Why are rituals important throughout the life course?

When ritual is spoken of in Western society, images of cute, charming and sometimes dangerous activities of 'native' societies tend to be conjured up into the mind. Television seems to be full of ceremonies which, at best, tend to be thought of as quaint, at worst, acted out for the tourist industry. Religious belief is on the decline in Western society and this also contributes to the general outlook on rituals and rites. Western industrial …showed first 75 words of 1558 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1558 total…and Taylor, Lorrie, 1992, Escape Attempts, pp.46-65, London: Routledge. Glaser, B, and Strauss, A, 1971, Status Passage, pp.1-36, London: Routledge. Gennep, Arnold Van, 1960, The Rites of Passage, pp.1-14, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. LaChapelle, 1984, Ritual is Essential, pp.1-6. http://www.context.org/iclid/ico5/LaChapelle.htm 28th February 2002. Musolf, Gil Richard, 2001, The Social Science Journal, volume 38, issue 2, pp.277-295. Summer 2001. Turner, Victor, 1974, Dramas, Fields and Metaphors, p.298, New York: Cornell University Press.