ABSTRACT
In this paper I consider two cases, both involving the use of the same sanction as a response to two quite different offenses, and why in one case the sanction was thought by my informants to have worked and in the other to have failed. The sanction is that of ostracism or shunning, a punishment exceeded in severity only by exile or death in Cashinahua society.[2] Ostracism consists of a person's being treated by his or her fellows as a non-person, i.e., as if he or she does not exist. No one speaks to persons being shunned, recognizes their presence, or interacts in any way with them. Although they are totally isolated socially, no attempt is made to restrict their movements and activities, because to do so would acknowledge their presence.
