Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

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just basic things that your parents taught you anyway, like how to be a good person . . . it is not very different from what you have already been taught.” Another participant stated: In relationship to what my own ritual and my sorority values and beliefs, I believe that I follow them on a day to day basis, but I don’t feel like the sorority taught me all of that . . . my standards are actually the standards that my parents taught me many years ago. These participants did not see their sorority ritual as teaching them anything different about their values than what they brought with them when they entered the organization: For me, ritual has affirmed what I learned at home. It hasn’t made me any more receiving to different values because, for the most part, a lot of my opinions about life were kind of formed before I went to college…not to say that I am not willing to change, but I don’t know many people that come out of college drastically different. A few of the participants said that the personal values they had before they joined their sorority have not changed due to the sorority experience because they are essentially the same: I have not drastically changed since I joined my sorority . . . I think that ritual gives a group of women common principles and a common direction which is extremely helpful, but that direction isn’t drastically different from what I was given at home. I try to carry myself well and it is as much for my family and friends as it is for my sorority. Another stated that: “I believe that my word is my honor and when I say that I’m going to do something, I am going to do it . . . that is just the way that I was brought up.” These comments clearly reinforce the conclusions of a study of the social ecology of sororities by Risman (1982), which states “sororities act in loco parentis, fraternities do not” (p. 241). Sororities take on the role of the parents in maintaining values, rules, and societal norms for interaction. As pointed out by Komives and Schuh (1988), this may seem restrictive and non-developmental, but conversely, actually serves to help develop and maintain appropriate behavior. 92
A few of the participants expressed the belief that their parents taught them the foundation for their “values” but their sorority ritual is “intertwined” with what they were taught by their parents. For example: I feel that my parents instilled morals and values in me that I have lived by since I was five years old. I also feel like if I had not joined my sorority, that I would not be the person that I am today either. I think that the core values that my parents taught me are intertwined with the responsibility that my sorority has taught me. The sorority’s standards just happen to be the same standards that I was taught years ago. Another participant reiterated this: “For me, ritual leads back to the way I was raised and my personal values because I have very high standards of myself.” Some participants also indicated that the sorority ritual was not a means of creating values for women who entered the sorority without a basic foundation of values and beliefs: I think that how people understand ritual and what it means to them has a lot to do with the way that they were brought up. People who are hearing values and things like that for the first time or who haven’t heard it through their lives, just kind of let it pass by. The research conducted by Burnett, Moody, and Vaughan (1997) indicates that potential members seek a sorority environment that has values that parallel their own. This is clearly indicated in the comments of the participants who have entered the sororities with an established value system that parallels the values expressed through the sorority’s ritual. Their comments regarding other members who lack a basic foundation of values may actually indicate not a lack of values, but rather a difference in values. In choosing a sorority, it has been shown that women seek groups with the same values (Burnett, et al. 1997). Perhaps it is not the ethical standards and values expressed in ritual that these women sought, but rather some type of other value, such as friendship, popularity, physical attractiveness, or social opportunity. 93
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SORORITY RITUALS: RITES OF PASSAGE
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful
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for teaching me that a group of peo
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TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ......
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CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, REC
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Each year th
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The member groups of the National P
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hopes of the founders rather than t
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ceremony is complete, that person i
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80,000 women join sororities. On mo
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issues, and topics …that formerly
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when do we use it? How do we use it
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the sorority experience has on the
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The lack of information concerning
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of the NPC member groups, and to co
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Thi
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Ritual Ceremonies and Symbolism in
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Robson writes further: In a world c
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strengthened by encountering differ
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student initiated and created to au
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Gradually, however, they took over
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Following the founding of Kappa Alp
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efer to themselves as "service" org
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Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity Lombard C
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What Is Ritual? In order to explain
Page 51 and 52: theorist/researcher in the area of
Page 53 and 54: Ritual as a Rite of Passage Underst
Page 55 and 56: we are and giving meaning to us wit
Page 57 and 58: am I? Well, as I see it, I am a per
Page 59 and 60: Value Congruence Research conducted
Page 61 and 62: the majority of authors . . . have
Page 63 and 64: To better understand Gilligan’s F
Page 65 and 66: only women, all with varying opinio
Page 67 and 68: member transitions to a leader/role
Page 69 and 70: development. The isolation period a
Page 71 and 72: Gilligan’s point that sex differe
Page 73 and 74: undergraduate members. Understandin
Page 75 and 76: not an option. Actual observance of
Page 77 and 78: Role of the NPC Research Committee
Page 79 and 80: the chapters were part of large nat
Page 81 and 82: where I was able to travel based up
Page 83 and 84: a whole. I piloted the interview qu
Page 85 and 86: These categories were reflective of
Page 87 and 88: participated in my sorority ritual,
Page 89 and 90: sorority women was a cognitive asse
Page 91 and 92: In addition, only one participant w
Page 93 and 94: school. Sixteen (31%) sophomore par
Page 95 and 96: itual among themselves outside of t
Page 97 and 98: was founded in 1978. Their average
Page 99 and 100: chapters ranging in size from 150 t
Page 101: participants’ feelings about the
Page 105 and 106: Several of the participants related
Page 107 and 108: One of the participants explained w
Page 109 and 110: During new member education, you le
Page 111 and 112: Women’s Development within the So
Page 113 and 114: Comments from several of the partic
Page 115 and 116: When I first joined my sorority, I
Page 117 and 118: the participants referred to other
Page 119 and 120: I think that ritual has made me a b
Page 121 and 122: The reasons that the participants g
Page 123 and 124: This study included both private an
Page 125 and 126: internal value system or they know
Page 127 and 128: sorority women’s length of member
Page 129 and 130: when an 18-year old woman joins a s
Page 131 and 132: ehavior of sorority women, it must
Page 133 and 134: * The level of responsibility and /
Page 135 and 136: to evaluate sorority women and the
Page 137 and 138: they are and what role ritual has i
Page 139 and 140: numbers vary from chapter to chapte
Page 141 and 142: that those ceremonies can bring to
Page 143 and 144: Butler, E. R. (1990). Initiations r
Page 145 and 146: Kuh, G. D., & Arnold, J. C. (1992).
Page 147 and 148: Pennington, D., Zvonkovic, A. C., W
Page 149 and 150: Taylor, S.E., Peplau, L.A., C Sears
Page 151 and 152: APPENDIX A CONSENT FORM 141
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APPENDIX B PROFILE QUESTIONS 143
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APPENDIX C INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 145
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general? What would you say that th
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APPENDIX D (LETTER TO THE GREEK ADV
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APPENDIX E NATIONAL PANHELLENIC CON
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six months doing literature researc
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common knowledge similarities--the
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Correspondence II To: Shelia Barnes
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I truly appreciate your guidance an
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Application for Exemption from IRB
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VITA Mari Ann Callais was born in 1
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