Violence and Aggressive Behaviour - Anthropological Perspective

My observations have made me think about the connection between violence and the beliefs about a man's role in society. Boys in Boca do Rio raised only by mothers, without male authority present in any aspect of socialisation or stage of personal development, were frequently involved in different forms of violence. Mostly they were under influence of alcohol or other psychotropic drugs. Yet there are many young capoeiristas in Boca do Rio raised only by females that would have nothing to do with the crime, on contrary they are excellent students and loyal capoeirapractitioners. Thus the absence of initiation rituals into a man's world and the absence of guidance from a male parent regarding good male behaviour[11] may influence youngsters’ perceptions about manhood but not necessarily in malicious way. In this case the youngster himself shapes his identity according to available information provided from the environment. 

In small scale societies initiation is strictly determined with rituals; the youngster’s identity is established within social norms and beliefs about manhood and womanhood, which are unequivocal in most similar societies. Reynolds and Tanner (1995, pp. 134-136) describe boys’ and girls’ initiation by the North Rhodesian Bemba people. During the girls’ initiation matrimonial rules and habits learned in puberty are confirmed. Because of emotional arousal during the Chisungu ritual, girls remember better the main rules and men's expectations regarding matrimonial life. Thus, the ritual emphasizes the most important behaviour rules and represents the final exam and acceptation into womanhood or manhood. Boys receive tribal and religious values, knowledge of the economy and are taught sexual techniques observed by older men during the initiation ritual. Just like for girls, this ritual represents the final exam where acquired knowledge is confirmed and tested. Through the ritual of initiation boys become fully valued members of men's society and sexually mature individuals. 

For the Tanzanian people Zaramo the initiation lasts a few months and during that time, boys learn the basic rules of sexual behaviour in matrimonial relationships, changes in relationships toward their mothers and social expectations regarding their future relationships with potential wives.  During puberty boys are supposed to become socially, emotionally and sexually mature. Initiation in these terms is not a social or biological transition, but rather a preparation where fundamental male qualities are emphasized. The ritual is meant to cleanse the boys and raise their social reputation and self-value. According to Reynolds and Tanner (1995, p. 135) initiation is of great importance for youngsters’ personality development. Swantz (1970) (in Reynolds and Tanner, 1995, p. 135) noted many cases of emotional disturbances with the members of the Zigua people who did not participate in the initiation rituals or the ritual was performed in their late adolescence. Frankel (1986) describes the initiation of the Huli tribe from the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, where boys have to live in a man's house for six months before they can be initiated. During this period they are instructed about men's business and are prepared for the initiation by their mentors. Women prepare girls separately from boys. This way roles and jobs are passed from generation to generation. Evans-Pritchard (1976) writes about social relationships within the Azande society from Sudan, and ascertains that youngsters have to predominantly learn about rules regarding the causality of events. Some occurrences are believed to be exclusively the consequences of sorcery and witchcraft. Initiation therefore is a tool of the comprehension of interpersonal relationships in the context of witchcraft. Boys also learn some techniques and social expectations regarding the prevention of and protection from witchcraft and sorcery.  

In our modern consumer society initiation is not as unequivocal and normative as it is in small-scale societies. In places where monotheistic religions such as Islam, Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism does not have a major influence on youngsters’ education, they would have to learn about values, norms and behaviour rules from adults or from the mass media. Because of frequent divorces and single parent upbringing, youngsters grow up often with their mothers. In a basic family cell there is an absence of the male role model, which is above all disadvantageous for boys. Since youngsters are exposed to mass media in modern societies, they seek virtual idols and role models if they lack living role models and teachers. Lashlie (2005, pp. 17-34) is convinced that boys especially cannot be raised only by mothers, that fathers set boundaries and teach boys about how to be a good man[12]. They initiate boys into men's society. For girls they represent the way of how their future partner should be alike. Without a male educator, boys often express their manliness through deviant actions and habits like alcoholism, fighting, car racing and arrogant breaking of things (ibid.). The search for an adequate role model and the formation of perception of manliness is not an easy task for youngsters. However, boys will become men only through the initiation, regardless if it is socially and ritually determined or if youngsters have to learn and establish their own rules and patterns of initiation. Male initiation in a postmodern consumer society is also less determined as it was before the neo-liberal revolution in the 1980s. Men's social role was also clearly determined in industrial developed countries, at least more than it is today. As my interlocutors claim, education was stricter and unambiguous in Brazil during the period of military dictatorship (between 1964 and 1985). Men were raised in accordance to "military principles" where a slap has an educational function and the father is the one who teaches the son about discipline and responsibility. It is mostly true that men were also taught how to use violence but primarily for defence purposes or as a way to reach goals and rarely as an educational technique. As Yonocu (2008, pp. 50-72) claims, with the appearance of neo-liberalism work was completely alienated from human creativity, which is presently demonstrated only through consumption. Individual violence has reached new dimensions and is mostly without direction, harmful and banal and therefore increasingly stigmatised and attempted to be erased from human’s behavioural pattern. Today male and female roles are blended and initiation processes have lost their ritual meanings. In the magical period of human history, as Ilič (1988, str. 41) defines the period at the end of Palaeolithic, human production attitude toward nature has been established through the revolution of hunting. Production - a creative character of men's consciousness was formulated. Societies established magical rituals for performing healing, harmonisation, initiation and other functions of social control. Rivers (1924, p. 4) describes magical rituals as: "…a group of processes in which man uses rites which depend for their efficacy on his own power, or on powers believed to be inherent in or the attributes of, certain objects and processes which are used in these rites.".

In post-modern societies where man is alienated from ritual and social activities, the magical is the only the domain of the esoteric and social differentiation. 

In capoeira initiation is performed through ritual of batizado, where young capoeiristas have to challenge experienced masters or instructors in roda. Their ability to play effective but not disrespectful indicates their maturity. I have been told that masters are playing with each capoeirista according to what he or she deserves.  One of them explained:

Eu tenho que mostrar quem é quem. Se aluno entra jogar duro e sem respeto, vai apanhar. Se usa malandragem, indicando que poderia entrar dando rastera ou golpe, porein não executando os movimentos, eu descho ele jogar.  Assim eles aprendem, asim se tornam nos capoeiristas responsables. (I have to show, who the boss is. If student enters to play hard, he will get what he is searching for. If he would use malandragem indicating that he could use rastera or kick, yet not executing the moves, I let him play. That is how they learn, that is how they are becoming responsible capoeiristas.)