Symptoms and Rituals: Paradoxical Modes and Social Organization

A cybernetic approach to rites of passage & symptomatic behavior is proposed, focusing on descriptions of these events as communication forms. Both processes are seen as responses to individual & social transitions in the lifecycle that both amplify deviance & reduce change through self-maintenance. Their structures are compared, noting that symptomatic behavior legitimizes failed transitions, while rites of passage act to ensure culturally appropriate, successful ones; both are viewed as circular & self-correcting, apparently solving the problems posited by social dissonance & differentiation. The modes of communicating a desire for acceptance implied by each are also examined. Illustrations from childhood studies are included. 48 References. L. Whittemore.