Comprehensive Behavior Management Individualized Classroom and Schoolwide Approaches 2nd Edition Ebook PDF Version
Comprehensive Behavior Management Individualized Classroom and Schoolwide Approaches 2nd Edition Ebook PDF Version
Comprehensive Behavior Management Individualized Classroom and Schoolwide Approaches 2nd Edition Ebook PDF Version
Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xxi
Glossary 393
References 407
Index 420
About the Authors 432
Preface
Purpose
One of the most critical issues facing teachers and related-services personnel today is
behavior management. Behavior management consistently ranks as the most concern-
ing issue in surveys completed by school personnel. Unfortunately, most do not feel
well equipped to deal with the multitude of behavior problems they see every day in
the schools. We wrote this textbook with these individuals in mind. It is critical for
teachers and related personnel to receive high-quality training in behavior manage-
ment; a solid textbook written by experts in the field that incorporates evidence-based
best practices is an important foundational aspect of this training.
This textbook is designed differently from other management texts. We wrote this
textbook to aid teachers and related-services personnel in the planning processes that
must take place when preventing or responding to behavior management issues. We
see this planning as occurring across three levels of support—individualized, class-
room, and schoolwide. Other textbooks do not provide the balanced coverage of these
levels of support as is done in this text. For example, many textbooks provide extensive
coverage of classroom management supports but provide little, if any, coverage of
schoolwide or individualized supports. Other texts provide extensive coverage of indi-
vidualized supports but provide little, if any, coverage of schoolwide and classroom
supports. Therefore, our goal is to provide extensive coverage of all three levels of sup-
port to help teachers and related-services personnel to plan for and respond to behav-
ior management issues effectively.
This textbook can be used with undergraduate or graduate students in general
education, special education, and educational and school psychology. Instructors
teaching courses on behavior management, the principles of behavior, applied learning
theory, and the classroom applications of educational psychology will find this text-
book helpful.
Additionally, consultants and administrators can use this textbook as a founda-
tional text for those receiving inservice training on individualized, classroom, and
schoolwide support planning. Target audiences include teachers and related-services
personnel (e.g., school psychologists, counselors, social workers, behavior specialists,
and instructional assistants).
xvii
xviii ❖ Comprehensive Behavior Management
First, we added a new author, Dr. Mark O’Reilly, from the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. O’Reilly brings specific expertise in individualized behavior management
approaches including functional behavior assessments and behavior support plans. He
also has a long and successful record in applied behavior analysis.
Second, we changed the title of the textbook to reflect the trend of addressing
behavior management support as a comprehensive issue rather than an individual one.
This comprehensive approach incorporates individual, classroom (including instruc-
tional), and schoolwide supports (including those for nonclassroom settings such as
the cafeteria, playground, and hallways).
Third, the sequence of the chapters was changed to reflect how the material is most
frequently taught in college classes. In the current edition, the chapter sequence in Part I
remains the same. In Part II, individualized supports are described (this content was
covered in Part IV of the first edition). Classroom supports continue to be addressed
in Part III. Part IV contains information on schoolwide supports (this information was
covered in Part II in the first edition). Finally, the term supports replaces organizational
systems in the title of chapters to better reflect current terminology in the field.
Preface ❖ xix
Finally, all chapters were updated with current research, corresponding citations,
additional tables and figures, and rewritten pedagogical features.
Chapter-Specific Changes
•• Test Bank (Word): This Word test bank offers a diverse set of test questions and answers
for each chapter of the book. Multiple-choice and short-answer/essay questions for
every chapter help instructors assess students’ progress and understanding.
•• PowerPoint Slides: Chapter-specific slide presentations offer assistance with lecture and
review preparation by highlighting essential content, features, and artwork from the book.
•• SAGE Journal Articles: A “Learning From SAGE Journal Articles” feature provides
access to recent, relevant full-text articles from SAGE’s leading research journals.
xx ❖ Comprehensive Behavior Management
Each article supports and expands on the concepts presented in the chapter. This fea-
ture also provides discussion questions to focus and guide student interpretation.
