Eugene Litwak

Primary Group Structures and Their Functions: Kin, Neighbors, and Friends

Simon, Herbert A. 1957 Administrative Behavior, 2nd edition. New York: Macmillan. Stinchcombe, Arthur L. 1968 Constructing Social Reality. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World. Thompson, James D. 1967 Organizations in Action: Social Science Basis of Administrative Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill. Truman, David B. 1953 The Governmental Process. New York: Knopf. Weber, Max. 1947 The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. New York: Oxford University Press.

GEOGRAPHIC MOBILITY AND EXTENDED FAMILY COHESION

The hypothesis is advanced that extended family relations can be maintained in an industrial, bureaucratized society despite differential rates of geographical mobility. This is so because institutional pressures force the extended family to legitimize geographical mobility, because technological improvements in communication systems have minimized the socially disruptive forces of geographical distance, and because an extended family can provide important aid to nuclear families without interfering with the occupational system. In support of these views, data are presented from a survey of 920 wives in the Buffalo urban area.

Models of Bureaucracy Which Permit Conflict

Complex organizations can be described in terms of three models-Weberian, human relation, and professional. The first is most efficient when dealing with uniform events and traditional areas of knowledge, the second when dealing with non-uniform events and interpersonal relations, while the third is ideal where organizations are split, having some segments requiring uniformity and others not. The third model covers the great bulk of organizations in contemporary society. Therefore, one of the key theoretical problems in complex organizations is the study of structural procedures by which the conflicting forces are harnessed to organizational goals.

Organizational theory social supports and mortality rates: a theoretical convergence.

Theorists and researchers have explicitly or implicitly made use of primary groups to explain a wide range of social behaviors such as work productivity mass media communication combat morale job search services to elderly and mortality rates. Typically they have not systematically distinguished primary group from formal organization effects. Consequently it is not known what primary groups uniquely contribute to social behavior. An expanded organizational contingency theory of group structure is advanced which fills in this gap and shows that primary group theory and organizational contingency theory share a common framework. To demonstrate the power of this formulation [U.S.] national data on mortality are analyzed to predict which causes of death can and which cannot be reduced by primary groups. (EXCERPT)

Voluntary Association and Neighborhood Cohesion

The principle that social control is maximized by the coordination of bureaucratic and primary groups is suggested, using industrial bureaucracies and local communities as a case in point. Propositions supporting the argument that they have little in common are analyzed, and counter views are presented. A re-examination of selected studies and supportive evidence from a neighborhood survey are used to document the viewpoint of the paper.

Primary Groups in Old Age: Structure and Function

The effects of aging and its correlates on the structure and function of primary groups in a modern industrial society are examined using the theoretical framework suggested by Litwak and Szelenyi (1969). After a brief summary of the basic theoretical assumptions, a series of factors are discussed that affect primary group structure and function in old age in unique ways. Alternative theories are reviewed. Some measurement issues are examined, and problems for future research are suggested.

Technological Innovation and Theoretical Functions of Primary Groups and Bureaucratic Structures

Bureaucratic structures are ideally suited to deal with problems requiring technical knowledge or large-scale capital investments. Primary group structures are most able to handle problems requiring little thechnical knowledge, for example, where knowledge is so simple the ordinary person can do it as well as the expert, where knowledge is lacking so experts cannot be trained, where knowledge is so complex it cannot be put together in time to meke a decision. In principle, technology is as likely to take tasks now handled by experts and simplify them so the ordinary person can deal with them as it is to take tasks now handled by ordinary individuals and show how they can be more effectively handled by experts. Therefore, in principle, technology is not likely, after its first stage, to reduce functions of either the primary group or the bureaucracy. More characteristic will be stress on continous change.

Mental health services for rural elderly: Innovative service strategies

This paper reviews issues in planning and delivering mental health services to rural dwelling elderly. First, comparative data on the prevalence of mental illness among rural elderly, and the availability and accessibility of mental health services in rural areas are presented to provide a basis for subsequent discussion. Next, several strategies for improving the development and delivery of geriatric mental health services to rural areas are discussed. These include: increasing the number and quality of rural mental health providers; adapting or developing diagnostic techniques to improve case identification among rural elderly; providing culturally sensitive mental health services; strengthening informal and formal care linkages in rural communities; developing innovative service delivery models building upon the strengths of rural settings; and emphasizing fluidity as well as continuity in treatment models.

Complementary Roles for Formal and Informal Support Groups: A Study of Nursing Homes and Mortality Rates

Organizational theorists have argued that formal and informal support systems cannot exist in strong form in the same society. In this article, the author argues that such theories fail to consider the complementarity of these two systems and the necessity of both for the completion of most tasks. A study of tasks performed for nursing home residents found that the formal organization assumed those tasks that could be standardized and deemed legitimate for Medicaidfunding, while the others were either maintained by informal support groups or lost altogether. A study of the influence of informal support groups on mortality rates found that such groups played an important role in reducing death in older persons resulting from causes associated with nontechnical matters. In conclusion, the author finds that formal groups can best manage tasks that require technical knowledge or that can be reduced to simpler, routine components, whereas informal groups can better manage tasks requiring everyday knowledge and characterized by many contingencies or unpredictability. The author stresses that both formal and informal support must be provided when serviing older people.

A Classification of Biased Questions

Ad hoc rules on question wording (i.e., cautions against loaded, vague, double-barreled expressions) can be systematically defined by the constructs of latent structure analysis--dimension and trace line. Bias in questions may lie in too many, too few, or inappropriate dimensions; incorrect assumptions about the trace line; or combinations of the two. Such systematic definitions give more precise criteria for the construction of questions as well as clearer objectives for research on it.