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

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have been important to them, even going as far as to use words such as “sacred” and “spiritual” to describe ritual. One distinguishing characteristic that continued to emerge was that the participants entered the sorority with an established value system. For most, their parents instilled this value system in them. Some of the sorority women voiced that they did not join a sorority with the expectation that the sorority was going to teach them values. The expectation was either that the sorority would reaffirm or compliment the values that they held or that the sorority experience was going to be something that they would enjoy and values did not enter into the decision process. Participants did not expect sorority membership to change their prior beliefs and values. Several of them indicated that their personal beliefs and values were similar to the “standards” of their sorority, but that the ritual itself did not form those values for those women. None of the participants indicated that they expected the sorority to provide a value system to them. Some women indicated that the values expressed and demonstrated by the sorority helped them in choosing which sorority to join. They decided to join a group that had values that were similar to their own. Values stated and displayed during membership recruitment by the sorority members made an impression on those women who were deciding which group to join. These values were expressed either during the sharing of sorority creeds and mottoes or were demonstrated through the words and actions of the members. The participants who indicated that they were aware of the sorority values prior to joining indicated that those values did have an impact when deciding which sorority they ultimately wanted to join. This process clearly illustrates Heider’s attribution theory, as explained by Aronson et al. (1999). The women seek a like-minded group of women and desire to join a group with a similar value system either because they want to behave in a certain way because of their 114
internal value system or they know they will be held to a certain behavior by the situation in which they place themselves. They seek a group that will reinforce the beliefs that they hold to be important. Several of the participants indicated similarities between sorority ritual and religious types of ceremonies that have been important to them. Some of the participants used words such as “sacred” and “spiritual” to exemplify the parallels that they perceived between the sorority ritual and religious ceremonies. Several of the participants related the ritual ceremony to that of a church service with some of them using the analogy of some type of Catholic service or ritual specifically. These participants see ritual as solemn, contemplative, and formal. The ritual atmosphere, including candles, singing, and recitation of some type of vows or promises, invokes thoughts of weddings or other religious ceremonies. The participants’ association between religious beliefs and the ritual ceremony was not unexpected as some of the sororities were founded on religious principles and many incorporate religious symbols into their rituals. For many of the participants, the very nature of the ritual in a ceremonial context invoked association with religious ceremonies, even if they did not see themselves as “religious” or “spiritual” women. Sorority Women’s Perception of Ritual The second theme conveyed by the participants’ descriptions was the sorority women’s perception of ritual as a bonding experience, as a tradition, or as a required activity. The sorority women stated that participation in ritual serves to remind them of the purpose of their organization. They indicated that ritual made them focus on what was important and some went as far as to state that people actually treated other members with more respect after participating in ritual. Victor Turner (1969) noted this “restoration of behavior” as part of his investigation of 115
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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
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theorist/researcher in the area of
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Ritual as a Rite of Passage Underst
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we are and giving meaning to us wit
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am I? Well, as I see it, I am a per
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Value Congruence Research conducted
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the majority of authors . . . have
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To better understand Gilligan’s F
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only women, all with varying opinio
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member transitions to a leader/role
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development. The isolation period a
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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 and 102: participants’ feelings about the
Page 103 and 104: A few of the participants expressed
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: This study included both private an
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
Page 153 and 154: APPENDIX B PROFILE QUESTIONS 143
Page 155 and 156: APPENDIX C INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 145
Page 157 and 158: general? What would you say that th
Page 159 and 160: APPENDIX D (LETTER TO THE GREEK ADV
Page 161 and 162: APPENDIX E NATIONAL PANHELLENIC CON
Page 163 and 164: six months doing literature researc
Page 165 and 166: common knowledge similarities--the
Page 167 and 168: Correspondence II To: Shelia Barnes
Page 169 and 170: I truly appreciate your guidance an
Page 171 and 172: Application for Exemption from IRB
Page 173 and 174: VITA Mari Ann Callais was born in 1
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Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

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