294 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



IBOLL. 196 



Concept oj immanent justice. — One segment of behavior which is 

 clearly related, to the Harmony Ethic is the persistence of the faith 

 in automatic retribution. It functions as a form of social control 

 which relieves the Cherokee from controlling each other through 

 direct interference. 



A test of immanent justice, given by the Indian Education Research 

 staff to five western tribes, was adapted and administered to Cherokee 

 children and to White children (Havighurst and Neugarten, 1955). 

 A selected sample of 161 Cherokee children, ages 8-19, was tested 

 and the findings were compared with those from White children of 

 the same age from Jackson County. Table 12 shows these findings. 



Table 12.- 



-Percentage of responses indicating belief in immanent justice among 

 Cherokee children and White children ^ 



1 A story was told involvins; the theft of a fish. Two questions were asked which would reveal a belief 

 in automatic consequences: Question A. Why do you think Paul's foot was cut? Question B. If Paul 

 had not stolen the fish would he have cut his foot? 



The difference in the proportion believing in immanent justice be- 

 tween the White 8-11-year-olds and the White 12-19-year-olds is 

 statistically significant. The probability is less than 0.05 that it 

 occurred by chance. ^^ The proportionate difference in the belief 

 between the Indian 8-11-year-olds and the Indian 12-19-year-olds 

 is probably a result of chance variation. There is no significant 

 difference between Indians of the 8-11-year-old group and their 

 White counterparts. The difference between the Indian adolescent 



SI The test of "Significance of Diflerence Between Proportions" was utilized on the answers to the ques- 

 tions for: 



White 8-11-year-olds— White 12-19-year-olds 

 Indian 8-1 1-year-oIds— Indian 12-19-year-olds 

 Indian 8-11-year-olds— White 8-11-year-olds 

 Indian 12-19-year-olds— White 12-19-year-olds 



The distribution of characteristics for samples compared were tested by the formula: 



where: 



■V 



puqu 



pu = 



\ NiN, J 



PS1N1+PS2N2 

 Ni+Ni 



In each case we tested the null hypothesis that the "difference between the proportions of those believing 

 in immanent justice was due to chance variation." The 0.05 level of significance was used. See Hagood 

 and Price, 1952, pp. 313-320. 



