Learning Journal 8: Dilemmas

The topic of aggression that I have been trying to study for the last couple of months is continuing to give me concerns.  I still find the topic to be very interesting.  I enjoy researching about aggression and reading articles that have previously been published on the topic, however, I am concerned that my topic might be a sensitive topic for the Tongan people.  Unfortunately,  I can't figure out how to tell if this is true.  I am confused as to how I am supposed to know how the people will react to my questions about their aggression norms without being around them.  I am continuing to look up articles on aggression and on the Tongan people, but am having little luck finding articles that touch both of those topics.  On the bright side, I have found an article that addresses how women in Tongan display their anger, and think that this will be very helpful to me.

In order to prepare myself for my Field Study, I have tried to put myself in culturally unfamiliar places.  For example, I attended a baptist church by myself.  It was very interesting to be in such a different church environment than the one I am used to.  I went into the situation with a very open mind, which kept me from being judgmental, or thinking to myself "that's wrong" or "why aren't they wearing dresses?"  I thought to myself that it would be very easy to think those kinds of things, but because I went into the church trying to learn what they do and not compare it to what I believe, I was able to gain a whole new perspective.  There were several things about the church that I even thought "I wish we did that in my church."  I think this helped reiterate to me the importance of going to Tonga with an open mind and just trying to learn about their lifestyles. When you go into something thinking I am going to learn and not judge, it makes it a lot easier to have a good experience.

The last dilemma that I have had this week came from my book search.  As I previously mentioned, finding a book about Tonga has been very difficult for me.  However, I found a book titled, " American Taboo," that I am considering using for my review.  The book is not directly about Tonga, but rather about a murder of an American woman working in the Peace Corps, that took place in Tonga.  As far as I can tell, the book addresses some of the cultural aspects about Tonga.  However, it seems like it might be a little of a stretch to get it to relate to the Field Study.  For this reason, I have also considered reading a book called, "Guns, Germs, and Steel."  This one isn't about Tonga exactly either, but is more about societies on a whole and seems like it addresses culture more than my other choice. Another decision I need to make!