•• Web Resources: These links to relevant websites direct instructors to additional
resources for further research on important chapter topics.
•• Lecture Notes: These lecture notes summarize key concepts on a chapter-by-chapter
basis to help instructors prepare for lectures and class discussions.
•• Answers to In-Text Questions: The site provides answers to the chapter discussion
questions found at the end of each chapter.
•• Course Syllabi: Sample syllabi—for semester, quarter, and online classes—provide sug-
gested models for instructors to use when creating the syllabi for their courses.
We believe the changes and additions made to this second edition have signifi-
cantly improved the quality of the textbook. We are confident the new information will
be regarded as an important addition to the understanding of comprehensive and
evidence-based behavior management supports.
SAGE would like to gratefully acknowledge the following peer reviewers for their editorial
insight and guidance:
W e dedicate this book to our families. Further, to complete this textbook, several
individuals were involved. We would like to thank all those at Sage for their
continued support in the entirety of the project, especially Diane McDaniel, without
whom this project would not have come to fruition. We would like to thank Karen E.
Taylor for her excellent editorial work. To the students who helped with tasks associ-
ated with the production of this text—Crosby Wilson and Alana Neis—we extend our
sincere thanks. And finally, we wish to thank the reviewers who provided invaluable
feedback and suggestions to help us produce a better product.
xxi
Part I
Introduction to
Behavior
Management
1
Behavior Management
Models
Chapter Objectives
2
Chapter 1 Behavior Management Models ❖ 3
MS. JACKSON HAS A STUDENT in her seventh-grade classroom who is having difficulty due to his
angry outbursts. Ms. Jackson has tried a variety of techniques to decrease José’s outbursts, all without
success. She has tried telling him how his actions affect others. She has also tried to help him manage
his anger by counting to 10 before he speaks. As a last resort, Ms. Jackson has been sending José to
the office, where he talks about his anger with a school counselor.
Ms. Jackson does not know what to do. She has discussed the problem with other teachers and has
tried their suggestions. She has asked José’s parents to help her by talking with José and by not allowing
him to play video games after school if he has a difficult day.
Ms. Jackson recently learned José had been assessed two years previously for a suspected behavior
disorder. The assessment team, however, determined he did not meet the criteria for such a disability. She
has also learned José has had counseling services over the last few years but to no avail. Most teachers
believe José is simply a student who has difficulty controlling his anger and that the best way to prevent
his angry outbursts is to stay away from him and not to make any demands when he is in a bad mood.
Ms. Jackson, however, believes that not making demands on José to prevent outbursts is not a viable
option. She believes doing so is not really helping her or José. She also believes her job is to teach José
how to act appropriately while he is in her classroom. Therefore, Ms. Jackson decides to journey into
the world of behavior management approaches to see what has been found to work in situations such
as hers.
Overview
The topic of how to manage student behavior (i.e., a clearly defined and observable
act) in schools has been around as long as there have been schools. Behavior man-
agement has been and still is the chief concern of educators across the country
(Dunlap, Iovannone, Wilson, Kincaid, & Strain, 2010; Westling, 2010). When stu-
dents misbehave, they learn less and keep their peers from learning. Classroom
behavior problems take up teachers’ time and disrupt the classroom and school. In
fact, difficulty managing student behavior is cited as a factor associated with teacher
burnout and dissatisfaction. For example, “50 percent of urban teachers leave the
profession within the first five years of their career, citing behavior problems and
management as factors influencing their decision to leave” (McKinney, Campbell-
Whately, & Kea, 2005, p. 16). More should be done to create effective classroom
environments through the use of better classroom management approaches
(McKinney et al., 2005; Westling, 2010).
