ABSTRACT
How are the terms transition or passage and status and role change related? What do they mean for people in crisis? Transition refers to passage or change from one place or stage of development to another. Status designates the place of individuals and groups with respect to their prestige, rights, obligations, power, and authority within a society. People are evaluated socially by their contribution to the common good and by other criteria such as birth, marital alliance, sex, race, age, sexual identity, wealth, and power. One’s status is related to but different from one’s role: status refers to who a person is, whereas role refers to what a person is expected to do within a given sociocultural milieu (Zelditch, 1968, p. 251).
