ll: EH H 'l M {NIH/W l r g l I I I IN! THE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION AND POVERTY Thesis for the Degree of M. A” MECHEGAN STATE UNIVERSITY RQLUN M. STODDARD 1968 "‘ -_._ 4‘ he... LIBR RY __ Michigan .,tacc F , Universmy ' ‘MM’ 7m 5?, THESIS ‘2’ BINDING BY :5: - HUAG & sous aonx ammv ma. LIBRARY BINL 4.35 w- Mm...“ ABSTRACT THE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION AND POVERTY BY Rollin M. Stoddard Voluntary organizations have received a substantial amount of attention from social scientists. It has been clearly demonstrated that membership in voluntary organiza- tions is positively correlated with class position. This raises the question as to whether the correlates assigned to membership in voluntary organizations are really func- tions of the class position of members. In order to attempt an answer to this question poverty members were delineated from poverty non-members. Indicators of future orientation, knowledge of community resources and apathy were devised. It was found that poverty members were generally more confident in the future, took measures to cope with the future, had more knowledge about community resources,but were as apathetic as poverty non-members. THE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION AND POVERTY BY Rollin Mi Stoddard A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Sociology 1968 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my thanks to Dr. Philip Marcus without whose patience and guidance this work would never have been completed. I am deeply indebted to Bob McCann for his helpful suggestions and insights while this work was in process. To Mrs. Katherine McKinney I wish to express my gratitude for her assistance in the use of the computer center. I have benefited immensely from discussions with Sal Restivo during the completion of this work. Bob Shelly helped overcome the methodological difficulties encountered by the author. Finally, to my wife I wish to express my love and profound gratitude for her endurance during this task. Without her love, appropriately tempered with invectives this work would have never been finished. I assume full responsibility for any errors or distortions appearing in this work. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List Of Tables 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . THEORETICAL BASES . . . . . . . . . . HYPOTHESES AND PREDICTIONS . . . . . METHOD: DEFINITIONS AND OPERATIONS . DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SUMMARY OF FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii Page iv 13 15 23 24 3O Table II. III. IV. VI. VII. LIST OF TABLES CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP PERCEPTION OF ABILITY TO EARN DESIRED FUTURE INCOME BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP . . . . . PERCEPTION OF SON'S OCCUPATIONAL CHANCES BY POVERTY AND ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP O O O O O O O C O O O O AMOUNT OF EDUCATION NECESSARY BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP O O O O O O O O O O O O PREDICTABILITY OF FUTURE BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONAL MEMBERSHIP KNOWLEDGE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP C O O O O O O O O O O O PROBLEM SOLVING RESPONSES BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP iv Page 16 17 19 20 21 21 22 I. INTRODUCTION There has been a large amount of sociological re— search on voluntary organizations. These studies have demonstrated with great regularity the positive relation- ship between social class and associational membership. The ideal voluntary associational member in this community might be characterized as a forty-five year old married man of high social status who is a Protestant, non-manual worker and possibly a son of native born parents, has two children, a college education, fifty or more friends, his own home . . . 1 Clearly, "The ideal voluntary associational member" is middle class if not upper middle class. Sociological research seems to have overlooked the fact that all socio-economic segments do participate in voluntary associations and differences do occur within strata. As Morris has observed, "most studies have briefly shown its (class) relevance to membership then ignored it."2 Studies of the correlates of membership generally make no attempt to control for social class. This raises the question as to whether or not the correlates ascribed to membership might readily be accounted for by the effects of social class. Social scientists, social reformers and journalists have produced a large volume of literature concerning the 1 anomic conditions at the lower end of the socio-economic hierarchy.3 According to this literature the lower status person is in a social situation which offers relatively few alternatives. They enact only a few basic social roles. Lower status people are unemployed or underemployed in jobs which are often dull and boring. They live day to day in a meaningless monotony often without the knowledge, skills and means to help