Ch. 4: Mountain Rituals
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A day in the life of the survivors  despite conditions – a reassuring order slowly emerged among the survivors
Raphael Eschavarren – injured badly in the crash - Right calf muscle was nearly torn off – it was twisted around to the front
covering his shin - Excruciating pain – over time his condition worsened – his leg became septic and his toes were numb &
purple from frostbite
a. Others helped as best they could  Canessa rigged a hammock, they regularly massaged his feet to try to get the
circulation going
b. Fierce determination – began each day with “I am Rafael Eschavarren, and I swear I shall return”
i. Often the will to live is the difference between survival and death (but not always) – his fighting spirit
eventually succumbed to his body being too far gone
c. The other survivors challenge was the inverse of Eschavarren’s - Their bodies could survive, if only they could keep
their spirits from deteriorating in the cold mountain air
i. They met this challenge in the same way humans have for thousands of years – by using ritual for
inspiration, emotional cohesion, and as a continual reminder of who they were and what their lives
were all about
The Mountain Grind (Daily Routine)
a. Survival required daily effort & the crews had their assigned tasks (Cabin cleaners, water makers, food prep-ers,
doctors doing rounds)
b. Midday Ritual = lined up for their main meal  everyone had his place in line, cafeteria style to receive their ration,
the cousins oversaw the process ensuring everyone received his allotted portion: more for the workers, less for the
parasites, & most for the expeditionaries
i. Bobby Francois - NO MATTER WHAT, YOU CAN’T LET FAMILY STARVE
c. Night Ritual = lined up in pairs in their assigned sleeping order, everyone had a sleeping partner – traded shoulder
punches, foot rubs, and over means of starving off frostbite; rotating the line daily so that those sleeping in the
coldest spots one night had the warmest the next, shoes were stowed in the hat-rack, they talked at first but as
calm and quiet grew – prayer dominated until sleep came
i. Carlitos Paez – 2 important functions (one practical & one spiritual)
1. Tapiador (the wall builder)
2. Groups ritual leader – each night he led the rosary – in the darkness this rhythmic chanting could
be hypnotic and was undoubtedly profoundly spiritual for many
d. Interruptions in the average daily routines = Birthday celebrations  extra cigarettes, a cake make of snow, &
Havana cigars found in the luggage (these items served as gifts); Feast days  The rosary was occasionally
augmented with special prayers: Immaculate Conception or on the anniversary of a loved one’s death
i. In this way, the group broke their normal routine with special celebrations, which (1) marked time & (2)
reminded them of the comforting normalcy of home
e. Carlitos Paez - 30 years later, what he says about routines - “Men are creatures of habit”
i. Routines give people a sense of stability, predictability & security – they allow humans to control their
circumstances, even if that control is more illusory then real (as in the case of the survivors)
f. Domestic rituals and routines are much more than just this
i. For humans, rituals and routines are the first layer of the human habitat = the survivors were “humanizing”
the mountain – carving out a tiny, fragile bit of the mountains ecosystem capable of supporting a
distinctly human form of living
Being a Guest
a. Dinner (1) – food is left on the stove, & you’re invited to grab a plate and help yourself. Some sit at the kitchen
table, others are eating and watching TV, & a teenage daughter stands in the kitchen eating a few things while
talking on her cell phone  the scene is very relaxed, with people coming and going – you chat with your hosts,
eat, leave.
