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

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that "the essential feature of a group is that members are interdependent, meaning that they influence one another in some way" (p. 286). Sororities are groups of women who by their structure require many facets of operation. They manage their day to day operations, govern themselves, and interact most often on a daily basis in some way. Because of this structure, it is necessary to understand what causes a member to join as well as how and why they act as they do. One theory to consider would be Heider's Naïve Psychology, otherwise known as the attribution theory (Taylor, et. al 1997). Heider was interested in how "people in everyday life figure out what is concerning what” (Taylor et. al 1997, p. 57). Another definition of attribution theory is a "description of the way in which people explain the cause of their own and other people's behavior" (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 1999, p. 121). Heider's attribution theory includes two perspectives: internal attribution and extreme attributions. Aronson, et. al, 1997 defines the attributions as follows: Internal Attribution is the inference that a person is behaving in a certain way because of something about him or her, such as a person's attitude, character, or personality. External Attribution is the inference that a person is behaving a certain way because of something about the situation he or she is in; the assumption is that most people would respond the same way in that situation (p. 121). An individual within any group struggles with who they are as an individual and how they function within the group. Sororities have the same challenges. Summary In summary, this chapter presents various aspects of ritual, rites of passage, female development, sorority women, and sororities in general. History and the need for ritual establish a foundation for the basis of "why ritual." I presented the sorority experience from several different perspectives. It is important to understand the various components of a sorority, including the definition of sorority as well as how a sorority’s culture and structure affects its 62
undergraduate members. Understanding the history and development of sororities and women in higher education gives perspective on how these organizations evolved. The role of ritual in general as well as within the sorority structure is presented through the explanation of what is ritual. Ritual as performance, rites of passage as well as putting ritual into practice (living the ritual) answers the question of "why ritual.” This is significant because of the relationship of ritual and sororities' ability to last through time. How young women develop and grow through their sorority experience is the most important aspect of the sorority movement. The intent of this research is to establish an opportunity to further discuss and encourage additional studies to be conducted on this topic. 63
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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
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 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: Gilligan’s point that sex differe
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
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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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