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Interviewed 132 older women and found that widows and married women had comparable number of primary friends. Being over age 74 influenced size of friendship network for widows but not for marrieds. Primary friendships of both groups paralleled each other in terms of endurance and stability. Compared to married women, widows did rely on confidant friends to greater extent. (Author/NB)

Reports that aged individuals are more likely to identify with an ethnic group than are younger individuals, and that such identification is closely related to participation in voluntary groups. Concludes that ethnicity, rather than isolating members of society, provides an additional resource for interaction. (Author/ST)

Examines voluntary associations of the aged. A substantial majority of respondents were affiliated and more than one-half had multiple affiliations. Women were more active in voluntary groups than men. Those belonging to multiple associations were more active in each association than individuals with only one affiliation. (Author)

Rosow's “Continuity and Discontinuity—Deprivation and Gain” conceptual framework for analyzing later life adjustment is used to study retired diocesan priests. Access to an utilization of opportunities for continuing earlier life patterns as provided by the Church have significant impact upon the retirement adjustment of priests. The data, collected by means of intensive interviews, resulted in three retirement patterns. These patterns were consistent with Rosow's framework and show the close tie between an organizational context for retirement and the individual retirement experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Life satisfaction is examined utilizing a multidimensional approach. Hypotheses were proposed and tested for each of the dimensions of LSIA (Life Satisfaction Index A) within an activity theory perspective. The results provide qualified support for the theory. Some dimensions; however, show a better fit than others. Lack of a more general confirmation proved to be due to problems with activity theory and its attendant measures rather than with the multidimensional approach. The patterns of relationships found across the dimensions provide further support for using a multidimensional analysis when dealing with LSIA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Individuals ordinarily have considerable information about voluntary associations even before they seriously think about joining a group. In becoming affiliated, members usually rely on personal networks and often several persons are consulted. When mass media sources are utilized in the affiliation process, they serve as a stimulus or catalyst (not one respondent in the sample joined an organization solely on the basis of mass media sources of information). Those with an extensive network of friends and relatives often become members through informal leaders. Moreover, they are sought out and encouraged to join. Individuals who have fewer primary-group resources frequently become members through formal leaders and themselves initiate the contact which results in membership. Finally, personal influence networks are more likely to play an important role for those joining expressive rather than instrumental voluntary associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion on the role of voluntary associations as integrative forces in urban society. A basic distinction in the conceptualization of integration has been suggested, and a number of significant factors pertinent to the social-psychological and sociological levels of analysis have been explored. The article revolves around study of role played by voluntary organizations for the participants and the place of these groups in the community, or the interrelationships between associations. It further discusses the social psychology of affiliation. Where sub-issues like extent of affiliation,involvement in organization,type of association,age and life cycle,organization locus are discussed. Then it discusses the sociology of associations, which describes organizational function, size and formalization,neighborhood stability, organizational prevalence, community size and ecology of associations. It has been emphasized that most students of associations have neglected to explore the complexity of integration and the role voluntary groups play in the process.

The article introduces the theme of the articles featured in the issue. The main topics in all the papers presented in the issue revolve around study of various aspects of voluntary associations. The study of voluntary associations involves three separate theoretical concerns. The first, and perhaps oldest of these, focuses on the nature and structure of society, especially industrial society. A second theoretical interest in voluntary associations is social psychological in emphasis; here voluntary associations are examined for what they can tell us about the nature of the person in contemporary society. Finally, voluntary associations may be studied within the framework of organizational theory with a focus upon associations as the units to be studied. Four of the papers in this issue are directly concerned with the problem of the contribution of voluntary associations to the society in which they exist. Most studies of voluntary associations implicitly suggest that such groups are integrative.

The interview is one of the means most frequently employed by sociologists for studying human behavior. And while the child and the pre-adolescent have occasionally been used as sources of information through interviewing, there seems to be a preoccupation with aspects of the interview as they relate to the adult. A consideration of problems associated with interviewing children arose in connection with a field research project dealing with voluntary associations in a zone of transition.' The research called for considerable data on children and 82 children ranging in age from seven to fourteen were interviewed. A structured questionnaire seeking to obtain information on items was employed. The children were interviewed in one of three different situations. The first of these was in a formal institutional setting, the elementary school public or parochial. Another was in an institutional setting, the function of which is primarily recreational. Finally, the children were interviewed in the informal setting of the home.