Premium
Adventure as Character Work: The Collective Taming of Fear
Author(s) -
Holyfield Lori,
Fine Gary Alan
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.1997.20.4.343
Subject(s) - adventure , character (mathematics) , identity (music) , moral character , ethnography , power (physics) , psychology , sociology , social psychology , aesthetics , art , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , anthropology , art history
It is ultimately through experience that character is formulated and made evident. From an ethnographic examination of an adventure program (Ropes Adventure, Inc.) that attempts to mold the identity of adolescents who have been detained for minor felonies and misdemeanors, we examine how personal challenge can be channeled into moral messages. By evoking and then taming fear (adventure), organizations demonstrate the power of personal accomplishment, trust, and cooperation—each socially legitimated moral virtues. We argue that character building efforts may be hampered when organizational aims and actual implementation of structured adventure collide.