of the kibbutz which he has entitled Kiryat Yedidim. This volume deals primarily with the sabras, those of the first kibbutzborn generation, who have inherited a weighty cultural tradition. In particular the book investigates the unique educational system of the kibbutz in which, from infancy on, the sabra lives, not with his family, but with a group of agepeers. He is raised in a society stressing cooperative living, the sharing of property, an ethic of mutual aid, an emphasis 011 physical labor, and a secular view. How this affects his attitudes toward others, within and outside the group, becomes a fascinating study of the relation between socialization and personality development. The data for the book was collected by Mr.... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Having shown in his previous book, Kibbutz: Venture i?i Utópia (see back of jacket) the development of an Israeli agricultural settlement from a barren area to a flourishing cooperative community, Professor Spiro here continues his anthropological analysis of the kibbutz which he has entitled Kiryat Yedidim. This volume deals primarily with the sabras, those of the first kibbutzborn generation, who have inherited a weighty cultural tradition. In particular the book investigates the unique educational system of the kibbutz in which, from infancy on, the sabra lives, not with his family, but with a group of agepeers. He is raised in a society stressing cooperative living, the sharing of property, an ethic of mutual aid, an emphasis 011 physical labor, and a secular view. How this affects his attitudes toward others, within and outside the group, becomes a fascinating study of the relation between socialization and personality development. The data for the book was collected by Mr. Spiro and his wife in 1951. During this year they lived in Kiryat Yedidim and actually participated in almost all aspects of kibbutz life-they lived in a kibbutz room, worked in the kibbutz
(continued from front flap) fields, ate in its dining room, attended its lectures and concerts, celebrated its holidays-but at the same tinié they observed the behavior of others and recorded and analyzed what they observed. Most importantly, systematic observations were made of the behavior of both nurses and children in the houses, from the nursery through high school. In addition, parents, nurses, teachers, and sabras of all ages were interviewed both formally and informally; psyehological tests were administered, especially the Rorschach and T.A.T. tests; and documentary materials, both published and unpublished, were thoroughly analyzed. The broadest conclusion of the book is that the personality of the sabras, though different in certain respects from "modal" Western personality, is accurately perceived as a variant of the latter rather than something unique. They differ primarily in their value svstem rather than in the dynamics of personality functioning. Melford E. Spiro is professor of anthropology at the University of Washington. HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE 38, MASSACHUSETTS Vissza