Every year, “new and improved” behavior management approaches hit the schools
only to be thrown out by the end of the year. There are at least five possible causes for
this cycle. First, preservice teachers may not be trained well in behavior management
methods. Typically, a single classroom management class that provides a superficial
view of behavior management is offered. Second, teachers may not be trained to ana-
lyze research on behavior management approaches. We tend to flock to the “flavor of
4 ❖ Part I Introduction to Behavior Management
the month” procedures without a great deal of regard for what has been shown to
work. Third, there is no unified theory of behavior management. Because the causes of
behavior problems are often not agreed on, teachers may become confused about the
causes of student behavior. Fourth, schools often do not have a seamless and consistent
approach to behavior management utilized across classrooms, teachers, and grade
levels. Teachers tend to implement their own procedures causing confusion on the part
of students. Finally, behavior management is often viewed as a reactive approach to
behavior problems rather than as a proactive one.
We believe behavior management planning must occur at three levels. Figure 1.1
shows behavior management as three concentric circles. The smallest circle relates to
the implementation of individualized behavior management supports for the most
troubled students. Traditionally, behavior management training in special educa-
tion has occurred at the individualized level. The middle circle is handled from a
classroom perspective and includes effective instructional supports. Behavioral and
academic programming are key aspects in the prevention of and reaction to problem
behavior in the classroom. The largest circle represents schoolwide supports designed
Schoolwide Supports
Classroom Supports
Individualized
Supports
Chapter 1 Behavior Management Models ❖ 5
What Is Discipline?
Over the years, discipline has been equated with punishment, specifically, corporal
punish ment. Punishment and discipline, however, are not the same thing.
Discipline involves teaching others right from wrong. Specifically, discipline
includes methods to prevent or respond to behavior problems so they do not occur
in the future (Slavin, 2009). The following are common definitions of the word
disc ipline found in most dictionaries: training to act in accordance with rules,
instruction, and exercise designed to train proper conduct or action; behavior in
accordance with rules of conduct; and a set or system of rules and regulations. As
seen in these definitions, discipline is about teaching students how to behave
appropriately in different situations. It is not punishment, although punishment is
one possible way of disciplining students.
6 ❖ Part I Introduction to Behavior Management
Reality Students are self-regulating and can learn to manage their own behavior.
Therapy Students learn responsible behavior by examining a full range of consequences for their
behavior and by making value judgments about their behavior and its consequences.
Student behavior consists of an effort to satisfy personal needs for survival, belonging
and love, power, freedom, and fun.
Students have a unique way of satisfying their own needs.
Students cannot be forced to change what they believe about how best to satisfy their
needs.
There must be a warm, supportive classroom environment where students can
complete quality work and feel good about themselves.
Students should be asked to do only useful work, to do the best they can, and to
evaluate their own work to improve upon it.
Rules should be developed in the classroom.
Teachers should establish a level of mutual respect with the students.
Coercion should never be used in schools to control student behavior. If coercion is
used, mistrust will prevail.
Love and Each student’s self-concept is always a prime consideration.
Logic Students should always be left feeling as if they have some control.
An equal balance of consequences and empathy should replace punishment whenever
possible.
Students should be required to do more thinking than the adults do.
There are three types of teaching and parenting styles: helicopters, drill sergeants, and
consultants.
Teachers should focus on being consultants to their students.
Adults should set firm limits in loving ways without anger, lectures, or threats.
When students cause a problem, teachers should hand it back in loving ways.
(Continued)
8 ❖ Part I Introduction to Behavior Management
Table 1.1 (Continued)
Assertive Discipline
Canter and colleagues developed the assertive discipline model, originally based on nine
major aspects (shown in Table 1.1). As seen in the table, discipline rests on how the
teacher responds to misbehavior. It is up to the teacher to keep students in line during
class. Canter and colleagues have modified assertive discipline over the years (Charles,
1996; Malmgren, Trezek, & Paul, 2005). Originally, Canter tried to get teachers to be
strong leaders in the classroom. Therefore, his focus was on getting and keeping teachers
in charge. In more recent times, however, Canter emphasizes the importance of focusing
10 ❖ Part I Introduction to Behavior Management
on student needs by talking with students more and teaching them how to behave
appropriately. Therefore, Canter modified his model to make it more focused on posi-
tive discipline methods than on the use of force and coercion.
