Prime Specimens

The animals, alone aren’t enough.
How did Sharif and his conspirators feel about having manipulated the boys? What if some part of that camp experience had a profound effect on one of the boys?
Ledearch, Neufeldt and Culbertson discuss the reflective practice. “Specifically, we suggest that beyond hard work and solid planning, peacebuilders reflect explicitly on “how things work,” on what they have learned from experience, and on developing experience-based theory.” (Lederach, 3) Even Adam Kahane in Solving Tough Problems (2007) recognizes the value of reflection, quoting Nelson Mandela. “It was a tragedy to lose the best days of your life, but you learned a lot. You had time to think—to stand away from yourself, to look at yourself from a distance, to see the contradictions in yourself.” (Kahahe, p. 86).
Beyond that, Lederach also identifies the necessity of ethics in practice. “People are relationships are the core of peacebuilding, and it is essential to care for and value people in both planning and evaluation.” (Lederach, 14). He cites issues of undue stress, coercion, confidentiality, protection, realistic expectations, share findings and respect as included within that reach. (Lederach, 15)
I am troubled by Sharif and his experiments on these children. I recognize that this happened in the 1960s and perhaps we shouldn’t hold him to the same ethical standard that we have today. However, when Berreby includes him in this book, and cites him as inspiration for the other series of experiments on children throughout the world, I find Berreby equally culpable. He is just promoting and propagating this ideology and that’s why I have such an emotional and yet still, rational reaction.
Donald Fixico describes his communities’ experience with anthropologists. Anthropologists are those “… whose chief concern, aside from furthering their careers, is to put Indians under a social microscope, to reduce the people whose lives they study to object instead of treating them like human beings.” (Fixico, 133).
The Times has a story which is illustrated by a photo of the family in the 1940’s film, Cheaper by the Dozen. I cut the little boys’ heads off and glue them to Wallace’s tagged bird bodies. Sharif’s specimens.