themselves. The "underdog" tends to see life as an unpatterned and unpredictable congeries of events in which they play no part and over which they exercise no control. In short, they are alienated. Another finding of research among the lower classes is that they exist in a single time dimension--the present-- having little sense of the past and lacking a strong future orientation. They meet their troubles and take their pleasures on a moment-to-moment basis; their schemes are short—term. Their time perspective is foreshortened by their belief that it is futile to think of the future. This portrait of the "underdog"--alienated and shortsighted--is in vivid contrast to "the ideal voluntary associational memberf'successful, surrounded by friends and presumably, future oriented. Yet, as we have said sociological research has demonstrated that some of the "underdogs" belong. What can be said about them? Are low status joiners more like "ideal members" or more like "underdogs"? In order to suggest an answer to this ques- tion this study will focus on the non-middle class member. II. THEORETICAL BASES Voluntary organizations can be studied from three analytically distinct theoretical perspectives. First, there is the classic view which sees volun- tary organizations as societal building blocks whose function is the integration of society. When studied from this perspective, voluntary organizations are important because of the part they play in various societal processes such as decision-making, Opinion formation and socialization. This perspective has traditionally been linked to the main- tenance of a stable political democracy. DeToqueville's Democracy in America is the classic example of this linkage. Recently, Arnold Rose, writing from this perspective, dis- tinguished three major social functions of voluntary organizations: 1. Prevention of concentration and centralization of powers. 2. An aid in the understanding of the political powers by the individual. 3. Mechanisms of social change.5 Lipset et al. in Union Democracy described how voluntary organizations contribute to the maintenance of a stable political democracy. They attempted to demonstrate the importance of two voluntary politiCal parties within a union for the continuance of democratic organization. Secondly, the social—psychological viewpoint de- picts voluntary organizations as one of the environments in which a person lives, satisfies his needs and expresses his self concept and his universe. Unfortunately, this perspective has been neglected somewhat. Third, voluntary organizations may be studied within the framework of organizational theory. For those who start with this interest the structure of the organiza- tion, the processes through which it operates and its interrelationships with the larger society are the primary focus of attention. {There has been some research emanating from this perspective. Tannenbaum studied the League of WOmen Voters in terms of control and effectiveness.6 Sills studied the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in terms of its formal structure, it activities, the environ- ment in which its activities were carried out and goal succession.7 Since the voluntary organization shares some structural similarities with other organizations such as hierarchy and rules, continued research from this perspec- tive should be fruitful.8 Generally, studies of the correlates of membership fail to align themselves with one of the above perspectives. To avoid this weakness an effort will be made to align this study with two of three above perspectives. The theoretical bases of the present study, then, are derived primarily from two sources: 1) The social-psychology of isolation, and, 2) the role and function of voluntary associations according to social theory. Each man's interpretation of his universe rests firmly upon the support he receives from other people. The meaning one gives to his environment is always tenta- tive. In order to act with confidence and assurance one's meanings must be affirmed by the consistent support of others. The more isolated a person is the less chance he will have to test his hypothesis in the context of group life. Therefore, the isolated person of necessity acts in terms of private meanings.9 Voluntary organizations, according to social theorists, serve as a link between the individual and his environment.10 Associations bring individuals into inter— action with other individuals. Opinions, attitudes, know- ledge and schemes of action are shared, thereby increasing the resources available to each person. The individual having access to these kinds of resources is more likely to believe that his environment is orderly and predictable. 