Whether from a sports team, a religious group, the military, or some other close-knit group, what experience, if any, have you had with role exiting? To what extent does your experience match the four stages of role exit described by Ebaugh.
PLEASE EXPLAIN WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTION AND WHY? (A MININUM OF 125 WORDS)
CLASSMATE’S POST
Role exit is really not a term I have thought of prior to this course, however, thinking back after reflecting on the definition of this term, I can think of a few times I have experienced role exit. “The process of disengaging from a role that is true to one’s self-identity, in order to take up a new role and identity” (sociologydictionary.org). I was born and raised southern (the bible belt) and with being a southerner I attended a Southern Baptist church, primarily because I was the daughter of a preacher. When I was younger church was fun (playtime with friends), however, as a teenager, in my mind, the church was a critique panel and everything I did or did not do was told to my dad (it was like an ant dying under a magnifying glass), stage one of Ebaugh’s four-stage model. As preacher’s kids, we were expected to act and look a certain way all the time. My role exit was simple- minded at that time and I rebelled and everything that I was told not to do, I wanted to do (typical teenager right?), the second stage. Once I was out of the house, I completely turned away from any religion (third stage). Now, I have my faith and it is not dictated by any organized religious sect (final stage). It is interesting to learn new terms or terms that you really have not put together before. For me, this role exit term was one of those and I understand what role and exit is, just never really put them into sociology perspective and I am finding this intriguing.
