Rites of Passage
The Persistence Of Rites Of Passage
Martha and Morton Fried (1980) surveyed rites of passage associated with the transitions of birth, puberty, marriage, and death in eight societies of different levels of technological advancement. Although these cultures have significant differences, the Frieds have found that the persistence of these ceremonies is not a function of the political system or economy. Social controls were implemented in China, Cuba, and the former members of the Soviet Union to define rites of passage in terms of the communist state. As the Frieds note, these attempts failed. There appears to be a persistence to rites of passage, particularly those associated with life-crises that other mechanisms of the social system cannot efficiently or effectively transport social members through.
Although globalization has compressed both time and space on a world scale (Soja 1989), despite these homogenizing influences cultural distinctiveness at the local level continues to assert itself. For example, African American youth, generally males, are developing meaningful rites of passage to experience and exert a positive sense of self-identity (Brookins 1996; McKenry et al. 1997).
Yet there are other ways rites of passage are being used. Emma Ogilvie and Allan Van Zyle (2001) recently considered incarceration of Aboriginal youth in the remote Northern Territory of Australia as a rite of passage for these young men. In discussing the experience of criminal offending and imprisonment among informants, aged eighteen to twenty-five, from twelve isolated communities, Ogilvie and Van Zyl found that imprisonment "provided access [to] resources unavailable within the original communities . . . The interviews point to detention as an opportunity for a different experience from that available in the remote communities . . . detention provides something new" (2001, p. 4). This is indeed a disturbing reminder that ritual practice is neither always positive nor celebratory.
See also: CHILDHOOD, STAGES OF: ADOLESCENCE; LIFE COURSE THEORY; MARRIAGE CEREMONIES; MENARCHE; SOCIALIZATION
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Other Resources
Locke, L. (1999). "'Don't dream it, be it': The Rocky Horror Picture Show as Cultural Performance." New Directions in Folkore 3 [E-journal]. Available from http://www.temple.edu/isllc/newfolk/journal_ archive.html.
Ogilvie, E., and Van Zyle, A. (2001). Young Indigenous Males, Custody and the Rites of Passage. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. Available from http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ti204.pdf.
BRUCE FREEMAN
USHER FLEISING
Additional topics
Marriage and Family EncyclopediaFamily & Marriage TraditionsRites of Passage - Rites Of Passage Cross-culturally, Cultural Performance, Social Drama, And Rites Of Passage