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In 1908, Arnold van Gennep's “Les rites de passage” introduced into sociology the fruitful concept of role passages to encompass the ceremonials inaugurating salient life events, such as birth, puberty, marriage and death. Van Gennep suggested a tripartite classification of these rites into those which separate the individual from his previous associations, those which incorporate him in his new existence, and marginal rituals. The pioneer sociologist pointed out that most of these role passages are fairly well institutionalized in society and are ordered by traditional schedules, rituals, rules and concepts that really facilitate movement from certain social situations into different ones. Any life cycle includes making role transitions.
In the last two decades there has been a burgeoning of interest in the life cycle and rites of passage, which has been reflected both in the popular as well as the professional press. Erik Erikson's epochal Childhood and Society highlighted the value of a life cycle model in the study of development, and Gail Sheehy's Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life was on the best-seller lists for many months. This highly popular book was apparently based on the material of the 10-year study by Daniel J. Levinson, et al., entitled The Seasons of a Man's Life .
San Giovanni's Ex-Nuns is chiefly a sociological study of a particular kind of role change, the emergent role passage, of one of the many “passages into the social unknown unprotected by institutionalized support” that are available in many other rites of passage, giving rise to “a host of poignant questions about our social identities and the kinds of roles we can play.” The emergent role passage is open-ended and innovative, but its pathway may become institutionalized in time.
Specifically, Dr. San Giovanni considers in great depth the role passage of a group of Roman Catholic nuns who left their convents to assume secular roles and life-styles. Surprisingly, in the period from