Someone posted privately to me wondering how the terrorists who attacked the US, as well as others throughout history (e.g., Ghengis Khan), could become so violent given that they were likely to have been breastfed for a long time. Others have posted similar questions to LACTNET. My response is: Mothering and childrearing are much more than breastfeeding. In some cultures nurslings are breastfed in what we would consider an attachment parenting manner until the age of two or so--at which point in time they may be abruptly weaned. I have read of cultures in which children are taken to live in another village with relatives away from their mothers at weaning. (Off the top of my head, I don't recall in which cultures and at what point in history such practices occurred. Perhaps Kathy D. can comment.) Cultures are full of contradictions and inconsistencies--at least in the eyes of other cultures. And people can be taught to be very loving and protective toward their in-group (those with whom they feel they share a common destiny) and hateful and hostile to their out-groups. People view each other differently based on what group they belong to (friend/foe, kin/stranger). Such categorization is a universal psychological process--it is culturally adaptive to some degree in that it permits us (like other cultural practices do) to quickly know how we should behave without having to spend more time and energy than we typically have pondering the "right" course of action. However, it also poses hazards like prejudice and stereotype when we never stop to think that we might have miscategorized, that what our culture taught us about others might be wrong, that we might be far more alike than we are different... These issues are highly relevant whenever we are working with breastfeeding mothers whose cultural heritage differs from our own. *Each of us,* me included, runs the risk of hasty miscategorizations (a.k.a. stereotyping, prejudice) that can cause harm. It takes intentional effort to reduce that risk. Wishing for a world in which we all realize that we really do share a common destiny, Cynthia Cynthia Good Mojab, MS Clinical Psychology (Breastfeeding mother, advocate, independent [cross-cultural] researcher and author; LLL Leader and Research Associate in the LLLI Publications Department; and former psychotherapist currently busy nurturing her own little one.) Ammawell Email: [log in to unmask] Web site: http://members.home.net/ammawell *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html