Researchers examine ethnographic literature from Africa and Colombia and conduct interviews in 12 Colombian cities with the aim of exploring the connection between female genital modification (FGMo) in Colombia and Africa. They theorize that the trans-atlantic slave trade was the start of sociocultural transmission of FGMo pratices to Colombia, and that this will be evident based on the presence of FGMo practices and the composition and connectivity of populations.

Textor summarizes cross-cultural male initiation rites findings pertaining to cultural, environmental, psychological, and social phenomena.

Schlegel and Barry explore the conditions under which adolescent boys' initiation ceremonies involve rituals that frighten or cause pain to the initiates. The authors look for cross-cultural differences and similarities in cultural features associated with harsh rituals, in particular, genital operations.

This article presents codes for adolescent initiation ceremonies in the standard cross-cultural sample. Commonly held assumptions about initiation ceremonies were not supported. Article focuses on differences between male and female ceremonies. Statistically significant correlations between the codes are indicated.

This article uses signaling theory and tests for a relationship between costly male rites and frequency of warfare.

Female genital mutilations within Africa are associated with strong fraternal interest groups, virginity tests, and conservative permarital sex norms. Codes and ratings for female genital mutilations, virginity tests, premarital sex norms, and female initiation rites are presented in this article.

This study explores why initiation rites for girls are observed in some societies and absent in others. Further, the author seeks to understand cross-cultural variation in the rites.

This article discusses initiation rites for girls. Specifically explored are the reasons why the ceremonies are observed in some societies and omitted in others and what the variations between societies demonstrates.

This article tests four hypotheses regarding scarification, which is described as 1) a rite of passage, 2) a hardening/trauma procedure, 3) a nonadaptive sexually selected character, or 4) an adaptive pathogen driven sexually selected character. Only the third hypothesis is supported in a worldwide sample, suggesting that scarification is associated with polygyny. The other three are each supported in different regional subsamples—principally the first hypothesis (supported in Africa, the Insular Pacific, and South America).

The purpose of this paper is to examine female puberty rites and to suggest that such rites may be explained in terms of female physiology, as symbolized, for example, by menstruation.