This book explores the role of aggression in primate social systems and its implication for human behaviour. Of particular interest are questions such as: how do primates use aggression to maintain social organization; what are the costs of agression; and why do some primates avoid aggressive behaviour altogether?
Violence and peacefulness as behavioral potentialities of primates; Aggression as a well-integrated part of primate social relationships; A critique of the Seville statement on violence; Dominance hierarchies as partial orders: a new look at old ideas; Determinants of aggression in squirrel monkeys; Causes and consequences of nonaggression among the woolly spider monkey or muriqui; The development of dominance relations before puberty in cercopithecene societies; The development of agonistic and affiliative structures in preschool children; Cultures of war and peace; A comparative study of waorani and semai; The rise, maintenece and destruction of peaceable polity: a preliminary essay in political ecology; Social structure, psychocultural dispositions and violent conflict: extensions from a cross-cultural study.
"It did succeed brilliantly in widening the narrow focus of the SSV by providing a more balance view of what 'science does know about aggression and violence in humans and other animals.'. . .you will finish with the. . .sense that aggression and peacefulness is an urgent issues, and that good, responsible science is imperative since science and society cannot be separated." --American Journal of Physical Anthropology
"Rich in data and clear thinking. Most of the contributions are competent and readable summaries of the state of affairs within the respective disciplines. . .a must for primatologists, anthropologists, students of war and peace and in general anyone interested in the comparative and/or evolutionary study of behavior. . .the book looks, feels and smells good." --Human Ethology Newsletter
"Timely. . .11 well-presented essays bring together recent perspectives. . .exciting. . .It does move us toward a clearer understanding of both aggression and peacefulness." --A