b. Dinner (2) – sit at the sinner table as the food is brought in, one chair remains empty despite its place still being set
(host explains, oldest brother serving in the military), once the food is served you reach for your fork only to notice
no one else has done so – return your fork back to its place, you notice that someone has helped the gmaw to her
chair and that only after she is seated do people begin to eat and converse – when the phone rings no one answers
it
c. First inclination – 2nd family is the more “ritualized” dinnertime routine & this may be correct but not necessarily
because: The critical aspect of ritualization is intentionality. Although things could be done in one way, they are
intentionally done in another – therefore the 1st family could be acting as intentionally as the 2nd – in this case,
both families’ rituals (although different) are indicative of their values and priorities
d. 2nd family values and priorities
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Respect for familial hierarchy is obvious: oldest brothers place is still set, the family doesn't eat until
gmaw sits down
ii. The group takes precedence over the individual – so phone convos must wait until dinner is over
e. 1st families values and priorities
i. individual rights (sit where you are comfortable) & responsibilities (get your own food) are highlighted
f. Important point - all families have their own rituals and routines – which serve to highlight and transmit their
normative standards
g. As the invited guest – status = outsider, as a result you must be careful, attentive, and on your guard to avoid
offending or just looking socially inept; Contrast between your hyper-vigilance & everyone else’s relaxed
confidence = unnerving sometimes
i. Hosts know their own rules = second nature. But you don’t = the effort & attention you have to expend
clearly indicate that you aren’t one of them; Although you don’t really “belong” here, this has nothing to
do with hosts being inhospitable or unfriendly – its just that you’re not one of the family
Family Rituals & Routines
a. Families – create bonds through domestic routines and rituals: Repetitive daily activities, broken up by
occasional celebrations and ceremonies, make up the core of family life.
i. These activities = social glue holding families together and protecting them from the dissipative forces
of narcissism & neglect
ii. Families with strong rituals and routines are more enduring than those without them
iii. Strong familial rituals and routines are associated with better social, emotional, and academic
outcomes for children
iv. For families in the “real” world – rituals & routines = socially adaptive practices
Family Rituals & Routines on the Mountain
a. For the survivors – routines and rituals were the ties binding them to one another and to life itself
b. Two months in their conditions turned the survivors in to more than just a team or tribe = they became family
Family Rituals
a. Psychologists Lisa Schuck & Jane Bucy define family rituals as: repetitious, highly valued, symbolic social activities
that transmit the family’s enduring values, attitudes, & goals
b. Lie at the heart of a families culture, and they create and reinforce the family members’ emotional commitment to
one another; Give family members confidence and a sense of belonging
c. Universal & can be categorized into 3 types:
i. Family celebrations – highly organized activated that are fairly standard within a culture and are usually
associated with religious and secular holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving) or rites of passage and transition
(baptism, graduation)
ii. Family traditions – Moderately organized activities that are less culturally specific than celebrations and
more idiosyncratic to specific families – such as: vacations, visits to relatives, and family reunions
iii. Daily rituals – family interactions that are highly family specific in form but are carried out more
frequently than celebrations or traditions – including: repetitive behaviors associated with sleeping
(bedtime rituals), eating (dinner rituals) and welcoming & parting
Routines
a. Differ from rituals only by degrees of meaningfulness
b. In general – routines are more purely instrumental (doing the dishes, making the bed) and involve activities that
family members have to do rather than want to do
Overlap
a. A routine can become a ritual if the family gives it special meaning
i. Using the “clean up after dinner” routine as a way to teach teamwork & sharing responsibilities
b. Rituals can become routines when they are perceived as having lost their meaning or become too burdensome
i. When visiting relatives becomes an onerous duty
c. Some regular activities may have both routine and ritual elements
i. Mealtime may have routine and not very meaningful actions (setting the table, combined with ritualized
and meaningful actions (deciding on seating arrangements and saying grace)
Research on family ritual & Routine
a. Psychologists Mary Spagnola & Barbara Fiese = family rituals and routines are critical mechanisms for socializing
culturally acceptable behavior in young children - Through rituals & routines – children learn how to become
responsible, considerate members of a community
b. Mealtime
i. Rituals and routines associated with a simple family meal teach children how to be polite
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ii. Require children to sit quietly with others at a table, to take turns speaking, say “please” when making
requests, to wait for food to be passed to them rather than reaching across the table for it, to use a
napkin rather than their shirt, * numerous other mundane demands that teach patience, respect for
others, and self-restraint
iii. Empirical observations
1. Confirmed that mealtime rituals are an important means of transmitting and reinforcing
