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This an excellent book. Well written and well organized, it is a pleasure to read. To a large extent, Bell lets the people tell their stories about things of interest [...]

Some argue that statistics are unable to capture the religious experience. Nevertheless, the scientific method in the sociology of religion is best applied to institutionalized aspects. If one wants to [...]

Professor Fogarty has written essentially a chronology of communes from the Civil War to the onset of World War I. Some of the purposes of the book are to set [...]

The relation between freedom and social integration is examined using the theories of Landecker and of Kolb. Data are from a purposive sample of 25 communal and formal organizations. Information was gathered through questionnaires and participant observation. Two dimensions of integration are used, normative and consensual; three types of freedom are employed, ego, conditional, and disciplined. The basic hypothesis is that the dimensions of integration vary with the types of freedom. Normative and consensual integration will be positively associated with disciplined freedom, these dimensions will vary inversely with ego freedom, and conditional freedom will occupy an intermediate position. The hypotheses are confirmed through multiple regression analysis. Durkheim's mechanical solidarity is seen to be associated with disciplined freedom. Because we consider freedom and integration inseparable, this association is labeled consensual integration. Again following Durkhelm, we hypothesize a new form of integration—contractual—based on ego freedom. The type accompanied by conditional freedom is called provisional integration. Observations are offered on the relation of these forms of integration to social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dimensions of freedom are examined as they relate to life in the monastery Monks, when compared to other groups, are found to score low on ego freedom and conditional freedom, but high on disciplined freedom The impact of disciplined freedom on the level of cohesion, alienation, and deprivation of freedom are examined, and the monks are found to be high on cohesion and low on alienation and deprivation of freedom This is true despite their isolation and difficult regimen Additionally, the dimensions of freedom are directly related to cohesion and negatively related to alienation and deprivation of freedom The reverse is true with ego and conditional freedom The implications of disciplined freedom on monastery life are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, comments are offered on the relevance of the theory of communal organizations for community development. One of the more important observations concerns the difference between communal and formal organizations. Planners and developers must bear in mind that one can not plan for communal organizations in the same way as one plans for formal organizations, mainly because of differences in goal orientation. A program designed to achieve limited and measurable goals is to that extent less relevant for the total community. Of course, plans can be made for formal organizations within the communal organization, but one should realize that the target is not the communal organization. Mother implication of the theory concerns the folk-urban continuum. The theory suggests that the continua are real, important, and practical. First, the family plays a central role in folk areas, generally. Efforts to proceed on an individualistic basis will either not prove lasting or be reinterpreted by the community members to operate through the family. As one proceeds to urban areas, the role of the individual, and thus the importance of contractual relations, increases. Second, co-operation has different meaning under conditions of limited good or mutual aid in the village. The increase of contractualism as one encounters urban areas means especially that community development goals and projects can be made that much more specific. In the final analysis, planning becomes both inevitable and impossible, inevitable because humans will always try and impossible because contingencies cannot always be foreseen. This lack of foresight is especially true of communal organizations, wherein love and freedom are so important.

The triangulation of various research methods is described as it relates to the study of 15 Cistercian monasteries in general and to one in particular. Participant observation required 329 days (208 in the principal research site) over a 13-year period. The distribution of three types of questionnaires, resulted in 220 returns. Interviews were conducted at six of the monasteries and six monasteries provided other documents. Participant observation and questionnaires are stressed in the discussion. It is shown how each of the methods supplements the others, how some methods are particularly suited to gathering certain types of information, and how some conclusions were reached by a combination of methods, conclusions that could not be attained in any other way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Through an analysis of the status structure of a Trappist monastery, an attempt is made to fill a gap in the literature on intentional communities, both religious and secular. On the basis of field notes based on 26 weeks of observation and questionnaire data it was discovered that despite an extremely egalitarian ideology and absolute material equality, a clearly discernible system of status ranking exists. This ranking was found not to be positively correlated with the monk's status as priest or brother, his job within the economic enterprise, or the socioeconomic status of his family of origin. Positive correlations were found with seniority and the holding of a superior office (e.g., abbot). The question whether high status or holding superior office has caused priority, and the implications of the findings for the existence of status stratification within monasteries and other intentional communities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Few sociologists have investigated, systematically and empirically, the concept of freedom, as such. In this paper, freedom is explored as it is viewed and experienced by people rather than as a philosophical construct. Three dimensions of freedom are identified: ego, discipline, and conditional. These types of freedom are examined in six types of groups and in relation to feelings of loss of freedom. Finally, we approach a theory of freedom, its dimensions, and the manner in which it is experienced by actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes continuity and change in voting behavior in the 1952 primaries in Louisiana. In the "one party" situation, prevailing in the South, the real political cleavages are to be found between the factions of the Democratic party. Therefore, they become manifest in the primaries rather than in elections. With the rise of Hucy Long, the political balance in Louisiana tipped in favor of the farmer class. The pattern in recent years has been one of the rural vote electing the governor with assistance from city machines organized by the Long forces. The geographic distribution of the Long vote in election after election, whether for Hucy, his son Russell, or his brother Earl, indicates the stability of the main support coming from the upland cotton and cut-over bill areas of central and north central Louisiana. The first primaries in the 1948 and 1952 elections show the importance of local prestige of the candidates since most of them obtained their strongest support in their home areas, as has been shown by Heberle and Bertrand for 1948. Sam Jones was the only candidate who did not con- forth to the favorite son principle in the 1948 first primary.

