The Changing Concept of Adolescence in Kenya: Three Generations Speak
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Ginsberg, Pauline E.
Kariuki, Priscilla Wanjiru
Kimamo, Charles
Abstract / Description
Kenya has at least 42 tribes. Each of these tribes had a unique way of marking the boundary between childhood and adulthood. It is like once pubertal signs emerged, the adolescent was said to be ready for adulthood. Traditional conceptualization of adolescence is not clearly defined, because while puberty marks the beginning of adolescence today, this was not the case in the traditional society. In the traditional society, when a girl started getting her menstrual periods, she was considered mature and arrangements for marriage were started. Modern rites of passage tend to come closer to how modern text books define adolescence. Most boys undertake circumcision after completing primary school, as they wait to join high school. Upon realizing that the hospital ceremony, unlike the traditional one, is lacking in complementary teachings, some Churches have organized teachings prior to circumcision. For girls, after circumcision for them was banned, alternative rites of passage (ARPs) are being instituted, most often targeting urban girls, but these, too, raise questions: Do alternative rites of passage fulfill the same functions for modern society that traditional ceremonies once fulfilled? And, if they do so for girls, is there reason to believe that they ought to be developed for both genders? This paper examines self-reports of Kenyans spanning three generations regarding social roles and identity-seeking among those who did (primarily older men) and did not (primarily younger men and women of all ages) participate in traditional initiation ceremonies.
Keyword(s)
adolescence puberty rites of passagePersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2014-04-30
Journal title
Psychological Thought
Volume
7
Issue
1
Page numbers
55–65
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Ginsberg, P. E., Kariuki, P. W., & Kimamo, C. (2014). The Changing Concept of Adolescence in Kenya: Three Generations Speak. Psychological Thought, 7(1), 55–65. https://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v7i1.97
-
psyct.v7i1.97.pdfAdobe PDF - 335.1KBMD5: 599e6e52a9e6f816500c0ae6dd007341
-
There are no other versions of this object.
-
Author(s) / Creator(s)Ginsberg, Pauline E.
-
Author(s) / Creator(s)Kariuki, Priscilla Wanjiru
-
Author(s) / Creator(s)Kimamo, Charles
-
PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-28T10:01:59Z
-
Made available on2018-11-28T10:01:59Z
-
Date of first publication2014-04-30
-
Abstract / DescriptionKenya has at least 42 tribes. Each of these tribes had a unique way of marking the boundary between childhood and adulthood. It is like once pubertal signs emerged, the adolescent was said to be ready for adulthood. Traditional conceptualization of adolescence is not clearly defined, because while puberty marks the beginning of adolescence today, this was not the case in the traditional society. In the traditional society, when a girl started getting her menstrual periods, she was considered mature and arrangements for marriage were started. Modern rites of passage tend to come closer to how modern text books define adolescence. Most boys undertake circumcision after completing primary school, as they wait to join high school. Upon realizing that the hospital ceremony, unlike the traditional one, is lacking in complementary teachings, some Churches have organized teachings prior to circumcision. For girls, after circumcision for them was banned, alternative rites of passage (ARPs) are being instituted, most often targeting urban girls, but these, too, raise questions: Do alternative rites of passage fulfill the same functions for modern society that traditional ceremonies once fulfilled? And, if they do so for girls, is there reason to believe that they ought to be developed for both genders? This paper examines self-reports of Kenyans spanning three generations regarding social roles and identity-seeking among those who did (primarily older men) and did not (primarily younger men and women of all ages) participate in traditional initiation ceremonies.en_US
-
Publication statuspublishedVersion
-
Review statuspeerReviewed
-
CitationGinsberg, P. E., Kariuki, P. W., & Kimamo, C. (2014). The Changing Concept of Adolescence in Kenya: Three Generations Speak. Psychological Thought, 7(1), 55–65. https://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v7i1.97en_US
-
ISSN2193-7281
-
Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1581
-
Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1947
-
Language of contenteng
-
PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
-
Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v7i1.97
-
Keyword(s)adolescenceen_US
-
Keyword(s)pubertyen_US
-
Keyword(s)rites of passageen_US
-
Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
-
TitleThe Changing Concept of Adolescence in Kenya: Three Generations Speaken_US
-
DRO typearticle
-
Issue1
-
Journal titlePsychological Thought
-
Page numbers55–65
-
Volume7
-
Visible tag(s)Version of Record