Canter and Canter (1992) describe the following five steps of assertive discipline.
First, teachers must acknowledge that they can and do affect student behavior. Second,
teachers must learn to display an assertive response style, which is the most effective
style they can have. Third, teachers must make a discipline plan that contains good
rules and clear, effective consequences. Fourth, teachers must provide student instruc-
tion on the discipline plan. Finally, teachers should instruct students on how to behave
responsibly.
Malmgren et al. (2005) summarized the four main components of the model.
First, teachers should develop a set of rules for the classroom. Second, teachers should
determine a set of positive consequences for following the rules. Third, teachers should
establish a set of negative consequences for not following the rules. Finally, teachers
should implement the model with the students.
Even after being taught the discipline plan, however, some students will continue
to misbehave. Three approaches are used to work with these difficult students. First, a
one-on-one problem-solving conference is scheduled at which the student and the
teacher try to gain insight into the student’s behavior. The purpose is not to punish the
student but to provide guidance. Second, a relationship is built from the use of positive
support. The teacher should show the student that he or she cares about the student as
a person and should make an attempt to get to know the student on a more personal
basis. The student must feel that the teacher truly cares about him or her. Finally, an
individualized behavior plan should be developed that is more specialized to the stu-
dent’s individual needs compared with the needs of the other students.
Analysis. Assertive discipline is based on the assumptions that teachers are the
leaders of the classroom and that they should use punishment to bring control to the
classroom, if needed. A major positive aspect of assertive discipline is the concept that
student behavior in a classroom results from what teachers do in the classroom. Also,
Canter has attempted to add more proactive methods of preventing management
problems through teaching students about rules and expectations. Unfortunately,
assertive discipline has several major weaknesses. An operational definition of punish-
ment (see Chapter 2) is not used. Punishment is assumed to be in effect with Assertive
Discipline. Second, there is inadequate research to suggest the approach works. Much
of the reported data on assertive discipline includes teacher testimonials or perceptions
(e.g., Wood, Hodges, & Aljunied, 1996) or poor research (Nicholls & Houghton, 1995;
Swinson & Cording, 2002). Although testimonials are important to consider, other
important data sources are missing, and many questions remain unanswered. Does
assertive discipline result in a decrease in the level of student misbehavior in the class-
room as measured by direct observation? Does assertive discipline result in a decrease
in the level of office referrals? A third problem is the reliance on threats, warnings, and
a discipline hierarchy. Research evidence suggests threats and warnings tend to escalate
problem behaviors in the classroom (Nelson, 1996b). When teachers use threats
and warnings, students are more likely to become aggressive than when threats and
Chapter 1 Behavior Management Models ❖ 11
warnings are not used. Finally, Canter misuses the term consequence to suggest it refers
only to punishment. A consequence is anything that occurs, such as a reinforcer or
punisher, after a behavior occurs.
Assertive discipline seems to be a behavior reduction method that can work under
certain circumstances. Unfortunately, if assertive discipline does work to suppress
unwanted behavior, it does so in a manner that may well make the long-term problem of
disruptive behavior worse. The use of threats and warnings along with a lack of reinforce-
ment for appropriate behavior may seriously compromise the efficacy of this approach.
Logical Consequences
Dreikurs (1968) developed the logical consequences model, built on the belief that
we learn through our interactions with the environment. Within this interaction,
behaviors are exposed to three types of negative consequences: natural, arbitrary,
and logical (Clarizio, 1986). Table 1.1 lists several major aspects of logical conse-
quences. (See Dreikurs, Cassel, & Ferguson, 2004, for an expanded discussion of
these concepts.) It is important to point out that teachers using logical conse-
quences should attempt to prevent behavior issues by avoiding power struggles with
students (Malmgren et al., 2005).