'In this study it is assumed that persons who believe their environment is orderly and predictable will have relatively more confidence in their future. Since members have access to those kinds of resources which allow them to perceive an orderly and predicable environment it is expected that they will have confidence in the future and take measures to deal with it, that is, they will be relatively less passive when dealing with their environment. A study by Lasswell and Almond indicated the con- sequences of voluntary associational membership and be- havior which supports this idea. They found public relief clients who were members of organizations were relatively more agressive in "stating their demands."11 In other words, these clients were less likely to be passive when attempting to cope with problems created by their social environment. Maccoby,12 Hastings,13 and Zimmer and Hawleyl4 and others have established a positive relationship between voting behavior and organizational membership. This find- ing seems to indicate that members believe their actions can have an effect on their lives. If our interpretation of this consistent finding is correct, then it follows that the person who believes his actions are meaningful will face the future with confidence. Two Finnish sociologists, Allardt and Pesonen, have done extensive research on the correlates of associa- tional membership. Their research shows a positive cor- relation between associational membership and other forms of social participation in informal groups. The research also shows that membership is correlated with the reading of books and periodicals, listening to the radio and voting.16 From this finding we conclude that associational members would seem to have a greater intellectual fund to draw from as they play out their lives. Hauskneckt's research indicates that a relation— ship exists between associational membership and one's perception of his social environment. Members of organi- zations were found to have greater knowledge of their environment. . . .One consequence of voluntary associational membership is that it leads to greater factual knowledge of the immediate local environment and of the broader society encompassing it. Members of associations were also found to believe that the future was more predictable and therefore could be planned for. These findings were especially signifi- cant for the less educated. What is interesting about the findings, then, is that voluntary association membership seems to mitigate the effects of a lack of education. . . . however, whatever added "increments" of knowledge and experience with the world membership may rep- resent, there are "diminishing returns" once a certain level of education is reached. Hauskneckt also concluded that the working class might gain the most from voluntary organizational membership. It is precisely the working class indiygdual who can benefit the most from membership. Hauskneckt's research strongly implies that asso- ciational membership is crucial for the so-called "under— dog." Therefore, it is expected that low status members will tend to deviate from the "portrait of the underdog." III. SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES AND PREDICTIONS From the foregoing theoretical discussion and the review of the literature, the following hypotheses are derived: Hypothesis I. There is a positive relationship between future orientation and associational participation among low status people. Prediction A. Low status members will express more confidence in the future than low status non-members. Prediction B. Low status members will express more confidence in their ability to earn desired future incomes than low status non-members. Prediction C. Low status members will perceive their son's occupational chances as better than low status members will. Prediction D. Low status members will tend to plan for the future more than low status non-members. Prediction E. Low status members will perceive higher educational attainment as necessary for boys than will low status non-members. Hypothesis II. Low status members will have relatively more sources of problem solving devices. Prediction A. Low status members will have rela- tively more knowledge of community services and agencies than low status non-members. Hypothesis III. Low status members will be less apathetic than low status non-members in solving their social problems. IV. METHOD: DEFINITIONS AND OPERATIONS For the purposes of this study future orientation refers to a person's interpretation and means of c0ping with his environment in the future. The concept was operationalized through the following questions asked of each respondent: 1. Have you usually felt pretty sure your life would work out the way you wanted it to or have there been times when you haven't been sure about it? 2. Do you think you will be able to make that much (respondent's ideal income stated in a previous question)? 3. What job would you like your oldest son to have? 4. What do you think his chances are or would be for getting that job? 5. How much education do you think a boy should have nowadays? 