ABSTRACT
The psychological function of initiation rites, according to Whiting, is to prevent boys from openly rebelling against parental authority and making incestuous advances toward their mothers at a time when physical maturity would make such behavior socially disruptive. With a strong patrilineal/patrilocal emphasis, boys who have spent prolonged periods with a nursing mother are subject to intense pressure to assume a normative male role identity. Herdt suggests a reformulation and expansion of Whiting’s hypothesis, taking into account theoretical developments in areas such as infant dependency and gender identity. In addition he draws attention to significant features of initiation ritual that Whiting does not deal with, notably, that in many tribes initiation takes place before puberty and the presence of ritual secrecy and ritual homosexual contacts. In terms of Whiting’s earlier hypothesis, the absence of the postpartum taboo among the Aranda should reduce oedipal rivalry.