In order to maximize the time span in which the consequences of social change can be observed, two social systems are to be discussed, both of which have historical beginnings, which can be traced back at least for several centuries. The Navajo has been dated as early as the sixteenth century. The Trappist monks trace their origins to Saint Benedict in the sixth century. These two cultures were selected for several other reasons. First, they are both rural and essentially communal, and thus both are directly pertinent to the concerns of this article. Second, they are both cultures with which the author himself has had extended personal contact. Third, within these similarities, the two cultures are radically different, a fact, which can be put to important use. Two major perspectives are used in the discussion: cultural and communal. By a cultural perspective the author means simply symbolic human behavior that can be analyzed without necessarily referring to any specific social system. In the present analysis, religion can be seen to most clearly fit this description. Though one must admit that the separation between culture and society is never complete, the separation is nevertheless a common analytic practice.

Roman Catholic convents are compared with villages and cities (rills), with prisons, and with formal organizations. Interview data are provided for a Trappist monastery and a teaching convent. These systems are distinguished sharply both from prisons (especially in the lack of force) and rills (particularly in the absence of biosocial families). On a more general level, the monastic convent is a communal organization, sharing traits with other systems related to vills, whereas the apostolic convent is a formal organization emphasizing specific goals. However, it is suggested that all convents have communal traits in that religious ends may be inherently non-specific and thus non-formal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The problem consists of an apparent, discrete difference between communal and formal organizations. Research was designed to test the first hypothesis: If a group is primarily oriented to the attainment of a specific goal, then it excludes familial behavior. Four types of groups are selected: (1) Groups such as Relocation Centers for the Japanese in the U.S. in World War II, "captive communities," challenge the hypothesis in seeming to contain the family in a formal organization. (2) Groups such as Shakers and Trappist monks, "limited communities," seem to exclude the family from communal organizations. The other groups are logical counterparts of the first two: (3) "Intentional communities" (Hutterites and Kibbutzim) and (4) "total institutions" (English Public Schools). Neither should require that the first hypothesis be modified if it is valid. Study of the Relocation Centers generated the second hypothesis: The greater the deprivation of freedom, the greater the antagonism of those deprived. Freedom is thought to increase as alternatives increase, to require discipline, to be relative to the definition o/the situation and thus to be both psychological and social. Study of the limited communities generated the third hypothesis: Only if a group is not primarily oriented to the attainment of a specific goal will it maximize the freedom of its members. Intentional communities and limited communities support all hypotheses. The organization of the group appears largely responsible for the definition of the situation relative to freedom. The family, although not necessary to com- munal organizations, is nevertheless quite basic to it and is antithetical to format organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population study and sociology have shown a tendency toward convergence. From separate origins the fields have moved towards an increasing interdependence. All too seldom, however, has the relevance of sociological theory for demographic analysis been verified. Probably one of the more crucial questions in this connection is the relation between population characteristics and processes on the one hand and social values on the other. It is the task of this paper to indicate such a relationship and to reach this goal through an explanation of some observed demographic differentials by means of a particular sociological theory. This paper attempts to show by empirical and theoretical demonstration that the hypothesis is tenable for at least one city. Racial differentials constitute an important focus of this paper, but explaining an entire pattern of race relations represents a broader and more complex approach than that employed here. The data for the study are taken from an extensive demographic investigation of the Negroes of New Orleans.