Natural consequences are those consequences that normally occur without any
teacher intervention when we engage in some type of behavior. These are usually the
most effective form of negative consequence for stopping unwanted behavior. A natu-
ral consequence of fighting is to get hurt. A natural consequence of lying is that no one
believes the liar. A natural consequence of calling others names is to be ignored by
peers. A problem with natural consequences is that they may be either too minor to
have an effect, such as if a student breaks a toy when other toys are available, or they
are not allowed to occur, such as when we prevent someone from being beaten up
when a fight starts.
If we cannot rely on natural consequences under all circumstances, we have a
choice as educators as to the type of consequences we can use; we can choose either
arbitrary consequences or logical ones. Arbitrary consequences are those conse-
quences that are not aligned with the offense. An arbitrary consequence for fighting is
to send the student to the principal’s office. An arbitrary consequence for a student
who lies is that the student loses computer time. An arbitrary consequence for calling
others names is to send the student to time out. For those behaviors that do not have
natural consequences, arbitrary consequences can be applied, and these could involve
sending a student to in-school suspension for a temper tantrum or taking away free
time for drawing on a desk.
The second option is for teachers to use logical consequences rather than arbi-
trary consequences. Logical consequences are connected in some manner to the
offense. A logical consequence for fighting during recess is to prevent the student from
going to recess for a week. A logical consequence for a student who lies is for the
teacher to tell the student he or she is not believable. For temper tantrums, a logical
12 ❖ Part I Introduction to Behavior Management
consequence is to remove the student from class until he or she calms down. When
teachers have the option of using either arbitrary or logical consequences, logical con-
sequences should be chosen.
Analysis. The basic assumption made in the logical consequences model might be
correct: the motivation for classroom behavior might be to attract attention. Many
students are motivated by gaining attention from teachers or peers. Whether this moti-
vation is conscious or unconscious, however, is difficult to demonstrate. It seems
adequate to determine if the motivation is or is not attention. Unfortunately, other
motivational areas (e.g., exercising power, exacting revenge, or displaying inadequacy)
are all inferences that cannot be substantiated through direct observation. In other
words, to suggest that students are misbehaving in a classroom because they are
attempting to exercise power is based on what the students are receiving in return for
the behavior (e.g., to gain a tangible item). This return for the behavior is then inferred
to be what motivated the behavior, and students are said to have a need for power. The
major difficulty with this line of thought is that the focus is on the student as the cause
of the behavior rather than on what the teachers do in response to student behavior.
The assumption that students behave more appropriately when they suffer logical
consequences is also problematic. Although it is true that if logical consequences are
effective the unwanted behavior will be less likely to continue, this does not mean that
appropriate behavior will follow. What is needed, then, are logical consequences for
appropriate behavior as well.
Another difficulty is that proponents of the logical consequences model equate
arbitrary consequences with punishment. Logical consequences, however, can also
function as punishment. In addition, what is an arbitrary consequence in one instance
(e.g., sending the student to a part of the room away from peers for work refusal) may
be a logical consequence in another context (e.g., sending the student away from peers
for hitting another student). Therefore, what makes something an arbitrary or logical
consequence is not the consequence in and of itself but the context in which it is pre-
sented. In other words, arbitrary and logical consequences can be the same things.
Both types of consequences are provided to eliminate the behavior; thus, they are both
meant to be punishers. Unfortunately, logical consequences may not be severe enough
to overcome the reinforcement of the student’s actions.
Two of the model’s precepts are adequate: that students can learn to understand
their own motives and that they should be provided with choices. Teaching students
to determine why they emit certain behaviors is an important skill. Also, providing
a choice of activities to students has been shown to increase the likelihood students
will complete the chosen activity (Dunlap et al., 1994; Vaughn & Horner, 1997).
Thus, allowing student choice should be part of a management program implemented
in a classroom.
The logical consequences model can be an effective method of behavior manage-
ment if implemented without the inferences of various motivations. The research base
for this model, however, is limited (Grossman, 1995). Therefore, before the logical
consequences model is used, we should make sure the approach has been determined
to be effective through research.
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DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.