The Transformative Justice Project of Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Delaware

BRY-AMA has developed a Ten-Step Rites of Passage program that helps participants transition from
childhood to adulthood. We focus on ten (10) life areas (Rites) that we believe are critical to the
development of people in today’s society. These ten Rites are often taught independently, however every
graduate discovers their interdependency. The Ten Rites include: Personal Rite, Emotional Rite, Mental
Rite, Economic Rite, Spiritual Rite, Social Rite, Physical Rite, Political Rite, Historical Rite, and Cultural
Rite. BRY-AMA conducts Orientations upon enrollment of youth into the program, inviting previous
graduates to share their experiences of being in the pfogram, and to let enrollees know that the community
supports their participation in this program. Upon entrance into the program, BRY-AMA separates boys
and girls during instruction, however some field trips and activities are co-ed. BRY-AMA has designed a
dynamic curriculum which employs “Hands-On” workshops to teach life skills during the “Limbo”
period. The “Ten-Step Rites of Passage” program has various ceremonies and rituals that culminate each
rite and the program.
The Ten-Step Rites of Passage program is an Evidence-Based Youth Development model. The Ten Step
Rites of Passage program is a “Best-Practice” approach because it is not “problem-focused” like most
programs, such as only dealing with anger, drug abuse, gang involvement, etc. Instead, the Ten-Step
model focuses not only on behaviors that we do not want young people to engage in, but it also equips
them with the skills necessary to create productive lives for themselves. The Ten-Step program is holistic
in its approach, and employs strategies that are proven most effective in working with high-risk
populations. The overall goal is not simply to decrease teen pregnancy, or delinquency, but to guide
young people into adulthood as well.
The Ten-Step Rites of Passage
PERSONAL:
EMOTIONAL:
SPIRITUAL:
MENTAL:
SOCIAL:
POLITICAL:
ECONOMIC:
Life is hard from your womb to your tomb; from the time you check-in to the
time you check-out; from your cradle to your grave life is a struggle; but if you
are still alive, you still have a chance.
Emotions are designed to feed us information about how we feel, but they are not
designed to dictate our behavior; we all must learn to master our emotions.
All of our lives are God-Prescribed and God-Supported; the beginning of all
knowledge is the fear [respect] of God.
Learning is a life-long and life-enriching process; we must thirst for the
acquisition of knowledge, and develop the skill of thinking; whatever is not
growing/ changing is dying.
One’s family, community, and the world should benefit from our presence, and
not suffer because of it; each one must teach one.
Everything and everyone is political; we all make a political statement based on
how we choose to live; we must be active in making our families, communities,
nation, and world greater than when we inherited it.
Money will not make one a man or a woman, but we all need money to take care
of our manly and womanly responsibilities; we must learn how to make, save,
spend, and invest a dollar in ways that increase our personal and collective
wealth.
The Transformative Justice Project of Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Delaware)
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