Siri' na Pacce and moral logic in the institution of A’massa: Customary Sanctions as a Law of Life in Indonesia

Siri' na Pacce and moral logic in the institution of A’massa: Customary Sanctions as a Law of Life in Indonesia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Siri' na Pacce and moral logic in the institution of A’massa: Customary Sanctions as a Law of Life in Indonesia safriadi safriadi, Andi Filal Fatahillah Fatahillah This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8503518/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study explores A’massa as a living customary institution in Jeneponto, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, analyzing its persistence as a form of plural justice and symbolic resistance rooted in the moral logic of Siri’ na Pacce (honor and empathy). Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and theoretical synthesis from Durkheim, Bourdieu, Giddens, and Habermas, this research interprets A’massa as both a mechanism of collective solidarity and a moral response to the state’s legitimacy crisis in law enforcement. Through qualitative ethnography involving interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, the study finds that A’massa operates as an indigenous judicial system legitimized by communal consensus and moral obligation, reaffirming local authority in a plural legal order. The findings contribute to the global discourse on legal pluralism and restorative justice by showing how moral values and social norms can coexist with modern state law. This article proposes a framework of “moral logic, collective, symbolic resistance” as a conceptual lens to understand cultural adaptation within plural legal contexts. Humanities/Cultural and media studies Social science/Cultural and media studies Humanities/Philosophy Humanities/Religion Social science/Sociology A’massa Siri’ na Pacce customary law symbolic resistance legal pluralism Indonesia Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 16 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 10 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 19 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 14 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 28 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 23 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 23 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8503518","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":591357908,"identity":"5bd2b374-a636-42a1-9056-b1f8117b73c8","order_by":0,"name":"safriadi safriadi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA/0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACxgcMCQzMPEBGA8MHBiAbAiSAXFyA2QCuhXEG0VqABITJg9DCgFOLfPthtg8PaqxldGckN3+2bbuTx99/gPHDDwYLWVxaDM4kM89IOJbOY3YjsU06t+1ZscSNBGbJHgYJY5xaGPIPMySwHQZrYc5tO5zYcIOBQRrol0ScDut/zMyQ8A+spfmzJVDL/PMHmH/j08JwI5mZIbENrKVBmhGoZcOBBDa8thjcANqS2Af0y5mHbZI95w4nbgS60LLHALdf5PuTmRl/fLO2Nzue/vjDj7LDifPOHz5840dFHc4QwwZAMWJAgvpRMApGwSgYBRgAADwIW0E0s5WqAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Hasanuddin University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"safriadi","middleName":"","lastName":"safriadi","suffix":""},{"id":591357909,"identity":"564caac1-d4ef-4685-8e59-ce1655db9d71","order_by":1,"name":"Andi Filal Fatahillah Fatahillah","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hasanuddin University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andi","middleName":"Filal Fatahillah","lastName":"Fatahillah","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-02 22:38:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8503518/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8503518/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102963696,"identity":"b89892a3-69c1-4c94-a175-782b58c2d646","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-19 04:20:08","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":482795,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"InstitutionofAmassa1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8503518/v1_covered_8658be3e-4235-421c-91a4-836f9651b873.pdf"},{"id":102899265,"identity":"a51dfb92-676b-4169-b453-2e6549cc750d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-18 07:40:54","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":30612,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMaterial.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8503518/v1/a798eec9f71f8de29e2630b5.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eSiri' na Pacce and moral logic in the institution of A’massa: Customary Sanctions as a Law of Life in Indonesia\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"A’massa, Siri’ na Pacce, customary law, symbolic resistance, legal pluralism, Indonesia","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8503518/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8503518/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study explores A’massa as a living customary institution in Jeneponto, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, analyzing its persistence as a form of plural justice and symbolic resistance rooted in the moral logic of Siri’ na Pacce (honor and empathy). 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