normative social behavior
iv. Help teach children the importance of conversational turn taking & the social value of attendance (simply
being present at an activity)
v. Social roles and duties highlighted at mealtimes (1) Family hierarchy is often reinforced by seating
patterns (2) Roles are responsibilities of family and community life are enacted and reinforced
vi. Measurable cultural differences have been found in the expectations and treatment of infants and young
children during mealtime
vii. Other evidence confirms the importance of family rituals & routines to children’s social, emotional &
academic development (LARGELY CORRELATIONAL) – the findings are consistent – a higher frequency of
and commitment to family rituals predict more socially competent, confident, & successful children
viii. Exposure to Language (Inherent in many family rituals (mealtime or book reading) undoubtedly helps with
later academic success)
ix. Family rituals also help prepare children for the transition to a structured school environment
1. Help children appreciate the orderly temporal structure & culturally based behavioral
expectations associated with that structure
Lack of Routines
a. Found to be a significant predictor of behavioral problems in children & conduct disorders in adolescents
b. When children engage in more daily living routines – parents reports indicate that they have fewer behavioral
problems
Adolescents (Families with strong emotional commitment to their rituals = more positive self-identity & fewer anxious
symptoms, especially under high-risk conditions (divorce, domestic illness, substance abuse) )
Overall this Research Suggests
a. Family rituals and routines are important for transmitting normative values & behavioral expectations to children
b. Largely correlational – demonstrating that those who engage more often in domestic routines & rituals have a
variety of positive social, emotional, & intellectual outcomes (Cannot say definitively that rituals cause these
positive outcomes)
c. Specific causes = undoubtedly multifaceted, with family rituals & routines playing an important but not necessarily
exclusive role
d. At minimum = provides an unambiguous way for children to observe & internalize norms, values, and behavioral
expectations
What is Ritual?
a. Male baboons – peculiar ritual to indicate friendly intention = scrotum grasp
b. Ritualized actions are formalized, rule governed, attention-getting behaviors designed to send an important social
signal
i. Formalized = an action that has ben segregated from a larger behavioral sequence & subsequently is
exaggerated, restricted, or stylized in its presentation
1. “Mommy, pick me up”
2. has the effect of isolating the most informative part of a larger behavioral sequence &
emphasizing it in order to convey a message more effectively
ii. Rule governed – action must follow a prescribed sequence or be executed in a specific way
1. Helps eliminate ambiguous signals
iii. Attention getting – designed to send an important message, need to grab the recipients attention so that
he/she doesn’t miss the signal
1. Repetition & exaggeration are the means by which ritual attracts & hold ones attention
Ritual vs. Ritualized Behavior
a. Ritualized Behavior – emancipation, formalization, & rule governed repetition of elementary gestures
i. Widespread in the animal kingdom & evolutionarily very old
ii. Natures solution to the need for cautious, exact, effective communication between members of the same
species
b. Ritual - broader term referring to a variety of scripted, ceremonial, & symbolic activities
i. Only humans have rituals
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ii. Rituals usually include ritualized behaviors as well as other important features: sacredness, symbolism,
traditionalism, & performance
c. Human rituals
i. The ritual behaviors are embedded in the larger ritual itself
ii. Ex: worship @ a mosque –
Baby Rituals
a. The earliest social exchanges between infants & their mother can be understood as ritualized interactions
b. These interactions have all the essential features of ritualized behaviors: (attention getting, rule governed,
invariantly sequenced, formalized, repetitious social exchanges)
c. Motherese or infant directed speech (IDS) – characterized by high-pitched, slowly paced speech with exaggerated
& extended vowel sounds – makes it attractive to infants & therefore effective in getting their attention
Mother infant interactions = involve repetitive behaviors that follow a strict sequence described by developmental
psychologist Edward Tronick + colleagues
a. Initiation – either participant engages the attention of the other
b. Mutual orientation – infants initial excitement calms & the caregivers vocalizations become soothing
c. Greeting – characterized by the infants smiling & moving his or her limbs & the caregivers becoming more
animated
d. Play dialogue – the infant & caregiver take turns exchanging sounds & gestures
Proto conversation
a. Dialogue phase involves mutual turn taking = resemblance to adult verbal interactions
b. Following the same general pattern as adults engaged in vocal convo
c. Rule governed exchanges
d. Infants not only detect rule violations but they also protest them
“Still-face” studies: mother & infant establish turn taking interaction, the mother unexpectedly assumes a nonresponsive,
emotionally blank facial expression
a. Effect on the infant = dramatic, mood quickly switching from chattiness to unease – often looks away and then
attempts to reengage the caregiver with a wary smile
b. When the attempts fail – infant increasingly withdraws, agitation mounting the longer the still face remains
oriented toward her
c. Still face is definitely distressing to the infant BUT can we attribute the distress to the rule violation “when its
your turn to vocalize/gesture, you should vocalize/gesture?
