In this reprint from 1964, Cohen, who was a professor of anthropology at Rutgers U., examines why there are two distinct ideas of liability in the legal and ethical systems of different
societies and looks at the problem through the ways these societies treat the transition from childhood to adolescence, as it is the period when a sense of responsibility aligned with the goals
of the society is implanted in the child. He specifically considers the ways that incest taboos are taught, discussing the biological changes in the body and how they are accompanied by
psychological effects, incest taboos as a result of a need for privacy, the system of sociological boundaries that is the nuclear family, identity, and rites of passage in different cultures,
and how these factors converge and relate to legal liability in these societies. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
