Learning About Rites of Passage
Photo by Jonathon Reed
By Jonathon Reed
Last week, a mom wrote to ask if we’ve ever considered having some type of rite of passage ceremony for young adolescent boys. The short answer is yes.
The long answer is that we’re constantly doing research about boyhood masculinities and community- and school-based programs, and recently came across a thought-provoking framework for community-based rites of passage.
The only model I knew before this was a program I helped facilitate in Indonesia that was based on Arnold van Gennep’s The Rites of Passage (published in 1909) and Robert Moore’s King, Warrior, Magician, Lover (published in 1990). So I was interested to find a more recent perspective on how elements of rites of passage could shape community and youth development.
“Rites of passage cannot be seen as ‘just another program.’ They require rethinking the connection between youth and community development.”
What was particularly interesting to me was the deep integration of a program within its community. Blumenkrantz suggests that adolescent development should be seen as an ecological process rather than an individual experience. That’s not a new idea—everyone knows the proverb ‘it takes a village’—but it is an interesting mindset to apply to program development, especially at the critical age of young adolescence.
The other thing that struck me was the value of long-term programming, since coming-of-age is a process that continues for years rather than a one-time event. Next Gen Men’s youth program was designed to be ten weeks in order to be a transformative experience rather than a one-off workshop. But my mind is now being drawn back to Next Gen Mentors, and the potential impact of an educator and school community working together to grow their boys as a multi-year process.
A one-off, meh. Ten weeks, sure. What about three years?
Read more: You can find the full list on The Rite Journey’s blog post Twenty Elements of Rites of Passage or in Blumenkrantz’s article “Rites of Passage as a Framework for Community Interventions with Youth,” published in Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice.
Written by Next Gen Men Program Manager Jonathon Reed as part of Learnings & Unlearnings, a weekly newsletter reflecting on our experiences working with boys and young men. Subscribe to get Learnings & Unlearnings delivered to your email inbox.