Page 126 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

adolescence 11

nity a person who has passed through an unusual or
dangerous state.
The girl then waits till it is convenient for her dren were exposed regularly to the facts of life, including
chisungu ceremony to be danced. I call this latter a sex and death, and this exposure is also the case in many
nubility rite since it is clearly considered as a prelim- traditional cultures around the world. In many cultures
inary to the marriage ceremony; indeed, Bemba teenagers are already living a fully adult life. In 52 percent
accounts frequently confuse the two. Formerly the girl of a worldwide sample of fifty-eight cultures, boys are
came to her chisungu already betrothed, and this is already married by nineteen years of age, and in 96 per-
usually the case today.The bridegroom plays a part in cent of sixty-nine cultures around the world, girls are mar-
the rite in his own person, or is represented by his sis- ried before they are twenty.With marriage come all of the
ter. He contributes to the cost of the rite by paying the responsibilities as well as the privileges of adulthood, and
mistress of the ceremonies.The chisungu protects the whatever adolescent transition that these young people
young couple against the magic dangers of first inter- have experienced is over.
course and gives the bridegroom the right to perform
this act, which is thought to be entirely different from Clarity of Expectations
all that follow it. Related to the range of choices open to the adolescent is
Source: Richards, A. I. (1956). Chisungu: A girls’ initiation ceremony among the Bemba the clarity with which expectations regarding the behav-
of Northern Rhodesia (pp. 17, 54). London: Faber and Faber.
ior of the adolescent are laid out by the older generation.
In many societies stages in the life cycle are associated
with age grades. Each age grade is composed of people
of a specified age range. A given age grade is associated
mized, not to mention the recognition of adolescence as with a detailed set of responsibilities and prerogatives.
a separate stage of life. Explicit procedures guarantee graduation from one age
grade to the next.When age grades are present in a soci-
Continuities between ety, adolescents usually belong to their own age grade.
Childhood and Adulthood This fact means that adolescents know what is expected
A society can either emphasize or de-emphasize the differ- of them. It also means that adolescents understand how
ences between childhood and adulthood in such areas as and when the transition out of adolescence and into
taking responsibility, participating in sexual activity, being adulthood will happen.
exposed to death, and so on.When a society emphasizes Clarity of expectations, with regard to what the ado-
continuities, or in other words de-emphasizes differences, lescent must and must not do and with regard to how and
the transition from childhood to adulthood is more likely when adult status will be granted, makes for a smoother
to be short and smooth. To the extent that expectations and less tumultuous adolescent experience. In societies
for and the practical experience of the adolescent are dra- with no such clarity of expectations, adolescents, left on
matically different from childhood to adulthood, the tran- their own to construct their own adolescence and make
sition from the one stage to the other has the potential to their own entry into adulthood, tend to have a more
be long and difficult. Historically, children were incorpo- unsettled adolescent experience. Societies that leave ado-
rated into adult life at an early age, and the same often lescents to fend for themselves may have no choice, at
holds true in contemporary traditional societies with a least as regards some features of adolescents’ life. For
subsistence economy.Children in societies of this sort take instance, where the range of choices open to adolescents
on responsibility when they are quite young, in degrees is wide, and where a society is constantly changing over
consistent with their age and capabilities, and may be time, the older generation cannot predict what adoles-
making concrete and important contributions to the wel- cents need to know or do to prepare for adulthood.The
fare of their families at a quite early age. Historically, chil- trade-off for adolescent stress is opportunity in adulthood.