10 6. Are you the kind of person that plans his life ahead all the time or do you live day to day? Questions one and two measure the confidence com- ponent of future orientation. One is a general measure of confidence and two is a measure of confidence expressed in terms of dollars. Question four was originally not intended to be used in this analysis. Later, when the analysis of Ques- tion five yielded unexpected results Question four was analyzed in an attempt to explain the results of Question five. In Question six education is interpreted as measur- ing the c0ping mechanism of future orientation. The answers were collapsed and dichotomized into those stating no college was necessary and those stating at least some college or more was necessary. Question seven is a measure of the respondent's self perception of his coping component of future orientation. One item on the questionnaire was used to construct an indicator of the respondent's knowledge of community services and agencies: Here is a list of peOple or agencies who help others in different ways. For what specific reason would you go to a: 11 a) welfare worker h) local poverty program b) police officer i) Y.M.C.A. c) civil rights worker j) church minister or priest d) school principal k) guidance counselor e) social worker 1) family service f) housing commission m) local block clubs g) unemployment office n) legal aid Each respondent who demonstrated knowledge for a particular question was given a score of one. Those respondents in- dicating a lack of knowledge were assigned a score of zero. Theoretically, a respondent's score could range from 0-14. After compiling the distribution of knowledge scores it was decided to consider those with scores of ten and above as more knowledgeable and those below less knowledgeable. An indicator of apathy was constructed from the following question: Now here is a list of problems which a lot of people have. If a close neighbor came in and wanted some help with these problems what would you tell him to do? a) the neighbor has trouble with his teeth b) the neighbor says his son was arrested for stealing a car 0) the neighbor is too old to work and needs money d) the neighbor cannot get the kind of house he wants e) the neighbor says he has been arrested unfairly f) the neighbor's child was thrown out of school for bad behavior g) the neighbor needs money to send his child to school or college next year h) the neighbor is having trouble with his aging mother i) a loan company has garnisheed the neighbor's wages j) the neighbor has a bad skin rash that won't clear uP k) the neighbor's son is 15 and wants to quit school 1) the neighbor just got laid off work. m) the neighbor wants a place to go with some friends to relax n) the neighbor wants to get some job training to im- prove his income 12 o) the neighbor feels he didn't get a certain job because of his race or religion p) the neighbor wants a job Apathy is one of the classic components of the anomic syndrome. In the present study apathy is defined as the lack of interest in and/or the inability to respond mean- ingfully to the social problems of others. Each person who responded apathetically to a problem was given a score of one. For the purpose of this indicator the DK (don't know), NA (not applicable) and NR (no response) responses were combined with the responses of "nothing, accept it," "neighbor's problem." These responses were considered indicators of apathy. The distribution of the apathy scores, 0—16, was then compiled. An examination of the distribution dis- closed that those respondents scoring thirteen appeared to be unlike those scoring 16-14 or those respondents scoring from 12-0. Subsequent analysis not reported there indicated that this was the case. Consequently nineteen cases had to be drOpped from our analysis. Organizational membership was determined by an af- firmative answer to the following item contained in the questionnaire: Do you belong to any clubs, groups, asso- ciations or activities? To identify low status respondents the control variable of poverty was introduced. 13 The poverty variable was devised and computed by following the Social Security Administration index of poverty. The index is based on "an income less than three 19 The index times the cost of the economy food plan." weighs size of family, place of residence (farm, non-farm), age and sex of the head of the household. Because the index takes many factors into account it is believed to be the best measure of poverty for the purposes of this study. The items used in S.S.A. index were then compiled and each respondent was classified into poverty or non—poverty. Twenty-five cases had to be discarded because their in- comes were not reported and other relevant information was lacking which made classification impossible. V. DATA The data used to test the hypotheses were gathered during the months of February and March of 1967 in Lansing, Michigan. A questionnaire containing 142 items was developed. Items were included which were designed to obtain informa— tion about a respondent's income, occupation, education, age, race, place of birth, family size, future orientation, selected attitudes and experiences. Next, a random sample of three-hundred addresses was drawn from three lower socio—economic