Winter Blackberry

This dissertation is a review and re-understanding of Margaret Mead's professional life. Margaret Mead is one of the most influential anthropologists both in the USA and the worldwide circle of anthropology. From her first anthropological work till now, Mead is a focus not only in but also out of the discipline. The reason she has been attracting so much attention lies in two aspects. The first is her distinguished contribution to the discipline and the development of human being. The second is the hot debate about her theory and anthropological works, one of which is the famous Mead-Freeman controversy on "Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization". Some of these comments are quite enlightening, but some are not comprehensive and exact .In the 21^st century, when anthropology enters in a totally new stagy, it is of much brilliance to restudy Mead. The dissertation concerns with the Mead's personal life and social background in order to better understand Mead and her anthropological work in a larger historical context. It is also an essence work for the development of anthropology.The second part of this dissertation is to review the Mead-Freeman debate within the social and scientific background in the first and second decades of the 20th century. The following part will deal...