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28 JuLY 2008
NO 1327
Rites of passage
Initiation rites – prosocial and adult-sanctioned, as well as antisocial – are understood to consist of four stages. First, the candidate is separated from society in some manner. Second, a period of preparation is undertaken, generally guided by a non-parental elder (often referred to as mentorship). Third, a transitional action or drama is enacted. This symbolic event, – the vision quest, for example – tends to be highly charged with emotionally laden symbolism. Usually, the transitional drama includes special dress or body decoration, and the associated rituals are undertaken with emotional intensity. At this point, the candidate has one foot in childhood or his or her past status and one foot in the adult world or the new association. Finally, the successful candidate is brought back into society and greeted into his or her new identity (acknowledgment) (Delaney, 1995; Vizedom, 1976).
Although, as Edward Butler states later in this issue of Reaching Today's Youth, this sequence of actions that marks the passage from youth to adulthood seems to fill a powerful psychological need, mere actions are not sufficient. Effective passages require deep, spiritual meaning:
a rite of passage is a spiritual and psychological undertaking; one dance, one book cannot be expected to achieve the internal shift from childhood to adulthood. Sufficient time must be contributed by the elder, the initiate, and the community. (Delaney, 1995, p. 897)
Recognition by all parties of the importance of these adulthood rituals seems to be central to creating their meaning and ensuring their subsequent success. Without acceptance of these stages by the adult world, young people are caught in a limbo – many existing as biological adults, but lacking the lore and permission from elders to fruitfully take on satisfying, grown-up actions. They may be seen as playing at adulthood rather than thoroughly embracing healthy, sanctioned roles.
This lack of culturally significant recognition of adulthood has caused many scholars to propose the reinstitution of rites of passage. Robert Bly's book Iron John* (1992) is one example of the call for more mentoring by elders of adolescent males into adulthood. The transition movement in special education is another example of the new importance being placed on adolescence as a period of transition. The Africentric rites of passage movement exemplifies efforts to recover formalized rituals that have roots in traditional African folkways.
JOHN HOOVER
Hoover, John. (1998). Signs and signals on the road to adulthood: Adolescent rites of passage. Reaching Today's Youth, 3, 1. p.3.
REFERENCES
Bly, Robert. (1992). Iron John. New York. Vintage Books.
Delaney, C.H. (1995). The Power of Myth. New York. Doubleday.
Vizedom, M. (1976). Rites and relationships: Rites of passage and contemporary anthropology. Beverley Hills, CA. Sage Publications.
*
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