ABSTRACT

A most interesting and significant feature in the comparison of voluntary associations is the difference in prestige attaching to membership of different kinds of society. The most highly regarded are the strictest companies like Ambas Geda, Boys London, Alimania and Yankadde. Next come the other companies and after them the benefit societies which resemble them in limited respects. Most of the companies have Temne officials, while in other societies the Temne often comprise a majority of the members, so it is probable that the Temne evaluation of different associations would be accepted by other tribes. In Freetown it appears that prestige attaches to associations the more they copy certain European practices, the more Islamized they are, and the more they call upon valued elements in the traditional culture of the tribe concerned. The members of the associations with the most prestige are therefore those who are the most in advance of popular opinion.