SYMBOLIC SIBLING RIVALRY IN A GUATEMALAN INDIAN VILLAGE 1

Abstract

Parents in San Pedro la Laguna occasionally fear that a child will eat the soul of its infant sibling. A ritual is prescribed by a shaman and is carried out under his direction. A young chicken is beaten to death on the back of the older child who must later eat it. The beating symbolizes force and the eating appeasement, frequent elements in local discipline. The ritual need arises in adults due to a fear of aggression because of life-long emphasis on constraint and respect for authority. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)