census tracts. In addition, a sub-sample of fifty was drawn because it 14 was known that a highway was being constructed in one of the census tracts; thereby necessitating additional ad- dresses to replace those removed by the highway construction. The tracts were selected on the basis of low income, heterogeniety of population and known physical and social deterioration. Heterogeniety of pOpulation in this in- stance meant that the sample would represent different racial backgrounds. The questionnaire required approximately an hour and one-half to administer. Thirty graduate students en- rolled in a seminar on poverty served as the interviewers. Two hundred and twenty-one usable interviews were obtained, a response rate of approximately 74%. One research objective was attained in that 76.5% of the interviews were heads of households. Approximately one-half of these were female, 65% were white, 31% Negro and the rest were mainly Mexican-American. Most of the respondents (86%) had at least some high school education which they received in Michigan. The distribution of monthly income was: Monthly Income Percentage Under $75 19 $76 to $150 18 $151 to $225 26 $226 to $300 26 $301 to $375 H H H O O 15 Sixty-nine and two-tenths per cent of the respon- dents reported they were employed and twenty-nine per cent were unemployed with one and eight-tenths per cent not responding. An attempt was made to analyze this high rate of unemployment. As might be expected in sampling central- city neighborhoods, 15 per cent of those not employed were retired. Roughly 8 per cent preferred not to work and 6 per cent were not working because of physical disability. Of the 29 per cent unemployed five-sixths were looking for a full-time job. Generalizations and conclusions reached through the analysis of this data are tentative or suggestive at best. This is due to the fact that the sample was drawn in one middle size mid-western city. Since the area sampled includes only three census tracts in one city this study is only a case study. Hence, it is not possible through analysis of data to reach generalizations about the popu- lation of the United States. The value of the study is that generalizations derived from it can be suggestive for further research of the national scale. VI. FINDINGS For the sample as a whole it was found that 100 re- spondents were members, 121 were not members of organiza- tions. The introduction of the poverty variable showed 16 that 52 respondents could be classified as in poverty, and 143 respondents were classified as non-poverty. As men- tioned 25 respondents could not be classified in terms of poverty. It was found that 22 of the poor respondents were members of associations; whereas, 31 were not. In the non- poor group 66 respondents were members as opposed to 77 non-members. Among those respondents not Classified 12 belonged and 13 did not. TABLE I CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP Poverty Non-Poverty Members Non-members Members Non-members No. % No. % No. % No. % Not sure of future 10 48 25 83 32 48 44 57 Sure of future 11 52 5 17 34 52 33 43 Total 21 100 30 100 66 100 77 100 x2 = 5.97 x2 = 1.02 .05% < p < .01 p < .05 Table I demonstrates that 52 per cent of poverty members express confidence in the future; whereas, only 17 per cent of the non—members do. Among the respondents classified as non-poverty, a majority of the members 17 (52%) express confidence in their future; whereas only a minority (43%) of the non-members do so. This table indicates: 1. There is significant difference among poverty respondents in expressing confidence in the future with regard to associational membership. 2. There is a smaller, yet similar, relationship among the non-poverty respondents. TABLE II PERCEPTION OF ABILITY TO EARN DESIRED FUTURE INCOME BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP Poverty Non-Poverty Members Non-members Members Non-members No. % No. % No. % No. % Not sure of future 6 46 8 53 12 26 27 45 Sure of future 7 54 7 47 34 74 33 55 Total 13 100 15 100 46 100 60 100 x2 = .31 x2 = 4.13 p > .05 .05 < p < .01 Table II shows that the majority (54%) of the re- spondents in the poverty classification who are members expect they will be able to earn future desired income; 18 whereas, a minority (45%) of the non—members think so. Those respondents in the non-poverty classification, a majority of both members and non-members, express confi- dence in their ability to earn future desired incomes. Seventy-four per cent of the members express such confi- dence; whereas, only 55 per cent of the non-members express this. It should be mentioned that this particular question had a high "no response" and "don't know" rate. This table indicates: 1. Poverty members appear to have slightly more confidence in their ability to earn future desired income. 