Youth & Community Development through Rites of Passage

Understanding and comprehending the multiple challenges of youth and community development in contemporary society requires that we see the “big picture”. Most "programs" focus on just one or two isolated “problems,” which are only a part of the big picture. Our work is unique in that it focuses on youth and community development through the perspective of rites of passage.

The Rite of Passage Experience© ROPE® with its 20 guiding principles sees the big picture where the whole community is engaged in the process of “co-learning” and develops values and ethics that guide healthy and life affirming behaviors for both the individual and the community. These principles were developed over 45 years of research and practical experience engaging adolescents and adults in schools, community and civic and cultural organizations. They are uniquely designed to integrate many of the current youth development approaches.

The community development process engages diverse sectors of the community in conversations and experiences to promote their capacity to respond collaboratively to the challenges faced by today’s youth and their parents.

Evolutionary biologists claim that a species does not maintain any practices for long periods of time unless it contributed to the survival of the species. There is documented evidence of rites of passage that goes back 30,000 years. 30,000 years of evidence-based results document the importance of rites of passage.