Incest in Different Cultures

Paper Summary:

This paper outlines the issues related to incest as a social taboo with reference to the Jewish, Native American and Malagasy cultures. The paper attempts to identify what is wrong with the practice of incest. The paper points out that incest does not have one common level between different cultures and the practice while considered illegal and immoral in some places, may be perfectly acceptable in others.

Contents:
Definition of Incest
Modern Prohibition
Jews
Native Americans
Malagasy
Advantages and Disadvantages
American Culture Compared
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Modern day society in western culture prohibits marriages within the inner group where the parents are considered to belong to the same genes night trigger genetic defects in their children. Most societies condemn incest or marriage within the same circle especially children from the same parents or brothers and sisters etc. This incest taboo is considered to be too close and might result in genetic deformity. There are few cultures in the world today that condone incest taboo the reason being that modern theories consider the psychological and the sociological effects of such unions are too great to be ignored."

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