2. Among the upper socio—economic strata (as this term is used for this study) members appear to be significantly more confident in their ability to realize their future desired income aspira— tions than do the upper strata non-members. Table III indicates that among poverty members 62 per cent perceive their son's chances of obtaining a certain desirable job are good; whereas, 75 per cent of the non- members in poverty think their son's chances are good. In the non-poverty category the percents are similar--68 per cent of the non-poverty members think the chances are good as compared to 73 per cent of the non-members. 19 TABLE III PERCEPTION OF SON'S OCCUPATIONAL CHANCES BY POVERTY AND ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP Poverty Non-Poverty Members Non-Members Members Non-Members No. % No. % No. % No. % Not Good 7 38 6 25 17 32 17 27 Good 11 62 18 75 36 68 46 73 Total 18 100 24 100 53 100 53 100 x2 = 1.11 x2 = .39 p > .05 p > .05 Since this result was unexpected an attempt was made to explain it. It was thought that the unexpected difference might be explained by a difference in the kinds of jobs chosen by members and non-members. To test this, a simple white collar-blue collar dichotomy was devised. The white collar-blue collar dichotomy was constructed by collapsing categories of the Department of Commerce Census of Occupations (1960 edition) which was used to code re- sponses to the questionnaire item: What job would you like your oldest son to have? The analysis indicated that the original relationship still obtained as only a small number (19), fairly equally distributed in all the cells, chose jobs classified as blue collar. 20 TABLE IV AMOUNT OF EDUCATION NECESSARY BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP Poverty Non-Poverty Members Non-Members Members Non-Members No. % No. % No. % No. % Not College 7 31 7 23 12 18 27 35 College 15 69 24 77 54 82 50 65 Total 22 100 31 100 66 100 77 100 x2 = .40 x2 = 5.38 p > .05 .05 < p < .01 Table IV shows that 75 per cent of the non-members as compared to 69 per cent of the joiners think that some college is necessary. Among non-poverty respondents the expected relationship returns. Eighty-two per cent of the members as compared to 65 per cent of the non-members think a college education is important for a boy. Table V demonstrates that a majority of both mem- bers and non-members plan regardless of poverty. However, membership does make a difference in the size of the majority. Sixty-four per cent of the members in poverty plan as com- pared to 53 per cent of the non—members. In the non-poverty classification 77 per cent of the members plan as compared to 69 percent of the non-members. 21 TABLE V PREDICTABILITY OF FUTURE BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONAL MEMBERSHIP Poverty Non-Poverty Members Non-Members Members Non-Members No. % No. % No. % No. % Lives day to day 8 36 14 47 15 23 24 31 Plans ahead 14 64 16 53 50 77 53 69 Total 22 100 30 100 65 100 77 100 x2 = .32 x2 = 1.2 p > .05 p > .05 TABLE VI KNOWLEDGE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP Poverty Non-Poverty Members Non-Members Members Non-Members No. % No. % No. % No. % More knowledge 11 50 13 42 26 39 34 44 Less knowledge 11 50 18 58 40 61 43 56 Total 22 100 31 100 66 100 77 100 x2 = .31 x2 = .46 22 Table VI indicates that a minority (42%) of the poverty non-members as compared to half of the poverty members possess more knowledge about community agencies and services. It is interesting that among non—poverty respondents the non-members appear to have slightly more knowledge than the members. However, in both non-poverty members and non-members only a minority of respondents appear to have adequate knowledge of community agencies and services. This would tend to support the assumption earlier rejected. Higher status people would know less about agencies and services not directly relevant to their lives. TABLE VII PROBLEM SOLVING RESPONSES BY POVERTY AND VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP Type of Poverty Non-Poverty Problem Solving Members Non-Members Members Non-Members Responses No. % No. % No. % No. % Apathetic 9 50 16 52 ' 20 33 25 37 Not Apathetic 9 50 15 48 40 67 43 63 Total 18 100 31 100 60 100 68 100 x2 = 0 x2 = .14 p > .05 p > .05 23 Table VII shows that there is no difference among poverty respondents with regard to apathy and membership. Among the non-poverty respondents there is only a very slight relationship. Therefore, hypothesis III must be rejected on the basis of this research. 1. 5. VII. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS Low status members are significantly more confident about the future than non-members. High status members are more confident in the future than high status non-members. Low status members are more confident in their ability to earn future desired incomes. High status members are significantly more confident in their ability to earn future desired income. Regardless of poverty classification non-members are more confident in their son's occupational chances. Among poverty respondents a larger per cent of the non- members than members perceive a college education necessary. Among non-poverty respondents there is a significant relationship between membership and per- ception of the necessity of college education. A majority of respondents plan their future rather than live day to day. However, membership does increase the size of the majority. 