scholarly journals The role of third parties in norm enforcement in customary courts among the Enga of Papua New Guinea

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (51) ◽  
pp. 32320-32328
Author(s):  
Polly Wiessner
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Community Support ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Norm Enforcement ◽  
Customary Court

Cultural norms are key to cooperation in human societies. How they are regulated, maintained, and adapted to the change remains a matter of debate. Humans have dispositions for both retributive and restorative justice; recent focus has been on third-party punishment, punitive sanctions by those not directly harmed, as key for norm enforcement. However, punishment does not engage the essential proficiencies and emotions critical to cooperation in small-scale societies with high dependence on collective action, sharing, and exchange. Third-party participation in norm enforcement is examined with data from a 10-y study among the Enga of Papua New Guinea. The Enga have a plural justice system with formal courts practicing retributive justice and customary courts applying restorative measures. Most cases are brought to customary courts. Drawing on observations from 333 village customary court cases concerning assault, marriage, land, and property violations, third-party engagement outside of and during customary court hearings is analyzed. Results show that all sides are heard, restoration is prioritized, and third-party punishment is rare; rather, third parties help with compensation to reintegrate wrongdoers and resolve conflicts. Repeated offenders and free riders receive ever less community support. Third parties contribute substantially both during and outside of customary court sessions to help kin, pursue economic agendas, or gain reputation. They also act generously to build a strong community. Emphasis is on amends to the victim for fairness, not punishment of the offender. Broad third-party participation is maintained throughout times of rapid change to adapt while supporting essential structures of society.

Addressing small-scale forestry informal markets through forest policy revision: A case study in Papua New Guinea

2019 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 104109
Author(s):  
Micah G. Scudder ◽  
Jack Baynes ◽  
Grahame Applegate ◽  
John Herbohn
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Informal Markets

Corrigendum to: Rodent management issues in South Pacific islands: a review with case studies from Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Peter R. Brown ◽  
Ken P. Aplin ◽  
Lyn A. Hinds ◽  
Jens Jacob ◽  
Sarah E. Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Pest Species ◽  
The South ◽  
South Pacific Islands ◽  
Small Scale Farmers

Rodents are a key pest to agricultural and rural island communities of the South Pacific, but there is limited information of their impact on the crops and livelihoods of small-scale farmers. The rodent pest community is known, but the type and scales of damage to different crops on different islands are unknown. Knowledge about rodent pest management in other geographical regions may not be directly transferable to the Pacific region. Many studies on islands have largely focussed on the eradication of rodents from uninhabited islands for conservation benefits. These broadscale eradication efforts are unlikely to translate to inhabited islands because of complex social and agricultural issues. The livelihoods, culture and customs of poor small-scale farmers in the South Pacific have a large bearing on the current management of rodents. The aim of the present review was to describe the rodent problems, impacts and management of rodents on South Pacific islands, and identify gaps for further research. We compared and contrasted two case studies. The situation in Papua New Guinea is emergent as several introduced rodent species are actively invading new areas with wide-ranging implications for human livelihoods and conservation. In Vanuatu, we show how rodent damage on cocoa plantations can be reduced by good orchard hygiene through pruning and weeding, which also has benefits for the management of black pod disease. We conclude that (1) damage levels are unknown and unreported, (2) the impacts on human health are unknown, (3) the relationships between the pest species and their food sources, breeding and movements are not known, and (4) the situation in Papua New Guinea may represent an emergent crisis that warrants further investigation. In addition, there is a need for greater understanding of the invasive history of pest rodents, so as to integrate biological information with management strategies. Ecologically based rodent management can be achieved on Pacific Islands, but only after significant well funded large-scale projects are established and rodent ecologists are trained. We can learn from experiences from other locations such as Southeast Asia to guide the way.

Book Reviews

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-381
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Economic Games ◽  
Experimental Economic

