Anthropology is a fascinating field, and within the confines of anthropology one can gain an insight into human psychology. One of these aspects of human behaviour is the variety of ways in which one can reach adulthood through the use of rites of passage.
An interesting paper (Alcorta and Sosis, 2020) reveal the many novel ways in which adolescents go through specialised rituals to gain the status of adult.
A question when reading the article is why there seems to be less of a ritualistic aspect to adolescent coming of age rituals than say other areas of the world including tribal communities. The authors of the paper provide an answer:
- For starters, the process of ritual is a highly costly practice with many signal communicative and otherwise.
- These rituals serve to increase in-group cohesion.
The authors point out that these rituals will be low-cost or absent in societies where the education and economic concerns are subsumed by the state.
Some rituals:
Some of the main points of a ritual are to break down the 'self' of the individual in order to inculcate the values of the group or society.
Not all rituals are painful but a few are
- Lying motionless while ants bite the individual
- Hair pulling ritual among the Tukana Peoples
Even before neuroscience findings - the path from adolescence to adulthood has been recognised.
Understanding the importance of rituals and rites of passage can aid in understanding some of the most basic aspects of human nature.
Reference:
Alcorta, C. and Sosis, R. 'Adolescent Religious Rites of Passage: An Anthropological Perspective' find here: https://richard-sosis.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2243/2020/11/Alcorta-and-Sosis-Rites-of-Passage.pdf
hmmm I'm having mixed feelings around this topic... "trauma bonding" in general is just weird. It reminds me of something my therapist once told me about ducklings...and how the ducklings that are abused the most will stick closer to the mother as they get older whereas the other ducklings who aren't as abused by it's mother wander off and become independent. This trauma bonding to create group think and becoming part of the community could be dangerous...
It reminds me of the beating down that happened to the boys in the documentary "The Family" on Netflix about Jesus Camp.
However, the Javari tribe murders people for sport and this is a necessary "hunting ritual" that warriors go through where they go and quite literally gather the heads of their neighbors... It only happens like once a year or so and I guess the overall crime rate is actually very low because of this ritual.
I had no clue about any of this but I'm intrigued and I look forward to learning more about it. I wonder why painful rituals are included?
I didn't know about these rituals. Thank you for sharing this informative article with us. I wonder, why pulling hair is associated with going through adolescent.