Patterns of Change in Rural Normative Structure.

Using data from a restudy of mountainous villages in rural Appalachia and northern Greece, an attempt is made to codify findings related to normative patterns of rural social transition. There are three major findings. First, despite considerable differences in the specific content of the normative structure, the essential forms in the two settings are identical, as are the processes of adaptation. Second, the major direction of normative change, in both Appalachia and mountainous Greece, is toward facilitation of integration of the rural into the larger social system. In large part such changes involve norms directly or indirectly supporting economic integration, which constitutes the main axis of overall incorporation of the rural into the larger society. Third, the shifting of reference groups and the emergence of relative deprivation occurred much earlier and spread more rapidly in rural Appalachia than in Greece, with more non-conventional means of adjustment being employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]