AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

Volume 10, pages 325-332

Book Reviews

Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes, by Frans de Waal. New
York: Harper and Row, 1982.223 pages.

The task of reviewing a book about chimpanzee politics during 1984, a presidential
election year in the United States, produces a certain irreverent attitude toward both
chimpanzee and human politics. While the goal of most primatologists and compara-
tive psychologists is to learn more about our own species by studying others, de Waal
and many of the more interesting animal behaviorists have turned this around; they
freely use explanatory generalizations derived from human behavior to help them
understand what other species are up to. The result in this book is a wonderfully
insightful treatise on the social uses of power in one of our nearest relatives; it is
fascinating and very readable, if one is willing to suspend one’s scruples about
anthropomorphism in science. But one dismaying consequence for me was a tendency
to see some American political figures in terms of de Waal’s vivid portrayals of the
chimpanzee characters that he observed while collecting his data. Not all of the
comparisons were odious.
Despite the whimsy it elicits and its provocative title this is a serious scientific
book based on the author’s observations over the course of six years at the Burgers’
Zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands. In many ways the seminatural conditions that
prevail in modern enlightened zoological gardens are superior to both laboratory and
field study situations: in the lab large animals are excessively and unnaturally con-
strained for studying much of their social behavior, while in fieldwork in exotic
locales many important interactions are missed because the observer was somewhere
else, or because the fanbelt was broken on the Land Rover and the investigator was
off in Nairobi buying a new one. In a seminatural situation nearly everything that
happens can be observed in almost natural conditions, the major problem being that
the animals do not have to find their own food so that they have more free time than
their wild counterparts.
There are four general sections in de Waal’s book: an outline of communication
mechanisms in chimpanzees, character sketches of most of the group members,
several dynamic case histories of transitions in power relationships, and a discussion
of conceptual mechanisms that were observed (e.g., reciprocity, strategic intelligence,
and triadic awareness). Throughout there is a heavy reliance on specific examples
and interpretations by an experienced observer. Over 100 different behavior patterns
were observed-patterns that are often described in interpretive language that may
bother some readers. These include seeking reassurance, recruiting support, reconcil-
326 Book Reviews

iation (that typically includes lussing), instigating fights (in which females get one
male to attack another), and forming coalitions. There are lots of photographs-many
of which achieve the status of portraits-but few tables or figures. References to
regular journal articles by the author are given in a useful bibiliography for those
readers suspicious of prose and pictures without tabulated data.
Characters such as “Big Mama” must become indelibly etched on the reader’s
memory: initially lacking much interest in sex or maternity, she was responsible for
most of the group members’ injuries. Her somewhat bemused achievement of moth-
erhood reduced her aggressiveness but not the power that she wielded. Yeroen, the
erstwhile alpha male, achieved nearly 100% of the copulations with adult females
until he was deposed by Luit. As John Dean pointed out during the Watergate
investigation, power does appear to serve as an aphrodisiac.
Strength and size are not the sole determinants of chimpanzee power or aggressive-
ness. Deposing Yeroen took his wily successor two months, with long periods of
peace and torpor punctuated by fights among the principals and their allies that were
apparently caused by the shifting balance of power. Fights were frequently followed
by reconciliation, characterized by kissing and intense appeasement by the combatants.
As de Waal points out, the earlier view of animal social behavior among Western
observers stressed dominance, competition, and territorial prerogatives. More re-
cently this “ladder,” view has been tempered by the “network” emphasis stressed by
Japanese primatologists, as well as by Western scientists such as Robert Hinde.
Kinship and friendship relationships are the crucial aspects of the social fabric,
according to this viewpoint. De Waal concludes that the views are complementary,
based on his work: dominance is certainly important, but is not sufficient for describ-
ing the full richness of chimpanzee social life or politics. He ends this fascinating
book by suggesting that while human political players (i.e., all of us) usually disguise
their personal motives behind idealism, chimpanzees are quite open about their goals.
Their political behavior appears to serve the larger goals of cohesiveness and stability,
and may thus be seen as a constructive force. Instead of decrying human politics as a
dirty necessity, de Waal suggests that we should be honored to be classed as political
animals. Not the sort of lesson one expects from an animal behavior book.

Ronald Baenninger
Professor of Psychology
Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Torture in the Eighties. An Amnesty International Report. London: Amnesty

International Publications, 1984. 264 pp, (US) $5.95.

Torture as defined by the United Nations Declaration Against Torture includes any
act by which “severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally
inflicted . . . by or at the instigation of a public official.” It is “an aggravated and
deliberate form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” The
resolution prohibiting torture was unanimously adopted by the United Nations in
1975. Furthermore, it is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and most