IDEOLOGICAL SYSTEMS: NORMS, VALUES AND IDEOLOGY IN SIXTY URBAN COMMUNAL LIVING GROUPS. (VOLUMES I AND II).

摘要

The main objective of this research was the development of a methodology for investigation of belief systems and the application to comparative analysis of ideologies as they operate within specific groups. The site was 60 urban communal living groups viewed as discrete social systems. The ideologies under study were of eight major types: Eastern Religious, Christian, Political, Counter Cultural, Personal Growth, Alternative Family, Household Cooperative, and Rehabilitational. This research builds upon and is an extension of the project, "Investment of Self in Urban Groups," headed by Benjamin Zablocki (NIMH, 1974). A longitudinal, multi-method research strategy was pursued; both survey and ethnographic methods were utilized to gather data on the individual, relational (sociometric), and global levels of analysis. The present research was supported by a grant from NSF (SOC7711262).;The relationship between ideological systems and the social organization of their "carrier groups" was also investigated. Characteristics of the ideological system rather than attributes of the group (eg. size) or of individual members (age, SES) were more strongly associated with patterns of social structure such as stratification, division of labor, exercise of power and authority within the group. Abstract dimensions of ideological systems such as systematization and comprehensiveness affect development of social structure and the perception of ideological homogeneity. Sects and cults are distinct in the shared perception of monolithic belief. Less measured homogeneity of belief was found in such groups than in groups with ideologies less distinctive within the cultural context.;Beyond the specific contributions to the sociology of belief and culture, this research has succeeded in bringing a measure of quantification to an important area of social science which has been dominated by impressionistic studies.;Worldview, values, goals, norms, and attitudes were distinguished as components of ideology. Measures were developed to assess each component on both individual and group levels within a comparative perspective. This framework for analysis proved successful in that inconsistencies in past research were shown to be the result of distinct variables having been used interchangeably. For example, three distinct types of normative integration were found according to whether group participants were oriented toward shared norms, values, or cognitive perspective. These types were characterized by different relations among the components of ideology, regardless of specific ideological content. Each type of integration is associated with differing patterns of social control, has consequences for the organization of group life, and differentially affects the development of ideologies, especially those which oppose dominant cultural patterns. Analysis within this framework has yielded insights into the interactive process between individual and collective manifestations of ideational phenomena. It was found that the collective ideology to which an individual professes commitment is a better predictor of current subjective orientations (beliefs about reality, value preferences, etc.) than background characteristics such as age, sex, SES. However, there is a measurable but indirect effect of family ideological history as expressed in religious and political heritage. Family traditions influence which ideological offerings are attractive to the individual but the ideology, once accepted, has greater influence upon current worldview, attitudes, and values than predispositions carried from primary socialization.