Ostracism: A Social and Biological Phenomenon

Ostracism: A Social and Biological Phenomenon explores the limits of the formal process of social participation. Based on the Second Monterey Dunes Conference on "Law and Behavioral Research," the essays in this volume explore the coercive exclusion of selected individuals in groups of primates, in preliterate human societies, and in complex legal cultures. Recognizing that the effects of ostracism are often unwelcome and controversial, an interdisciplinary analysis of ostracism combining biology, law, and the social sciences produces insights into a common area of behavior that none of these fields alone can provide and increases our understanding of both human nature and the functions of law.