Empirical support for rule violation being the reason for the infants reaction to the still face
a. Studies using video mediated interactions between mothers & infants
b. Mothers & infants see & hear each other on live video displays
c. After turn taking interaction is established – a delay is introduced so that the mothers gestures and vocalizations
are no longer synchronized with the infants
i. Point = to determine whether the infants distress to the still face disruption is due to the mothers
unresponsiveness or is because of a perceived violation of conversation rules
d. Time delay manipulation – mother continues to respond to infant with face remaining oriented toward infant,
along with smiles & positive vocals – the mother isn’t emotionally rejecting her infant – but behavior is no longer
properly coordinated – “turn taking” is disrupted
i. Infants as young as two months show that they are aware of the change through fewer smiles, + looks
away, + closed mouth expressions and + general puzzlement & confusion
e. NOT just the mothers unresponsiveness or failure to orient that causes distress, INSTEAD – it is her failure to
conform to the expectation of contingent behavioral exchange (expectation acquired at two months)
Formalization – seen in social games between infants & caregivers (peek a boo) in which restricted, stylized gestures (hands
over the eyes, representing a hidden face) are commonplace
a. Also – most of the infant/caregiver interactions over the first few months feature simplified, exaggerated,
repetitious movements & facial expressions (motionese)
i. Ex: exaggerated movements when feeding the baby (airplane)
Infants mature
a. Both motionese & IDS aspects of infant/caregiver interactions continue to be highly salient when adults are
modeling behavioral skills to toddlers & young children
i. Use utensils, picking up toys, tying shoes…
b. A lot of practical skills children must acquire are typically demonstrated to them by adults using attention-getting,
repetitious, exaggerated gestures & vocalizations (sing/song melodies) that demonstrate the necessary behavioral
actions
Overall
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These early interactions are marked by the very same features that define ritualized behaviors: formalized,
attention getting, repetitious, & rule governed
b. Ritualized behaviors are the primary mechanism by which we introduce infants & children to the adult social world
c. Why is ritualized behavior so important in this respect? By ritualizing actions, we reduce ambiguity – we give
infants & children a clear & simple message. We are trying to teach them the rules, the norms, of social life
Melon Eater Island example
Intentionality
a. Remember ch 1: series of studies showing children willingly imitated useless but seemingly ritual actions when
those actions were deliberately modeled by adults – these children are assuming that when adults obviously &
intentionally perform a certain act, there must be a good reason for it & therefore they should replicate it, even if
they don't understand why
i. Key to this assumption = intentionality
b. Other studies show that infants & children will not imitate acts that appear to be unintentional
Is a child’s over-imitation better explained as stemming from a declarative belief or behavioral procedure?
a. When a child watches an adult stroking a feather 3 times over a jar before opening it – does the child learn a
declarative belief/rule (don’t open the jar unless a feather has been stroked 3 times over the top) OR behavioral
procedure (perform the following behaviors to open a jar: stroke the feather 3 times, turn lid counterclockwise
until it stops, pull lid up)
b. (4&5 yo) use a stick to retrieve objects from a box – before inserting stick, it was first placed into a dial at the top
of a box & dial was rotated
i. Children – nearly all performed the causally irrelevant act (over-imitation)
ii. Did they do this because they learned a rule or because they learned a behavioral procedure?
