Define rites of passage. Describe the three rites of passage phases. Give at least two rites of passage examples

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Rites of passage are special times in an individual's life marked by a change in social status. Both primitive and modern societies set aside times when such changes occur. Some of these changes may occur as a natural part of life cycles (e.g. puberty or death), while others are more individual in nature (e.g. birthdays or graduation).
Rites of passage consist of three phases or role transitions:
• Separation stage, which occurs when the individual is detached from his or her original group or status e.g. the college freshman leaves home.
• Liminality stage, in which the person is literally between statuses, e.g. the new arrival on campus tries to figure out what is happening during orientation week.
• Aggregation stage, which takes place when the person reenters society after the rite of passage is complete, e.g. the student returns home for winter vacation as a college "veteran."
Examples of rites of passage include: a divorce, getting a raise, a birthday, a marriage, a military recruit going to boot camp, an internship completed and a medical practice begun, a novitiate becoming a nun, retirement from a job, and so on. The final rite of passage is death.