Jeffrey V. Butler of EIEF and University of Nevada, Las Vegas reviews “Experimenting with Social Norms: Fairness and Punishment in Cross-Cultural Perspective”, by Jean Ensminger and Joseph Henrich. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Seventeen papers, plus thirteen case studies available for download only, explore the historical emergence of prosocial norms and their relationship to economic growth. Papers in the text discuss theoretical foundations─the coevolution of social norms, intrinsic motivation, markets, and the institutions of complex societies; cross-cultural methods, sites, and variables; major empirical results─markets, religion, community size, and the evolution of fairness and punishment; and double-blind dictator games in Africa and the United States─differential experimenter effects. Case studies available for download discuss Hadza behavior in three experimental economic games; the effects of sanctions and third-party enforcers on generosity in Papua New Guinea; an experimental investigation of dictators, ultimatums, and punishment; behavioral experiments in the Yasawa Islands, Fiji; economic game behavior among the Shuar; economic experimental game results from the Sursurunga of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea; Maragoli and Gusii farmers in Kenya─strong collective action and high prosocial punishment; sharing, subsistence, and social norms in Northern Siberia; the influence of property rights and institutions for third-party sanctioning on behavior in three experimental economic games; cooperation and punishment in an economically diverse community in highland Tanzania; social preferences among the people of Sanquianga in Colombia; the effects of birthplace and current context on other-regarding preferences in Accra; and prosociality in rural America─evidence from dictator, ultimatum, public goods, and trust games.” Ensminger is Edie and Lew Wasserman Professor of Social Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. Henrich is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Culture, Cognition, and Coevolution in the Economics and Psychology Departments at the University of British Columbia.

Socioeconomic factors that lead to overfishing in small-scale coral reef fisheries of Papua New Guinea

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. CINNER ◽  
T.R. McCLANAHAN
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Socioeconomic Factors ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Trophic Level ◽  
Growth Promotion ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Fishing Pressure ◽  
Endogenous Factors

The coral reefs of Papua New Guinea are among the most species diverse in the world, support an important artisanal fishery, but lack an effective national conservation programme. Increased commercialization, population growth, promotion of fisheries development projects, and the live reef food fish trade are expected to increase demand for the country's reef fish. This paper examines how socioeconomic factors affect the condition of the artisanal multi-species coral reef fishery in six sites in Papua New Guinea. Catch characteristics such as diversity, trophic level and body size by landing site were examined along a fishing pressure gradient. Both exogenous factors such as markets and endogenous factors such as fishing pressure were related to the condition of fish catch. In general, the trophic level and lengths of fish captured in Papua New Guinea were relatively high, but were reduced on reefs with high fishing effort near fish markets. Fisheries showed signs of depletion above c. 25 fishing trips per km2 per day and the proximity of markets was a better indicator of overfishing than human population size. A cross-scale approach to fisheries management is required in Papua New Guinea to coordinate decentralized local management, limit the intrusion of extractive enterprises, and develop policies that seek to minimize exogenous pressures on marine resources.

scholarly journals Recognizing spontaneous facial expressions of emotion in a small-scale society of Papua New Guinea.

Emotion ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Crivelli ◽  
James A. Russell ◽  
Sergio Jarillo ◽  
José-Miguel Fernández-Dols
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Facial Expressions Of Emotion

Local and global benefits of subsidizing tropical forest conservation

2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Economic Modelling ◽  
Tropical Forest Conservation ◽  
Financial Benefits

The article describes and quantifies the financial benefits of small-scale community forestry, conducted on an ecologically sustainable basis—‘eco-forestry’, by customary landowners in Papua New Guinea. Through economic modelling the article also attempts to quantify the global benefits generated. Eco-forestry is subsidized by donors directly and through NGOs in its setting up and certification. Financial modelling suggests that, with a subsidy, eco-forestry is capable of generating a return to landowners that is comparable to industrial logging. While the return to logging followed by conversion to agriculture is much more attractive than eco-forestry, agriculture is an option available only in some locations. Economic modelling finds that the external economic benefits emanating from tropical forest conservation that replaces logging in Papua New Guinea are far greater in scale than the financial benefits to landowners. However, the lack of reliable data on the environmental benefits of forest conservation means that economic analysis is somewhat inconclusive. The need for further research to quantify environmental benefits is thus highlighted. The subsidization of forest conservation directly, instead of indirectly through small-scale forestry, is investigated and found to generate a similar level of economic benefits to eco-forestry. However, the cost of direct subsidization is greater. Moreover, mechanisms for direct subsidy are undeveloped in Papua New Guinea. Donors may prefer to continue to subsidize small-scale forestry where it replaces logging because of its apparent conservation and side benefits and because it is operational, while at the same time exploring and extending cost-effective models of direct conservation that have the advantage over eco-forestry of being applicable in more remote areas. Compared with industrial logging, eco-forestry contributes little to consolidated revenue. Therefore it is to be expected that eco-forestry will meet government resistance if it makes significant inroads into the allocation of logging concessions.

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