c. To answer – 2nd condition – before giving stick to child the experimenter placed it into the dial and turned it. What
would the child do now?
i. If rule was learned – then the rule had been fulfilled (dial was turned) so – she should immediately start
using the stick to retrieve items from the box
ii. If behavioral procedure was learned – then still put the stick in the dial, rotate it, then start retrieving Why? Bc even though the dial had been turned the child had not yet preformed the behavioral act of
placing the stick in the dial and turning it
iii. What happened? Most immediately retrieved items demonstrating they had learned a declarative belief
or rule
1. They did not know why this rule had to be followed & most of them understood that rotating the
dial was not causally necessary for retrieving – they only knew it ought to be done (although not
necessarily by them)
Conclusion
a. Infants & children use ritualized behaviors as a means of acquiring rules or norms regarding proper social behavior
b. They use ritualized beahviors because they are intentional
c. By their very nature – the fact that they are formalized, repetitious, exaggerated, & rule based  ritualized
behaviors signal intentionality
i. Catherine Bell (Ritual Specialist) “this is different, deliberate, & significant – PAY ATTENTION!”
Ritual Against Danger
a. Maori haka ritual – made famous by the All Blacks, New Zealands national rugby team (their version of the haka is
called ka-mate (a war haka or peruperu) - Before each match – face their opponents & engage in a synchronized
display of hand slapping, feet stomping, chest pumping, tongue wagging, and eye popping chanting & dancing designed to intimidate their opponents
b. Going to war = serious matter – before embarking on such a potentially dangerous endeavor – the Maori engaged
in ritual – believed that a well-synchronized prebattle haka was a good omen
c. Lienard & Boyer (20060) point out that community rituals are common during times of stress, threat, or danger
d. Haka’s not restricted to war – also used to welcome strangers, part of a funeral, or as part of various celebrations
& ceremonies  all these occasions = in some way = transitional moments that carry with them varying degrees of
stress & uncertainty
e. Transition points
i. Ritual occasions often situated @ stress or inflection points of individuals community life (christenings,
marriages, truces, inaugurations, rain dances, anointing’s, commencements, initiations = highly ritualized
affairs & all mark important & potentially precarious transition points
ii. Mealtime – though more mundane – potentially hazardous inflection point. Family members reunite after
being apart all day – some had good/bad days – all must eat but have had different days resulting in
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different dispositions at dinner – an established behavioral pattern – who does what when and how may
help avoid unwanted domestic unrest
iii. Athletic competition – awaiting potential thrill of victory or agony of defeat = stressful & ritualizing the
execution of skilled behaviors is a common strategy for improving performance (Ex: free throws, batters
routine)
f. It makes sense to ritualize the actions associated with stressful events or transitions – making sure that the
message is clear, that the procedures are scripted, that ambiguities & misunderstandings are avoided
g. WHERE THERE IS DANGER THERE IS RITUAL
h. Lives with most transitions = children & evidence shows that ritualized behaviors peak around age 5 – just when
children are starting school or making their first moves outside the home environment
i. Sticklers for precise routines & perfectionists regarding orders and procedures
ii. Often see deviations & improvisations as dangerous (how the Maori saw a badly executed haka as an
invitation to defeat)
iii. In a life marked with new schools, friends, & constantly evolving roles and responsibilities = makes sense
to identify social rules most likely to lead to success = not surprising children both seek out ritualized
behavior (in order to learn the rules) & then meticulously enact it (in order to correctly follow those rules
i. Ritualized actions highlight the social rules & behavioral norms that guide one through potentially dangerous or
precarious situations
j. Synchrony of the All Blacks = signal to one another and to their foes – their commitment to unity, discipline,
bravery, & other warrior ethics
k. Ritualized action embodies the groups values & those values guide behavior in the face of danger
Ritual vs. Mountain
a. Obvious survivors facing stressful, hazardous conditions (injured, hungry, & trapped) BUT as odd as it is these were
not the greatest threats to their survival
b. Greatest threat = themselves; most fragile link in the survival chain = resisting the “every man for himself”
mentality
i. Could they cooperate, work together, face the challenges as a community OR would they descend into
a self-imploding mob of individual interests?
