Social Change and Transitions to Adulthood in Historical Perspective

*John Modell is Associate Professor of History, University of Minnesota, and Research Associate, Philadelphia Social History Project. Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr. is Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania. Theodore Hershberg is Associate Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania, and Director, Philadelphia Social History Project. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco, August, 1975. Rules can be found in every society governing the passage to adulthood. In some