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

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this level, members of sororities may not get pass the superficial aspect of sorority life. Decisions may be made based upon “pleasing others” rather than based on an understanding of the entire sorority experience including ritual. Sorority women at Level 2 may only focus on the social and will not move on to something more meaningful and to a deeper level of development. It may be that Gilligan’s Level 3 would be the member within the sorority who realizes through a number of different experiences that “she has become an active and equally valid participant in the decision-making process.” Perhaps this development occurs not necessarily because of the age or year of the sorority member, but because of her capacity to see her abilities and what she has to offer the sorority. This could be attributed as to why a younger member may become president or an officer, not because of her age or experience, but because of her development. By this stage in their development, women are usually becoming secure enough with themselves that they value their own moral reasoning and judgment. At this level “the woman’s criteria for decision making is predicated upon a transformed understanding of interpersonal connectedness and on care for others” (Muss, 1988, p. 235). Often, juniors and seniors begin to see their role in the sorority as being the ones who share their “wisdom” with the younger members. However, it may not be their age or year in school that enables them to understand this role. Rather, it may be their personal development and the impact, or lack thereof, of the sorority on their experiences that has led to their belief that they are the ones who can make the difference. At this level, some women may also begin to see themselves as leaders and take on leadership roles within the sorority. For some members, exceptions to this level are that some members feel that they are outgrowing the sorority and begin to break away. It may or may not be that, at this level, the quality of the sorority experience helps to determine whether the 56
member transitions to a leader/role model/mentor, or sees the sorority experience as insignificant in her personal, educational and professional development. I have attempted to place sorority membership in levels that connect to Gilligan’s Female Stages of Moral Reasoning. These levels represent the growth that a woman experiences as she develops as a person within the sorority. It must be noted that the examples given are just a few and that exceptions do exist. Like the studies that have been conducted concerning adolescent development, the impact of sorority culture on sorority women continues to be evaluated. Through my own experiences and having worked with chapters on various campuses, Gilligan’s theory is very consistent with observation of sorority women. Gilligan's Female Stages of Moral Reasoning can be applied possibly to all college women. In this particular example the comparison is directly made to the development of sorority women. Although development has been discussed in the context of age, various other aspects of development such as moral, intellectual, and social, provide understanding of sorority women and their development. As mentioned earlier, several studies have been conducted concerning moral development and intellectual development of sorority women. As indicated through those studies, women, including sorority women, develop not only because of their age or year in school, but because of the experiences that happen during that time. The experiences of a woman in a sorority impact their development as well. This development may be based upon social experiences, sisterhood experiences, as well as various other experiences, but may not be linked to the their experiences with ritual specifically. Another viewpoint in the area of women’s developmental theories is that of Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule (1986). These authors believe that empowerment is an important issue in developing the power of one’s (women’s) mind. They state “that they 57
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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
Page 15 and 16: hopes of the founders rather than t
Page 17 and 18: ceremony is complete, that person i
Page 19 and 20: 80,000 women join sororities. On mo
Page 21 and 22: issues, and topics …that formerly
Page 23 and 24: when do we use it? How do we use it
Page 25 and 26: the sorority experience has on the
Page 27 and 28: The lack of information concerning
Page 29 and 30: of the NPC member groups, and to co
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Thi
Page 33 and 34: Ritual Ceremonies and Symbolism in
Page 35 and 36: Robson writes further: In a world c
Page 37 and 38: strengthened by encountering differ
Page 39 and 40: student initiated and created to au
Page 41 and 42: Gradually, however, they took over
Page 43 and 44: Following the founding of Kappa Alp
Page 45 and 46: efer to themselves as "service" org
Page 47 and 48: Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity Lombard C
Page 49 and 50: 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: only women, all with varying opinio
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 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
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the participants referred to other
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I think that ritual has made me a b
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The reasons that the participants g
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This study included both private an
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internal value system or they know
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sorority women’s length of member
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when an 18-year old woman joins a s
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ehavior of sorority women, it must
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* The level of responsibility and /
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to evaluate sorority women and the
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they are and what role ritual has i
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numbers vary from chapter to chapte
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that those ceremonies can bring to
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Butler, E. R. (1990). Initiations r
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Kuh, G. D., & Arnold, J. C. (1992).
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Pennington, D., Zvonkovic, A. C., W
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Taylor, S.E., Peplau, L.A., C Sears
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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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Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

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