A critique is made of community theory in terms of nine major issues. (1) There is a basic tendency not to examine assumptions. (2) Probably in consequence, a confusion has developed between community as a sentiment and community as a phenomenon. (3) Community has also largely been assumed to be something "out there, a working reality, and seldom if ever has the point been seriously raised that it may be more appropriately considered as an artificial construct. (4) Formal organizations have not generally been seen as contrasts to communal organizations, and so concepts are used such as "prison community,' which can be shown to be a contradiction in terms. (5) The lack of a clear theoretical perspective has given rise to empire building, with various emphases claiming to be the key in the study of community, only to be supplanted later by others. Community power is only the latest in the series. (6) Ideal types have suffered a recent neglect. (7) With very few (and important) exceptions, the study of freedom has been largely ignored; its importance is under. lined only if such groups as prisons are seen in contrast to villages and cities. (8) The chief substantive issue in community theory is the lack of attention to developing a general taxonomy of communities that is empirically grounded. (9) There has also been a disturbing tendency to attempt to build community theory from the study of a single community, or the study of a drastically limited number of social systems. In such a condition, the logico-deductive method is suspect, because the database from which generalizations are attempted is often insufficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study discusses an analytical scheme for fitting together migration streams, representing separate migration patterns, into an integrated whole. Attention focuses on indicating the probable existence of "migration systems" on the demographic level, their conceptual form, the data necessary to study them, and some problems associated with such study. Migration systems are illustrated by 1949-1950 migration data for State Economic Areas of the Southern Appalachians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nonmathematical model is developed of one type of community, termed the "folk village." Ten villages, each from a different culture, provide the only data, and the model's nineteen components are based on traits found in all the villages. The components (or subelements) are grouped into elements of interaction, space, activities, sentiment, and norms. The more variable components are eliminated as possible integrating factors, on die premise that the nature of the folk village resides in its constants. One means of integrating the components is offered in tile definition: The folk village is a localized system of co-operating families. (Co-operation is institutionalized as mutual aid.) This definition furnishes a basis for describing the elements as they appear in the villages. The findings are used as limiting factors in evaluating earlier concepts. Selected definitions of community are reexamined, and the relation of the model to Redefined's folk society is briefly indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The task of the paper is to ascertain the extent of agreement among definitions of community. Ninety-four definitions are classified by content and subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis. Emphasis is placed on the number of different definitions which have been advanced rather than the frequency with which the definitions have been used. The variation is seen to be wide. Sixteen different concepts were employed by the definers, and at least two authors could always be found who have presented conflicting definitions. Most students, however, are in basic agreement that community consists of persons in social interaction within a geographic area and having one or more additional common ties. Students of the rural community whose definitions are analyzed are found to be unanimous in claiming this formulation as a minimum requisite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the Rural Development Act of 1972 is to provide for improving the economy and living conditions in rural America. Among hoped for outcomes were a reversal of migration from farm to city and creation of a climate that would retain rural residents, attract in-migrants, improve the quality of life, and improve the environment. This article seeks to supplement the analysis done by Michael F. Nolan and William D. Heffernan on the Rural Development Act of 1972. It provides that rural development objectives and outcomes may be viewed from two perspectives: an overview of rural America as perceived by the Congress; or a perception of individual impacts and opportunities, the objectives of the legislation and the evaluation of the results of previous efforts on industrialization.

The article examines monks' occupations as part of their total lifestyle. The analysis begins with a discussion of the method of data collection, then an overview of the monastic way of life. Next, the analysis focuses on the economic sphere, after which the occupation and the monks' values are explicitly examined. The data for this study have been collected over an 11-year period that commenced in 1969 with participant observation. Though the focus of this article is on Palisades Abbey, it is of importance to note that Palisades was not studied in isolation. The day of a monk in Trappist-Cistercian monastery begins at 3.15 A.M. when he prepares for the "night office," the first of seven "offices" he will recite during the day. These offices consist of the singing of psalms, prayers, and devotional readings and last from 10 to 45 minutes. Cistercian monks have five vows: chastity, conversion of manners, stability, obedience, and poverty. Recruitment in Trappist-Cistercian monasteries is essentially passive.