FROM BOYS TO MEN

'Spiritual Rites of Passage in an Indulgent Age' is the sub-title to this guide to restoring successful role models as used by ancient cultures the world over to raise adolescent boys. This work of anthropology offers instructions for integrating basic rites of passage into modern family life and youth programmes. It shows that older cultures did not magically avoid adolescence but instead developed rituals for sculpting teenage boys into healthy young men. From Aleutian Eskimos to Polynesian Islanders, from tribal Africans to Australian Aborigines, each culture found archetypal ways to initiate their boys into the adult community. 'The way is littered with lost young souls wearing labels such as ADHD, autism, oppositional-defiant disorder as well as downright criminal sociopaths. Stephenson's work shows that it takes not only guidance and mentorship, but extraordinary personal courage to access the time-honoured mythic maps (Hero's Journey, Shamanic Initiation) to threads such as zone of perils. An interesting psychological study whether we are involved with teenagers or not from an eminent US counsellor, his topics include fatherlessness, emotion as a second language, education or isolation, the brick wall, the importance of consequences, writing poetry or lyrics, war stories and more. 289 page illustrated paperback.