c. They needed exactly what ritual provides: set of social norms that guide behavior through hazardous conditions
WHAT WERE THOSE NORMS?
LEADERSHIP BY CONSENSUS
a. Before the rosary each night – discussion: favorite foods, families, rugby, occasionally deeper issues
(theology/political philosophy)
b. Routine reinforced an important core value of the community = participatory decision making
c. Cousins = leaders – but leadership was predicated on merit and consensus. Fito Strauch did not campaign to be
chief (elevated by actions)
d. One point Carlitos & Harley pressed for public anointing – Fito declined not because he shrank from responsibility
but because there was no need to formalize what had naturally evolved
i. Others would listen regardless if he carried the title of leader
e. The listening part was crucial to the cousins leadership – if others were going to listen to them – they would have
to make arguments, give reasons, & convince others of a certain course of action
i. Discussion, debate, and finally group decision
SHARED BURDENS
a. @ 1st – slept where they wanted – but became obvious that this particular inflection point in the day was ripe for
conflict
b. Developed a systematic routine for transitioning from the outside world of daytime to nighttime
c. This bedtime routine enacted one of the groups core social values, the sharing of the mountains burdens and
discomforts
d. Under the circumstances – more than just a social value, it was a survival value
PRIVILEGES LINKED WITH RESPONSIBILITIES
a. Mealtime – using the bodies of dead friends as food was most unpleasant & dividing it up fairly to everyone’s
satisfaction was challenging
b. Cousins = architects of mountain social policy – responsibility of processing and rationing the food - Initial
butchering of human bodies – once meat was cut it was passed on to a 2nd team to be prepared for consumption –
sliced meat into smaller, more easily edible pieces & dry it in the sun on the fuselage
c. Secondary process = easier – detached from the body and more easily objectified – for their part = granted limited
pilfering rights (one out of every five or ten pieces could be consumed on the spot) as long as pilfering did not
become too extreme – authorities turned blind eye
d.
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Rations – no one was denied food – basic ration = handful; workers = a little more; expeditionaries = as much as
they wanted
e. Expeditionaries = compared to others had privileged lives but it was on them that the groups hopes for rescue
rested
KEEPING THE FAITH
a. Survivors shared a common religious tradition – Roman Catholicism
b. But within their ranks – their commitment varied (devout – skeptical)
c. Questioning God & even blaming him for their suffering was not an uncommon topic of debate among the
survivors
d. Regardless of personal feelings – no one protested reciting the rosary
e. Ritual meant different things to different people
i. Devout = sincere & heartfelt petition to their God for strength, mercy, & maybe even a miracle
ii. Skeptical = mental relaxation, help sleep, preserve sanity
f. Group solidarity, expressed and reinforced in communal prayer – was more important than any single personal
doubts or misgivings about the supernatural (but no one put himself above the ritual)
WE ARE FAMILY
a. Fought & reconciled, threatened lazy with starvation but their hearts caved before following through, celebrated
birthdays with whatever gifts they could find, ate & slept together, huddled in pairs against cold, prayed for
strength to make it through another day
b. 72 days – used rituals and routines to pronounce one unambiguous message to their mountain prison = our
fates are interlocked; we are family
Questions:
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How is ritual associated with danger?
How did the daily routine of the survivors aid in their survival?
How are rituals and routines similar and how do they differ?
How and why do infants and children use ritualized behaviors?
Explain the reasoning behind over-imitation. What drives children to engage in this
behavior?