24 6. Poverty members seem to demonstrate slightly more know- ledge of community resources than do poverty non— members. Among high status respondents the majority of members and non-members lack knowledge of community agencies and services. 7. Apathy among poverty respondents is the same regardless of membership. Among nonwpoverty respondents the members are slightly less apathetic. VIII. DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA The social situation of the lower class has been traditionally described in terms of apathy, powerlessness, dependency, resignation and, in a word, alienation. Hence, the social situation of the lower class provides little sc0pe for meaningful action. This is because lower class socialization and lower class position usually fail to provide the confidence, hope, motivation, skills and orientations necessary for meaningful action. Presumably, middle class socialization and social position does. How, then, can lower class peOple compensate for these deficiencies arising from the socialization and social position? Our data suggests that voluntary formal organi- zations may partially mitigate these deficiencies. Our data has shown that low status members are more like higher status people in terms of confidence in their personal futures. 25 The data demonstrate that low status non-members are more confident in the future of their sons as measured by occupational chances. Also, more low status non- members perceive higher education as a ceping mechanism for the future than do low status members. Therefore, the data could be interpreted as sug- gesting that low status members are more secure in their personal futures and know how to cope with it. Low status non-members seem to be more confident in the future of their sons. They perceive higher education as a means of coping with the future for others. This interpretation is paradoxical and an explanation can only be suggested. It is somewhat doubtful that peOple who lack con— fidence in their personal lives will create an atmosphere which motivates children to succeed. Perhaps lower status non-members confidence in their sons' future is really a measure of the need to compensate for personal failure; whereas, the cautious optimism of low status members re- flects a more realistic appraisal of the situation. Hauskneckt found a positive relationship between membership and knowledge of community organizations at all levels when he controlled for education. Although we did not control for education as he did, we would still expect to find a positive relationship between membership and knowledge of community resources at all levels since low educational attainment and poverty are highly correlated. 26 Our findings regarding knowledge of community resources support Hauskneckt's research on lower status members. However, our findings for non-poverty members do not agree with Hauskneckt's research in that only a minority had adequate knowledge of community resources. This minority (38%) was less than the minority (44%) for non-members. It was expected that low status members would be less apathetic than non-members. According to this re- search that expectation was not realized. This may be due to methodological reasons already cited. The data on knowledge of community resources suggest that further research may confirm the hypothesis because our data dem- onstrate that low status members have more knowledge of community resources than low status non-members. It seems reasonable to expect that those with more knowledge would be more effective in solving problems. Returning again to the underlying concern of this study, it appears that membership exercises an influence on the lives of men that cannot be explained solely in terms of class. The comparison between low status members and non-members especially demonstrates this point. Although these data suggest associational member- ship may be helpful in improving the lives of the lower class, one should not conclude from it that if all lower class peOple join groups their lives would be miraculously 27 and substantially improved. Again, this study shows that associational membership can be helpful to low status persons; but, it certainly does not purport to show organi- zational membership as a panacea to all the problems of the lower class life. l. FOOTNOTES John C. Scott, Jr.,“Membership and Participation in Voluntary Associations,"American Sociological Review, 22 (June, 1957). 