The phrase “rite of passage” was coined by the anthropologist Arnold van Gennep (1873–1957) in his 1909 book of that title (Fr. “Les rites du passage”). The phrase has become widely known and used to describe those rituals which mark significant life transitions of individuals in a community. Victor Turner (1920–1983) continued the focus on the study of the psychology of rituals and elaborated on the ways in which these rites of passage function to move people from one social status to another (Turner 1969/1995, 1974).
Many of the life passages which are marked by special rituals are age related, though not all. There is often a ritual at or close to the birth in which the child is named and given a place in the family and community. Another period of transition comes at puberty when boys become men and girls become women. In many preindustrial societies, the arrival of puberty shortly follows with marriage, when the individual chooses or is given a mate. This is another major...
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Bibliography
Turner, V. (1974). Dramas, fields, and metaphors. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Turner, V. (1995). The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. (Original work published 1969).
Van Gennep, A. (1960). The rites of passage. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1909).
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Larson, P. (2014). Rites of Passage. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_588
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