2. Raymond N. Morris, "British and American Research on 3. Voluntary Associations: A Comparison," Sociologi- cal Inquiry, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Spring, 1965), p. 194. For a social scientists point of view see: Genevieve Knupfer, "Portrait of the Underdog" in Class, Status and Power, by Reinhard Bendix and Seymour Martin Lipset, (Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1953), pp. 255-263. ' Fortflmaoutlook of a social reformer see: Michael Harrington, The Other America (Baltimore, Maryland: Penquin Books, 1962) For governmental document see: Lola M. Irelan, Income Life Styles, U.S. Department of H.E.W., Welfare Administration, Division of Research, Superintendent of Documents (U.S. Govern— ment Printing Office) Warren C. Haggstrom,'The Power of the Poor? in Poverty in America, edited by Louis A. Ferman, Joyce L. 'Karanfih, and Alan Haber, (Ann Arbor: The Univer- sity of Michigan Press, 1965). P. 316. Arnold Rose, Theory and Method in the Social Sciences, (Mineapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954), p. 50. Arnold S. Tannenbaum, "Control and Effectiveness in Voluntary Organizations," American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 67, No. 1, (July, 1961), p. 33 - p. 46. David Sills, The Volunteers (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1955) I 28 10. ll. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 29 The foregoing discussion is heavily dependent on the in- troductory remarkskanabchuk and Warriner in Sociological Inquiry, Vol. 35, No. 2,(Spring, 1965), p. 135. This section relies heavily on Shibutani's discussion in Society and Personality, (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1961), pp. 166-67. For example see: Arnold Rose, Theory and Method in the Social Sciences, (Minneapolis: University of Mifinesota Press, 1954). Gabriel Almond and Harold Lasswell, The Analysis of Political Behavior, edited by Harold Lasswell, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1949), p. 274. Herbert Maccoby, "The Differential Political Activity of Participants in Voluntary Associations," in American Sociological Review,23, (1958), pp. 523-32. Philip K. Hastings,"The Voter and the Non-Voter," American Journal of Sociology, 62 (1956), pp. 302-07. Basil G. Zimmer and Amos H. Hawley,'The Significance of Membership in Voluntary Associations," American Journal of Sociology, 65, (1959b), pp. I96-20I. Erik Allardt and P. Pesonen, "Finland," International Social Sciences Journal, 12, (1960), pp. 27-39. Murray Hauskneckt, The Joiners, (New York: The Bed- minister Press, 1962), p. 99. Hauskneckt, Op. cit., p. 96. Hauskneckt, op. cit., p. 122. Mollie Orshansky, Counting the Poor: Another Look at the Poverty in America, 0p. cit., pp.742-82. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Bendix, Reinhard and Seymour Martin Lipset. Class Status and Power, Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1953. Caplovitz, David. The Poor Pay More, Glencoe: The Free Press, London: Collier-MacMillan Ltd., 1963. Fishman, Leo. Poverty and Affluence, New York and London: Yale University Press, 1966. Haggstrom, Warren C., "The Power of the Poor,‘ in Povert in America, Louis A. Ferman, Joyce L. KoranuH and Alan Haber, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1965. Harrington, Michael. The Other America, Baltimore, Mary- land: Penguin Books,71962. Hauskneckt, Murray. The Joiners, New York: The Bedminister Press, 1962. Lasswell, Harold D. The Analysis oftPolitical Behavior, New York: Oxford University Press, 1949. Knupfer, Genevieve, "Portrait of the Underdog,‘ in Rein- hard Bendix and Seymour Martin Lipset's, Class Status and Power, Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1955. Theodore M. Newcomb, Ralph H. Turner, Philip E. Converse, Social Psychology, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1965. Orshansky, Mollie. "Counting the Poor: Another Look at the Poverty in America," in Poverty in America, edited by Louis A. Ferman, Joyce H. Kornbluh and Alan Haber, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1965. Ross, Arnold. Theory and Method in the Social Sciences, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954. 30 31 Shibutani, Tamotsu. Society and Personality, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1961. Sills, David. The Volunteers, Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1955. DeToqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America, 2 vols. New York: Vintage Books, 1954. Journals Allardt, Erik and P. Pesonen. "Finlandf'International Social Sciences Journal, 12, 1960. Hastings, Philip K. "The Voter and Non—Voter," American Journal of Sociology, 62, 1965, pp. 302-307. Maccoby, Herbert. "The Differential Political Activity of Participants in Voluntary Associations," American Sociological Review, 23, 1958, pp. 523-32. Morris, Raymond N. "British and American Research on Volun- tary Associations: A Comparison," Sociological Inquiry, Vol. 35, No. 2, Spring, 1965. Scott, John C. "Membership and Participation in Voluntary Associations," American Sociological Review, 22, Tannenbaum, Arnold 8., "Control and Effectiveness in a Voluntary Organization," American Journal of Sociology, Vol 67, No} 1, July, 1961, pp. 33-46. Zimmer, Basil G. and Amos H. Hawley. "The Significance of Membership in Voluntary Association," American Journal of Sociology, 65, 1959. DEC - 21958 TA ”11111111311111”fiflflMTfllfllillflgiflTflflIT